Chapter 15 – Two Princes and a Valkyrie
In an alien command ship in orbit around Mars…
"This…" an alien officer in a richly tailored beige uniform hissed.
"IS USELESS!" he bellowed, sweeping his arm around the chamber.
The room was laden from floor to ceiling with countless plundered items. Books of various faiths in countless languages, both recent prints and richly bound older hardcovers editions, statues, prayer beads, holy symbols, incense burners and various iconography. In the back of the chamber a pile of communion wafer holders of various shapes and sizes were lying on the floor, their contents carelessly discarded on the floor. Someone had even painstakingly pried out a set of stained glass windows and set them on metal frames, laying them out against the walls.
"Useless trinkets, with no power of their own…" the alien hissed in disdain, his orange eyes twitching. "Is this what we came all the way here for?"
"Remember the ancient texts." a female in flowing garments said. The silvery fabric shimmered under the indoor lighting with her every move. "If such power could be so easily confined to material items, then we would not be in our current predicament."
"And yet the natives have not shown the faintest spark." the male countered. "You know what's at stake here. If we've come all this way for nothing…"
"Our path has led us here for a reason." the female said resolutely. "The currents shift and the end is never clear, but..."
"The natives are putting up a surprising amount of resistance, all things considered…" a younger male aide chimed in, clad in a green uniform.
"That fool Anthur and his lapdog Belphes are just wasting our resources by throwing them around so carelessly." the beige clad officer groaned. "I'll admit they're good at making nuisances of themselves, but entrusting them with the Penal Regiment was a mistake."
The female turned her jet-black eyes towards him and frowned.
"We have our orders." she said flatly.
"For the Emperor." the alien in the beige uniform said with grim determination.
"Sir…" the aide chimed in. "The main fleet has been delayed again. The Third Assault Fleet is still in transit and should arrive soon, but… there were complications."
"What sort of complications?" the alien in the beige uniform asked.
"A warp drive malfunction dropped the convoy in the middle of an asteroid field." the aide explained with a sigh. "They're still tallying the damage, but a good portion of the escort wing was lost."
"This whole expedition has turned out to be a complete waste of time so far…" the officer in beige lamented, looking completely exhausted. "With each failure, our people edge closer to disaster."
"Do you doubt the Emperor's wisdom?" the female asked, tilting her head.
"I live and die by the Emperor's will." the officer retorted, sounding offended. "Duty demands no less. But I cannot understand…"
"Then understand this." the female said evenly. "Should we fail here… we may not have the strength left to continue. Our choice of methods may not have been the most appropriate, but… none must stand in the way of salvation."
"At least…" the officer pondered. "If the Astyllia makes it intact… maybe we can turn this around with a proper display of force. Before the High Priestess decides to take matters into her own hands and purge the Machine Souls along with the rest of the planet."
He then turned his head to the aide.
"Leave us, Zuuran."
The aide balled up his right fist, bumping it against his chest, then stepped back through the door, still facing them. As the door closed, the officer turned his attention back to the female.
"Perhaps you and I were born in the wrong age…" he lamented, his exhaustion compounded by sorrow. "What if we truly are the last, chasing myths in a futile attempt to regain our bygone glory?"
"Then at least the Emperor and the Divinities have seen fit to grant us one last kindness…" she said, placing both hands on his thin cheeks. "A gift of time before all this unravels. But don't lose faith just yet."
"I suppose… we must stay the course…" he muttered before turning his attention to the pile of pilfered paraphernalia. "But what are we going to do with these now?"
"Powerless or not, they are still objects of devotion." the female noted. "Faith is a powerful thing."
"We should probably lock all of these in a safe place." the male pondered. "Otherwise there's a good chance they will just… disappear. Or that fool Anthur might just throw them out an airlock out of spite."
"Yes…" the female reasoned. "Belphes may have some respect for relics, but Anthur is a spiteful little shyall."
"Speaking of which… Do we know what happened to Belphes?"
"That Machine Soul utterly destroyed the Belkathis." she said with a pensive frown. "Belphes managed to eject, but we don't know if he survived. He hasn't made contact since."
"Just what was he thinking?" the male wondered. "Slaving an entire armored division to his machine and forcing a one on one duel? What was he trying to prove?"
Meanwhile, at the Hikari Laboratory...
"I can't say I approve." Ms. Yumi said in hushed tones, hiding in a storeroom and using her armor's built-in communicator. "You're tempting fate by putting those two in Gespenst cockpits."
"I understand your concern, Lisa." Gilliam said. "But remember, even if they have the same names and faces, these are not the men you know… or the ones I knew. Judging them by what their alternate selves did is not only unfair but counterproductive. If you're serious about seeing things through with the Robot Masters, then you realize they need all the help they can get."
"I know." she conceded. "I just hope you're not making a terrible mistake."
In another section of the lab, Lan had just finished showing Sagiri and Saizo around the place. After stepping through a hangar door, he paused for a moment and checked the time on his PET.
"I should probably be heading home soon." he said. "Mayl and Roll should already be there, so if you want to catch up…"
"Sounds like a lovely idea." Sagiri said with a smile. "We'll have to make some calls to the President and the local VTX branch, but those can wait until tomorrow."
With that, Lan led them down the hallway, and they continued their conversation.
"Since we're already supplying X-COM with machines and replacement parts, it shouldn't be too difficult to procure anything you may need." Saizo added. "And before you ask, President Harkonnen gave us specific instructions."
"Meaning?" Lan asked.
"Any parts or components you need to get through VTX…" Sagiri explained. "The President is covering those out of pocket."
"What?" Lan asked. "Why?"
"Because he believes in what you're doing." Saizo said. "And because even if it goes against my work ethics, profit isn't our main motivation here."
"But how is VTX going to stay afloat?" Lan asked.
"The consumer goods divisions and the military contracts will see to that." Sagiri reassured. "The Gespenst is an X-COM exclusive, but the MEC-1 units are about to be phased out and replaced with the MEC-2 upgraded frames thanks to some exotic materials provided by your friends in Neo Atlantis."
"Asaru did mention a thing or two about needing a suitable power source." Lan recalled. "So you know about those?"
"Our section was briefed on those exotic materials, yes." Saizo confirmed. "The President is dealing with X-COM personally but he passed some details along. We haven't actually met the Commander in person yet though."
"We're not privy to their budget, but once you get to a certain point material shortages can hit you harder than lack of funds." Sagiri noted. "Some things just aren't for sale."
"I can't even begin to imagine how much it would cost to keep something like X-COM operating." Lan mused as the three stepped into an elevator. "Between the bases, the staff, the robots and their weapons… and on top of that the fighter jets and the Skyrangers."
"Which is why we've agreed to start producing MEC-1 units for national military forces and providing some basic training." Saizo said. "Strictly for the purpose of fighting the alien invasion. This should take some of the pressure off X-COM and the Robot Masters."
"With VTX acting as the front, we can keep X-COM relatively low profile and help offset their operating costs." Sagiri added.
"Sounds like a tidy arrangement." Lan said with a nod. "But what happens to all this technology once the aliens are driven out?"
"President Harkonnen and Major Yeager have some sort of plan for that." Sagiri said. "We don't know all the details yet. I believe some of the contract clauses forbid the use of MECs against humans outside emergency situations. Anyone breaking those terms would pay huge fines and have the agreement terminated."
"I guess there's an upside to having so many lawyers on call." Lan quipped.
"Speaking of which, where did Yai's vampire go? Tanaka, was it?"
In the building's cafeteria, sitting at a table with a plate of steamed vegetables and steak in front of him, the lawyer in question interrupted his task of crunching numbers in a calculator app on his PET and sneezed.
"I admit, there's a silver lining in this whole thing." Lan said as they continued out from the elevator and towards the lobby. "I've got the chance to test all these crazy ideas that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. But I really don't want this stuff to fall into the wrong hands."
"And before you ask, your friends' little secret is safe." Saizo added. "Only hardware meant for X-COM will use the power source they provided."
"We did go over that subject during our meeting with Asaru." Lan recalled. "The world isn't ready for something like orichalcum to become public knowledge. Not as it is now."
"The Union, Federation and Coalition are cooperating closer than ever nowadays, but we don't know what's going to happen once this is over." Sagiri pondered. "A lot of people have been pushing for a global government body but the Dissolution is still fresh in the world's memory. Things could still go either way."
While new supranational bodies had eventually risen to replace the ones set up by the Reordering and dismantled in the wake of the Sigma Uprising, several nations were still fiercely protective of their independence, especially in Southeast Asia and Africa. The state of the world was still in flux and despite Laika's assertion that the leaders of the blocs would still go out drinking together after posturing for the cameras, there were still far too many variables. Even the most seasoned political analysts and historians were struggling to predict what might happen next.
Before leaving the lobby, Lan went through a mental checklist.
"Keys… here. PET… here. Brain… mostly here."
Satisfied, he kept walking, before a thought crossed his mind.
"I can't help wondering if Reinhardt was planning to team up with us from the start and just put that on hold because of X-COM. After all, some of the components we use here came from him."
"It's entirely possible." Sagiri said.
"And would you happen to have any contacts in the western hemisphere?" Lan asked. "A certain island, maybe?"
"Not in Neo Atlantis. Yet." Saizo said. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know if you've met Cadmus Atreides, but those two are old friends. When they were younger, Reinhardt took over the family business and steered them away from weapon production completely. We were all pretty confused to hear about this sudden turn."
"We've never met the man, but President Harkonnen did mention him in passing." Sagiri said. "Those Pantheon units… did he design them himself?"
"You'll have to ask him about that." Lan said. "Personally, I still think the whole cyclops design feels a bit creepy."
"Not exactly the best for PR, no." Sagiri conceded. "But their performance is pretty good for mass production models."
"I couldn't help noticing a certain… resemblance to the X-1." Saizo chimed in.
"Yes, they use the same basic frame." Lan confirmed. "But they went for numbers, trying to create a versatile army of high quality units. We went for a one-of-a-kind machine as part of a small team."
"The former President…" Sagiri recalled, her expression briefly souring again. "He had some ideas for mobile weapons like those. Probably another part of his midlife crisis. But they were shoddy deathtraps, to put it mildly. Saizo here totaled about ten on his own in testing."
"They were deathtraps…" Lan echoed, before glancing at Saizo. "But you look like you made it out in one piece."
"I was too stubborn to let something like that do me in." Saizo bragged with a wolfish grin.
"Ten of them though?" Lan pointed out.
"It'll take more than that." Sagiri scoffed. "If you ask me, they should have tried cloning him instead of wasting money on those tin cans."
They continued their walk, past the tempered glass front doors and into the parking lot.
"Still, I was not pleased." she added with a scowl. "And I made sure to voice my displeasure to the idiot-in-chief."
"I also distinctively recall you punching him in the face at one point." Saizo pointed out, completely deadpan.
"Ah." Lan remarked with a grin. "The Sakurai genes are showing."
"Well, I did end up spending three months in the hospital for that one crash." Saizo recalled with a wince.
"Maybe I should have gone into professional boxing instead." Sagiri quipped, again flashing her catlike smile.
"Personally, I think you'd have made it just fine in MMA." Saizo pointed out, his wolfish grin returning.
"Maybe now that Ken Masters is officially retired from the pro circuit." she mused before casting a lingering glance at Saizo. "But I like my current job too much… and the people I work with."
"Life does have its unexpected turns." Saizo remarked. "A few years ago I was driving race cars."
"I thought I'd seen your face somewhere before…" Lan realized. "F-Zero, was it?"
"Until an accident cost me my contract." Saizo confirmed with a somber expression that lasted only a few instants. "But I'm happy where I am now."
Lan approached his blue car, which was strategically parked in a captive spot close to the door. He raised his PET near the door and the security system recognized the signature and unlocked it.
A few spots away, Saizo unlocked a sleek black four door model with his remote control. As Lan sat behind the wheel of his own vehicle and adjusted the seat, he peered out the window and saw the pair suddenly start a bout of rock-paper-scissors.
"Uh…" Lan muttered.
"Rock beats scissors." Saizo announced with a grin.
"Fine…" Sagiri conceded. "Your turn to drive."
Triumphantly, Saizo sat behind the wheel of the black car and strapped himself in.
"Guess you can take the man out of the races but you can't take the races out of the man huh?" Lan thought with an amused smile.
As they drove through the city, Saizo definitely lived up to his former occupation, driving just under the speed limit and skillfully dodging obstacles in the way. Lan couldn't help silently wondering if the man had some sort of superhuman ability, thinking back to the old Project Unity nanites still coursing through his system after twenty years. Even after having learned their inner workings and adapted them for the Variable Weapons System, he still marveled at their ability to reconfigure matter, living or otherwise. However, he soon turned his attention to more pressing matters, such as driving.
About half an hour later, they parked outside the Hikari residence.
"Wow…" Sagiri remarked as she stepped out of the car and looked around. "This place looks even more charming than the pictures."
"Can you imagine living in a place like this?" she added, turning to Saizo.
"I didn't think you could live without the city hustle." Saizo retorted. "You'd probably be bored in two weeks."
"That's what the car and the Metroline are for." she pointed out. "Besides, don't you get tired of apartments and noisy neighbors?"
"I do, but I'm not sure you'd survive without those chocolate parfaits and all the other stuff from the cafe around the block." Saizo retorted with another wolfish grin.
"You've known me long enough to know what I can do when properly motivated." she said, again flashing her catlike smile.
Lan chuckled at their banter, definitely recognizing more familiar traits in Sagiri's expressions and body language.
"I get the feeling things are about to get more interesting with these two around."
He stepped out of his car, locked it and proceeded to the front door of the house on the right.
"Honey, I'm home!" Lan announced. "You're never gonna guess who's here!"
Sitting on the living room couch, Mayl looked up from the book she was using to teach Suzu, Rini and Hikaru and her eyes lit up at the sight of him. Then she spotted the two people standing behind him and her slips parted.
"Sagiri?" she called out. "Is that you?"
"I guess that answers the question of whether you'd remember me." Sagiri said with a smile, stepping forward.
"How long has it been? Ten years?" Mayl recalled, standing up to give her a hug. "Look at you!"
"You look like you're doing well for yourself too." Sagiri remarked, returning the hug. "Living the life you've always wanted, I see."
Saizo just stood near the living room entrance, giving them some space.
"And who's that with you?" Mayl asked, noticing him. "Have you found someone too?"
"I-It's not like that." Sagiri protested, her composure suddenly broken.
"We're… just a team." Saizo added, a little taken aback himself. "A good one, but not that kind."
"I wonder…" Mayl thought, amused by their coordinated response.
"We're actually in town on business but I couldn't resist dropping by." Sagiri explained. "I take it you know what the Robot Masters have been up to, considering your son and nephew are with them?"
"Of course." Mayl said. "But what does that have to do with your work?"
"VTX." Sagiri said. "X-COM's partner behind the scenes. You may have already seen some of our handiwork."
"Yeah honey." Lan added. "It looks like our purple haired friend designed the Gespenst but VTX have been the ones putting them together."
"Dad, a minute?" Raito asked, coming out from his room with Maito in tow.
Lan nodded and led the boys to his home office, locking the door behind them.
"We have questions." Raito said.
"Of course you do." Lan said with a smile. "Honestly, I'd be surprised if you didn't."
"Well then…" Maito said, grasping for words. "Just what is this power?"
"Borrowing the words of an old friend, it's like life itself." Lan said. "It's like that feeling in your chest that tells you all will be well in the end, even if the road is bumpy… and gives you the strength to make that happen."
"I don't get it…" Raito said.
"Well…" Lan said, trying to explain better. "Let me putt it this way. That feeling you get when you're around Maria…"
"Dad!" Raito protested, getting a little flustered.
"Let me finish." Lan said with a knowing smile. "Or when you're with your Mom. Imagine being filled with that to the point where the whole world fits in your heart… and you feel connected to everyone and everything. Like you could lift mountains to keep them all safe."
"What, like you're some kind of Jedi?" Raito asked with a scoff.
"No, son. Not a Jedi." Lan corrected. "Don't get me wrong, it would be pretty cool to have a lightsaber, but I can't move stuff with my mind or mess with people's heads. This power also doesn't come from the outside, but from the inside. It just helps us connect to other living things, especially those that have it too."
"So what exactly does that make us?" Raito asked.
"There are many names for people like us, here and in other places." Lan said, recalling the words of a certain Man From the Stars two decades prior. "Radiant. Suntouched. And my personal favorite… Warriors of Light."
"What, so next we're going around saving crystals or orbs or the moon?" Maito joked.
"I'd ask if you're pulling our legs right now…" Raito pondered. "But after what we've seen so far..."
"But what does that have to do with Full Synchro?" Maito asked, a little confused.
"It has everything to do with Full Synchro." Lan said. "What is Full Synchro, if not bridging the gap between yourself and another and forging an unbreakable bond? That's what this power is and what it does, when properly used."
"Does Mom know about this?" Raito asked. "Does Aunt Roll?"
"Of course they do." Lan said, still smiling. "Roll has always had a talent for healing even before she got her Copy Bot and started living with us out here. As for your Mom, she's one of the strongest and kindest people I've ever known, and few things get this power fired up like being in love or having someone to protect."
"But how did this happen?" Maito asked. "Where did all of you get that power?"
"Your Dad was the first." Lan said. "You know he was born as a human, just like me… and died in innocence before being brought back as a Navi. There's power in that kind of thing. As we grew older and found ourselves dealing with all kinds of evildoers and their ridiculous crap, we discovered the power of Full Synchro… and later all the other things that come with it."
"They say that everyone has the potential for this power, but very few actually manifest it." Lan said. "In the Cyberworld, a lot of things are possible and a lot become much easier, especially for humans, but also for Navis. That place reacts to your willpower and your true self becomes easier to bring out."
"I remember the stories." Maito pondered. "About all those ridiculous things you and Dad did. But how did Mom and Aunt Mayl…?"
"In time they learned how to bring it out too." Lan explained. "They didn't care much about fighting, but they have always been brave and kind, ready to follow us into danger. This kind of power starts coming out in full when we're tested, when we face danger for the sake of others."
"So that's what happened…" Raito realized. "That's what Mom did when I hurt my back…"
"They got much stronger at it after you two were born." Lan noted. "Call me old-fashioned if you want… or sappy… but having something to care about more than life itself doesn't just make you stronger… It's one hell of a high too."
"But wait…" Maito pondered. "That Radiant Circuit… It's not just in the X-1, is it? That means…"
"Exactly what you're thinking." Lan said with a smile, proud of his oldest nephew's sharp mind. "We didn't stay quiet before just to be jerks about it. It was because some things need to be experienced. They can't be simply explained. That and if you were told too much too soon, you could start getting frustrated when others grow at a different pace… or reckless."
"What about Alex?" Raito asked. "That Judgement Buster as he called it…"
"Yes, he has it too." Lan confirmed. "The Leonarch works as an amplifier, much like the Radiant Circuit. In fact, we based some of the designs on it. But Alex has always had a natural talent for it."
"Wait…" Raito recalled. "I thought that thing was impossible to analyze."
"With tools and machines, yes." Lan explained. "But since it has a connection with this power, there are other ways. Not having any uncooperative ghosts in the machine also helped."
"And what about… the Apotheosis?" Maito asked.
"That thing is a mystery even to us." Lan said with a frown. "Cadmus and Ciel found it buried in a cave under the island many years ago and asked us to help examine it. It refuses to be studied, like it's resisting our instruments… and while its light is similar to ours in some ways, it feels… wrong."
"You mean angry?" Raito noted, recalling the sensation of being in its presence. "I guess that explains why that thing gives everyone the creeps. But what about Atreus?"
"I don't know." Lan said. "He never showed any special abilities before this whole thing started… but just like his father was at that age, he's still a bit lost. Still missing something."
"He did mention that." Raito recalled. "Hiking across the whole island countless times because he felt restless and couldn't tell why. Like he had something important he needed to do but couldn't remember."
"He said that?" Lan thought. "I wonder… And the way he uses that sword definitely feels familiar..."
"But wait…" Raito realized. "You said that everyone has the potential but few actually get anywhere with it. Why?"
"We don't know." Lan said, his expression becoming more pensive and somber. "I have theories though. Some people can go through their whole lives without finding something to really dive into. They just stagnate, stop growing as people… and then the years go by. Others feel like they don't belong anywhere and grow to resent the world…"
As he uttered those words, memories of past battles crossed his mind. Criminals, rebels, a certain mad scientist who had managed to find peace in the last few years of his life. While he was glad to have been able to stop them and even redeem a few along the way, he was painfully aware that they had not just sprouted from a hole in the ground – something had made them into what they'd been.
"And then there are the others." Lan added, his expression brightening again. "The ones who end up taking on challenges that seem ridiculous to most, by choice or by chance. I think that's one of the reasons why we ended up the way we are."
"I'm surprised." Raito remarked with a playful smirk. "I didn't think you ever thought about such deep things."
"I have my moments." Lan retorted with a grin. "But there's something else you should know. Just as you awaken to this power, your influence and your mere presence will cause the same thing to happen to others. Awakening them to the Light is like starting a wildfire."
"A wildfire?" Maito asked.
"In the last twenty years more and more people with special abilities have been popping up." Lan elaborated. "There were probably many before them, keeping a low profile, but ever since we started our antics their numbers have spiked. Especially after the Asteroid incident and the Sigma Uprising, more people have managed to bring out this power. I don't think it's a coincidence."
Meanwhile, in the base underneath the Black Forest...
After a thorough grilling by the Professor regarding his version of the events involving her sister, the woman finally relented and gave Atreus some breathing room. For Amelia's part, she had watched and heard the whole explanation in awkward silence.
"I can't help blaming myself." the Professor said, rubbing her temples. "I should have seen the signs but I was too busy here to pay attention."
"So…" Atreus hesitantly said. "You really are the head of research here? No offense intended, of course."
"None taken." the Professor said. "I know what you're thinking. I'm not that much older than you and it's an unusual choice to say the least. The truth is, I wasn't meant to be taking this on alone."
"Oh?" Amelia asked.
"My mother was one of the candidates." the Professor explained with a somber expression. "At least for the biochemistry division. Regrettably, as you know, she could not join us…"
"I can't imagine what it's like…" Amelia said sympathetically. "Our father lost his parents before he was old enough to remember them and the experience left its marks."
"Lamenting what happened won't bring them back though." the Professor noted with a hint of steel in her tone. "So I'll settle for the next best thing. Making sure this world has a future… by helping drive out those alien bastards."
"So how did you end up as the head of research?" Amelia asked.
"The other experts were more interested in getting actual concrete work done." the Professor said. "I ended up volunteering to help coordinate them and one thing led to another. I'm sure some of them aren't terribly fond of the idea of someone far younger being in charge of them, but they can't argue with the results."
"Yes, we need to put all of our skills to use if we want to get through this." Atreus said. "In fact, before the next battle breaks out again, maybe I should find a more constructive outlet for my frustrations."
"Meaning?" the Professor asked.
"We may not look like it, but we're scientists ourselves… even if we're still in training." Amelia added, having discussed the matter with her brother in advance. "While we're here, why not tell us a bit about your work? Maybe we can find a way to make ourselves useful."
"That would depend." the Professor said. "What kind of training have you two had?"
"Asimov University's multidisciplinary general program." Atreus elaborated. "I was halfway through aerospace physics studies before this whole thing started."
"Really?" the Professor asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You don't look the type."
"Our grandfather was a physicist." Atreus explained. "I've always had a… personal fascination with flight and space."
"I was diving into a combined robotics and programming course while helping as an assistant in the history department." Amelia added.
"That would require considerable time management skills." the Professor noted, sounding genuinely impressed.
"Our mother got her first degree when she was twelve." Amelia pointed out with pride. "She wanted our lives to be more balanced though, so we reached a compromise."
"So you got an early start, like me?" the Professor deduced.
"Yes." Amelia confirmed. "Accelerated schooling but with break periods every three months so we wouldn't become complete shut ins."
"I just wish we could get those two out of the lab more often." she thought in frustration, lightly puffing her cheeks.
"Well then…" the Professor said as she turned her attention to a large metal table where the pieces of a colossal metal staff were resting. "What do you make of this?"
"Is that what I think it is?" Amelia asked.
"Correct." the Professor confirmed. "The remains of that weapon the boys cut in half in the Far East. The Kiryu-Kai recovery team sent it directly here after the battle."
"It definitely doesn't look like any metal we've seen." Amelia noted.
"Not to mention the strange energy blade it projected." the Professor mused. "Whatever power source the weapon held seems to be spent, but it looks like the blade was far more dangerous than the staff itself… which is saying something after the way those blows cracked the X-1's plating."
At around the same time, in an inconspicuous office complex somewhere in the western hemisphere…
"Well then." the Director said, staring at the hooded man from behind her desk. "You said you wanted to make yourself useful to us. I suppose we should find your first assignment."
"Good." the hooded man said. "But I do have some conditions."
"You haven't even done anything yet and you're already dictating terms?" Hades retorted, barely concealing his annoyance.
"I am not killing for you." the hooded man said nonchalantly, ignoring his remark. "Not unless it's a life or death situation. I am not harming innocents or engaging in distasteful acts."
"What a curious man you are." the Director noted, squinting at him as if trying to peer through the unnatural darkness underneath his white hood. "You are aware of how the Prometheus Group was built, are you not?"
"I have heard the short version." the hooded man retorted. "But I am far less interested in its past than I am in its future."
"What exactly do you mean?" the Director asked.
"I mean I am here to take the measure of your character." the man reiterated. "And see what paths you choose to tread. You are not your predecessors, despite their attempts at molding you in their image."
"You've done your homework." Hades noted. "But if you're hoping to find some sort of leverage…"
"I have literally just stated my intentions." the hooded man cut him off. "Could we dispense with this territorial posturing?"
"Gentlemen…" the Director chimed in. "Would you kindly keep things civil?"
"He did save her life…" Hades pondered, having had time to review the security footage. "But the timing was almost a little too convenient… and I still have no idea how he did that. He doesn't seem to be synthetic, so… how did he punch that piece of debris in half?"
"Well then…" the Director said, fixating her gaze on the hooded figure again. "Let us see how you handle this assignment."
"I'm listening." he answered.
"Given the current state of affairs, we will need to relocate to another facility soon." the Director explained. "We have two… involuntary guests that need to be monitored during the relocation. I do not wish them harmed, but they must not be given even the slightest chance of escape. Therefore, you will be collaborating with Hades to take care of their transfer."
"Who are they?" the hooded man asked.
"You don't need to know that." Hades retorted.
"All you need to know is that one is a trained scientist and the other a soldier." the Director said. "They are resourceful and should not be underestimated under any circumstances, but they are not to be harmed."
The Director reached into one of the drawers in her desk and produced what looked like a pair of glass capsules, which he laid out on the table.
"Should they prove too troublesome to handle, you are authorized to employ this compound. It should knock them out and has been engineered to inflict short term memory loss. Just make sure not to breathe the gas yourself."
"We could simply use it and send them on their way or leave them somewhere for X-COM to find…" Hades pondered, glancing at the Director. "But I suppose you really are changing."
"How much time do we have for preparations?" the hooded figure asked.
"Forty-eight hours." Hades said. "Until then, the building is in lockdown."
"I will be in my quarters until it is time to leave then." the hooded figure said before turning to the Director and nodding respectfully. "Excuse me."
With that, he stepped out of the office, closing the door behind him. Once he was out of earshot, Hades turned to the director.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked.
"There is a… small probability of the gas causing some sort of lingering damage." she hesitantly said, her composure breaking again. "I would save it as a last resort."
"The old you would have thought nothing of disposing of them." Hades noted.
"True…" she conceded, her hands slightly trembling. "But there is already plenty of blood on our hands. I would like to try something different."
"Because of who they are, or because of their connection to… them?" Hades asked.
"We too were innocent once, my friend." she said with a wistful expression.
"I suppose so." Hades conceded. "I won't question your methods after all we've been through. I just wasn't expecting this."
"I am not particularly proud of what I needed to become to get where I am now." the Director said. "Regardless of how all this plays out, I would rather avoid more broken lives."
"It's funny what family does to the likes of us." Hades remarked. "I gave up on my vengeance and my rivalry… and you…"
The Director leaned forward, rested her elbows on the desk and placed her fingertips on her forehead.
"I suppose before we even discovered their existence… this life was already beginning to feel empty."
Despite the heavy mood, Hades allowed himself the faintest hint of a smile.
"Our sisters will be the death of us one of these days..."
"Methinks the good sir doth protest too much…" the Director retorted with a hint of amusement seeping into her tone. "Tupoy Brat."
"Now don't you start that too…" Hades grumbled.
After another long day, Lan fell asleep again and, much to his surprise, found himself in a strange room that would fit perfectly on an ancient castle, with black stone walls lined with tapestries and sturdy, old fashioned windows with thick wooden frames and glass panels.
The room itself was lit by torches, though there was no sign of smoke or the smell one would associate with them. Looking around the chamber, he noticed it was richly decorated with regal wooden furniture to match, namely dressers, a large bed in the back of the chamber, a recliner and, at its center, a square table where two figures were sitting, apparently sipping tea before his arrival, and currently looking at him. The two, clearly female, were the strangest elements of the room by far.
Lan turned his attention first to what appeared to be a small girl with a prominent forehead, her head adorned by golden hair and a strange crown that looked almost like a children's toy, ornamented with a set of rubies and comically oversized prongs, each with a differently shaped decoration at the end. She was wearing a frilly white dress with a golden brooch ornamented with a large ruby over the chest and some sort of black leather belt that clashed horribly with the dress around the waist. At the moment she was glaring at him with a look of annoyance in her blue eyes.
The eyes color was different, but there was something strikingly familiar about the face and the petite frame, not to mention the posture, clearly of someone of high standing who had been taught such mannerisms.
"Yai?" he called out incredulously. "When did you get so small again? And what is this place?"
"Who is this 'Yai'?" the girl indignantly retorted, baring a pair of fangs. "You stand in the presence of the mighty Princess Devilot de Deathsatan, ninth of her name! How did a lowly peasant like you even get so far into my chambers?!"
"Uh… what?" Lan muttered, utterly confused by her appearance, her manner of speaking and the frankly ridiculous name.
"Well?!" the girl insisted, growing impatient.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but you do look almost like a twin of someone I know."
"Impossible!" the girl retorted, slamming her fists on the table. "There can be no one like me!"
"Well, sorry to disappoint." Lan sarcastically answered, crossing his arms. "As for your chambers, I have no idea where I am or how I got here."
"Well well..." a woman also sitting at the table said with amusement, standing in sharp contrast with the girl.
She looked rather voluptuous, possibly somewhere in her twenties, with flowing hair tinged with a strange shade of teal. Lan felt distinctly uncomfortable under her gaze, almost like a piece of meat, and the fact that she was wearing what looked like some sort of skintight purple ensemble resembling a combination of bikini and stockings, both stamped with bat a shaped pattern, did not help much.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Lan asked, keeping his cool.
"I can understand that you wouldn't know the Princess here, since she's a tad more reclusive, but have you never heard of me?" the woman replied in mock offense. "I'm disappointed."
"In fact..." she added with a grin. "I must say I'm a bit cross at Ryu for not having introduced you to me."
"Wait what?" Lan muttered, blinking in confusion. "What does Dex's master have to do with any of this?"
"I guess he didn't mention me at all." she said with a pout, resting her elbows at the table and placing her chin over her intertwined hands. "Then again, he was never one for socializing."
"Did you bring me here?" Lan asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Maybe…" the woman playfully retorted.
"Really Morrigan?" the girl grumbled. "I know how much of a mess you usually make… whether you decide to fight them or..."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." the woman said with a soft laugh. "I know how fragile humans can be. It would be a shame to ruin such a handsome face."
"I probably shouldn't even ask..." Lan said, his discomfort intensifying. "Anyway, the ring on my finger isn't just for show, so dial it down a bit, lady."
"Oh, how delightful!" Morrigan said with a sudden grin, glancing at the platinum band on his finger. "As much as I would enjoy tangling with one of the so-called Warriors of Light, an angry wife would be most troublesome… especially for you."
"You are utterly shameless." Devilot said, shaking her head before taking another sip of her tea.
"I know." Morrigan said with pride.
"So why exactly did you snatch me?" Lan asked, definitely suspicious of her motives.
"I wanted to see what you're all about." Morrigan said with a mischievous smile, casually glancing to the side. "But that will have to wait."
"Really, Morrigan?" a familiar male voice interjected. "Really?"
A familiar figure stepped into view. A pale, black-haired man with glowing blue eyes, clad in a white toga over an elaborate golden suit of armor, clutching a bulky old-fashioned leather-bound tome in his left hand.
"You spoke so highly of the good Professor and his brother, I couldn't help getting curious." Morrigan said, still smiling.
"It would seem I cannot leave you without supervision for even a moment…" Raziel grumbled.
"For a minute I did wonder if this had you finger in it." Lan remarked.
"He's not the only one who can summon the consciousness of others, you know." Morrigan pointed out. "And it gets so dreadfully boring without visitors."
"I suppose I can agree with that." Devilot conceded before an unsettling grin crept over her face. "One grows dull simply sitting around ruling one's domain. Perhaps it is time we set out exploring the X-Zone once again."
"I thought you'd see it my way." Morrigan said with glee.
"But you do have your own castle." Devilot pointed out. "I see no reason why you cannot… entertain your guests there instead of here."
"Wait…" Lan said, recognizing the name. "The X-Zone? Then…"
"Yes, we know your friends from the Earth next door too." Morrigan confirmed, flashing a grin. "In fact, when you see X again, tell him that turtleneck sweater and those glasses make him look absolutely adorable. Alia landed herself quite a catch..."
Her tone once again made Lan feel uncomfortable and he couldn't help silently wondering how X had ever ended up getting acquainted with such a strange woman.
"My apologies." Raziel said with barely contained annoyance as he turned his attention to Lan. "It seems I must have another conversation with the lady here about wasting certain incantations on frivolous pranks."
"Oh please." Morrigan retorted in mock offense. "When I do it, it's frivolous pranks. When you do it, it's offering counsel. You're getting a bit too stuck up in your old age, archangel."
"And you are as cavalier as ever." Raziel retorted.
By the tone, it seemed to Lan that they were old acquaintances, though he would be hard pressed to find a more mismatched set of people than the three of them.
With that, Morrigan got up and patted Lan on the head with a mischievous smirk.
"You've been a good sport about the whole thing, but I won't take up more of your time for now. You still have plenty of work ahead."
As his surroundings faded, Lan heard her voice again one last time.
"It's been fun."
"Now then…" Raziel added, once Lan was gone. "You have had your fun. Shall we return to the matter at hand?"
"Fine." Morrigan said, all trace of humor suddenly gone from her expression. "Are you sure about this?"
"One cannot be absolutely certain of anything anymore." Raziel retorted. "But I do strongly suspect that this matter has been influenced by her hand. To what extent and to what end, I do not know."
"This was before my time." Devilot intervened with a sour expression. "But if you are correct… I simply cannot allow it."
Moments later, Lan woke up in his bed.
"What the hell was that all about?" he wondered.
Meanwhile, in an underground sub pen in Neo Atlantis…
"Are you sure this is OK, Laika?" Ciel asked, standing in front of the Morskoy Lev. "After all, this is Eurasian Federation military hardware."
"And I am the commanding officer and have been given leave to use it as I see fit." Laika replied. "Nobody will give us any crap as long as we get the job done."
"To be honest…" Kalinka added. "You should be more worried about the Federation stealing whatever technology you lend us after this is over. Of course we'll fight the brass if it comes down to it."
"Well…" Lune chimed in, walking down the flight of stairs leading to the dock. "You certainly don't settle for mundane challenges."
"Tell me…" Ciel said. "Kalinka, how would you like to help us test one of our prototypes?"
"Would I ever?" Kalinka asked with an unsettling grin. "What do you have in mind?"
"The next stage of the Magnetic Levitation Engine." Lune said, straightening her glasses. "Something we call the Tesla Drive."
"We're still working out some of the kinks." Ciel added. "But if we manage to make it work, it's yours."
A few days later, in high orbit around Mars, a massive black elongated monolith emerged in a burst of silvery gray-energy, its bulk comparable to the red planet's moons, at least lengthwise. In similar flashes, smaller craft emerged. Some were shaped like colossal obsidian daggers, with spikes reminiscent of fins protruding from their dorsal side. Others, smaller still, were wider in shape and covered in segmented plating, with their fronts decorated with a pair of large strange pronged beam emitters that evoked the shape of scorpion claws.
The largest of the craft, despite its imposing appearance, seemed old and worn, with its surface pitted by countless impacts both from space rocks and weaponry and its hull bore many mismatched patches attesting to improvised repair work with whatever materials were at hand.
A few more days later, at the base underneath the Black Forest...
"Are you kidding me?" Asaru muttered, his composure slipping for one of the rare times Gilliam had known him.
"An alien battleship of some sort." Gilliam said, watching the satellite footage of a massive elongated vessel, resembling a black metal dagger with several dorsal protrusions resembling fins as it entered the atmosphere. "We figured it was only a matter of time until they showed their real strength."
"What were they doing at the Moonbase monitoring station?" Asaru wondered. "The whole point of them being there was providing advance warning for something like this."
"That alien metal has proven rather troublesome for our detection systems." Gilliam pointed out.
"We're going to have to step up our efforts to crack their communication frequencies." Asaru said, clenching his fist. "Those interrogations are still going to take time though."
"For now, we have more immediate priorities." Gilliam pointed out as the alien craft's estimated trajectory appeared on the screen.
Asaru nodded engaged the yellow alert alarm, then reached for the intercom on his desk, reaching the base commanders in the Asian region.
"Major Lau, Colonel Wong." Asaru called out.
"Raven wing standing by." a man with a thick Cantonese accent answered.
"Lightning wing ready." a woman with a softer Japanese accent added.
Around that time, in the base laboratory…
In the days since their first encounter, the Atreides siblings had slowly begun to know the Professor a little better. The young woman, sharp and witty, carried herself with a pride and dignity beyond her years. Not only was she strikingly beautiful – a fact Amelia did not waste any time teasing her brother about – but there was an imposing intensity to her presence that left few people indifferent.
As the LED lights embedded on the ceiling flashed signaling a yellow alert, the siblings exchanged glances.
"It looks like we're going to have to cut this short…" Amelia lamented, putting down a tablet containing a lengthy research report. "Pity."
"You actually understood that?" the Professor asked, a little surprised. The siblings had managed to baffle her at every turn, exceeding her expectations and still finding new ways of surprising her.
"For the most part." Atreus said, glancing over his sister's shoulder. "We do swap notes since we're studying different fields."
If he were to be completely honest, the woman's surprised reaction was a treat to watch, not because it made her confident facade falter, but rather because she seemed to earnestly appreciate their shared interests.
"It started getting a little verbose near the end though." Amelia chimed in.
"You've already finished the whole thing?" the Professor asked, with her eyebrows raising.
"You'll find that we're full of surprises." Atreus said, once again taking relishing in her reaction.
"Well then…" Amelia said, setting the tablet down on a table.
"We're off!" Atreus added, turning to leave.
"Before you go…" the Professor said with a hint of steel in her gaze. "I absolutely forbid either of you from getting blown up out there. Got it?"
"Don't worry about us." Amelia said. "I'll drag him back by ear if I have to."
"They won't lay a finger on you." Atreus said, suddenly looking far more serious. "Not this time."
"What an odd pair..." the Professor mused as she watched them go.
Moments later, her sister stepped into the laboratory, clad in her uniform dress as usual.
"There they go again…" she remarked.
"I definitely wasn't expecting this when we first met them." the Professor mused.
"You mean finding someone who's as clever as you but not an old prune?" the Staff Sergeant retorted with her typical smile. "Two of them, no less?"
"That too." she said with a nod before turning to her sister, her expression suddenly stern and unreadable. "But I hope you've been taking better care of yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that war or not, you have an obligation to yourself, Sarah." the Professor said.
"She knows…" the petite Staff Sergeant realized as she felt her sister's glare.
"I'm sorry Sis…" she said, suddenly downcast. "I know I should be stronger… like you are."
"Don't be ridiculous." the Professor retorted with a scowl. "You have strengths I don't. I just need you to take better care of yourself."
"I'm not sure what exactly you see in me, Rachel…" the Staff Sergeant said. "But you're right. With them gone, you're all I have."
"That's not true." Rachel retorted. "You have Leo and his father. You have all these people who keep interrupting my work to ask how you're doing. Lalah and those two may have been shipped overseas but you know they'd be here in a flash if you needed them."
"You're right, I suppose." Sarah said, slightly perking up. "I just hope those children from the Far East will be safe out there."
"It sounds like they've made another fan here." Rachel noted with amusement.
"You should see how the Japanese contingent act every time the Robot Masters appear on the news then." Sarah retorted with a smile.
"The lab is supposed to be soundproof but I can still hear them from here." Rachel admitted. "Their enthusiasm is contagious."
"But tell me…" Rachel added with a mischievous grin as she glanced in the direction of the door they had left through. "What do you think of those two?"
"I'm still not sure." Sarah said, scratching her chin. "I mean, they look nice enough. The way she follows him around is just a bit weird."
"To be fair, if you had a brother like that…" Rachel teased.
"Sis!" Sarah protested, looking a little flustered by the implication.
"Too easy." Rachel noted with a grin.
The petite Staff Sergeant puffed her cheeks and gave her sister a dirty look before calming down.
"I suppose there's something comforting about a strong older sibling keeping you safe." she conceded.
"But why do I have this nagging feeling that I know them from somewhere?"
Minutes later, the Apotheosis and the Hoplon took off from the base.
A few more minutes later, as they soared eastward, they eventually spotted the form of the Leonarch approaching over the horizon, flying without any visible means of propulsion.
"You too huh?" Atreus noted.
"The old home can look after itself for a while." Alexander said, before casting a closer look at the Apotheosis.
"Brothers from another mother, indeed." he remarked after a short pause while the three soared side by side.
"I hope you're talking about the machines." Amelia quipped.
"I see your sense of humor hasn't changed." Alexander said with a knowing smirk.
"Why do you even carry that spear around?" Atreus counter-quipped. "Your mouth is a weapon in its own league."
"Smartass." Amelia scoffed, steering the Hoplon's hand to lightly bonk the Apotheosis on the head.
Whether she was doing it intentionally or not, Atreus had to admit that his sister's antics were doing wonders at lightening the mood and easing the mass of concern, anger and anxiety building up in the back of his mind. For the time being, the bouts of disorientation and the voices had ceased and he was on his way to help make things right. That was enough.
"I am your brother after all." Atreus retorted, letting the mood seize him. "Now come on! I know that thing can go faster!"
"Race you!" Amelia said with a grin.
"I'm still not sure how she does it." Alexander mused, watching as the Hoplon picked up speed.
The three machines continued soaring eastward, reaching frankly ludicrous speeds as the trio relished in the sensation of freedom that only that kind of flight could bring.
"Is it just me…" Amelia pondered. "Or is that thing even faster than last time?"
"You know…" Atreus realized. "You may be right. I'm not sure if I'm learning to draw more power from it or of it's… growing with me."
"Can you keep up Alex?" Amelia asked.
"I haven't exactly been sitting around sipping tea all this time, you know." Alexander retorted with a smile.
As they reached central Asia, they heard a loud rumbling and stopped, then turned their gaze upward. In the skies above, they spotted several dozen black VTOL fighter jets in rapid ascent, coming from the east.
"There!" Alexander shouted, the Leonarch pointing at the massive dagger-shaped black craft the size of an Olympic stadium breaking through the atmosphere, its surface blazing from the heat of atmospheric entry.
Like a swarm of furious harpies, the black interceptors swarmed it, disgorging their air-to-air missile payloads in rapid succession. Still, the massive craft flew on.
"I think they're going to need some bigger guns." Atreus commented as he watched the battle.
"This is going to end badly…" Alexander remarked, feeling a sudden chill.
While the swarming fighters left a few visible scorch marks, the plating on the alien vessel seemed to be several orders of magnitude thicker and sturdier than that found on even the towering constructs the Hikari cousins had faced on previous outings. Undaunted, the pilots continued their onslaught, moving closer to strafe the craft with massive gatling cannons about as large as the ones toted by their MECs.
"Not if we have anything to say about it." Amelia countered, tightening the Hoplon's grip on its spear.
Still, the massive craft continued on its course, indifferent to the onslaught. Just as one of the pilots prepared for another strafing run, however, a loud hum reverberated through the air, followed by a barrage of rapid fire amber tinted energy beams that erupted from emitters concealed underneath the craft's plating.
Instinctively, the trio scrambled, squeezing as much speed out of their machines as they could. Before they could cross the distance completely, though, two of the fighters were sliced in half and a third careened out of control as its tail was reduced to slag. While Asaru had been cautious and outfitted every fighter with a protective layer of alien alloys, it was still not enough.
With a slight lead over the others, Atreus moved in to catch the falling craft, while the Leonarch raised its shield, attempting to interpose itself between the battleship and another of the jets. The shield, as it turned out, was not simply decorative, effortlessly deflecting the beams.
"Get out of here." Alexander said, projecting his voice to the pilot directly underneath his position while raising the Leonarch's right hand and calling upon the Judgement Buster. With a roar from the cannon shaped like a lion's head, an orb of swirling pure white burst forth, detonating as it hit the ship's plating.
Meanwhile, Atreus felt his heart skip a beat as the helpless fighter he was still chasing tumbled away from his grasp at the last instant.
"No…"
The pilot, likely unconscious after getting shaken so violently, was in no condition to eject.
Again, his surroundings abruptly shifted and the unsettling construct vanished in a flash and reappeared directly under the tumbling craft. Without thinking, he tried to seize the opportunity and exerted his will. The construct's hands reached upward and somehow caught the crippled jet in a steady grip.
With momentary relief, Atreus finally let out the breath he'd been holding… only for a large energy beam cannon mounted on the alien ship's underside to pop out and take aim, opening fire in the blink of an eye and spearing through the damaged jet, incinerating the pilot, and then striking the Apotheosis itself, causing the strange golden barrier to once again become visible, struggling against the beam.
Atreus froze for a moment as his mind struggled to process what was happening. As another life flickered away in his presence, he once again felt a stinging sensation on his chest. This time around, however, he had no time to react. As he motionlessly stared at the burning wreckage still in his construct's hands, the barrier faltered and the Apotheosis tumbled down.
"Eísai afanís…" Amelia hissed, clenching her teeth. The tip of the Hoplon's spear started glowing menacingly with a flaming golden radiance.
In a swift motion, she hurled the spear at the beam cannon and, without bothering to look, broke into a dive after her brother. Whether it was dumb luck, will, rage or something else, the spear flawlessly lodged itself right between the plating, striking the exposed beam emitter and causing it to explode.
Amelia chased after the plummeting Apotheosis without hesitation, catching it like a bird of prey. Shaken out of his stupor, Atreus looked around with a start. Above, Alexander allowed himself a sigh of relief before his attention was turned to the flock of spherical fighters being disgorged from the belly of the alien craft, each of them ten times the size of the remote control drones that had accompanied prior incursions and bearing two prongs in the front, their purpose becoming obvious as they unleashed bursts of smaller amber-colored blasts which the Leonarch scrambled to block.
"What happened?" Atreus muttered.
"This isn't the time to be taking naps, dummy." Amelia scolded with evident concern. "Are you OK?"
"I'll live." he said, clenching his fists and summoning his blade. "They will not."
"Wha-" Amelia muttered before the Apotheosis darted straight up, freeing itself from the Hoplon's grasp.
From a distance, the Four Guardians watched, straining their machines' newly fitted Magnetic Levitation Engines to keep pace.
"His lapses in focus are concerning…" Phantom noted, monitoring the situation like a hawk.
"But he's bouncing back faster." Fighter added, a hint of pride seeping into his tone.
"She has her work cut out for her if she really wants to be her brother's keeper." Fairy remarked with a pensive frown.
"Shall we end this here and now before things get out of hand?" Sage suggested.
"Not just yet." a fifth voice chimed in, deeper and determined.
"Are you serious right now?" Fairy contested, more than a little aggravated.
"They are stronger than you think." the fifth voice added with confidence. "Watch."
As if on cue, the Celestial Blade extended, once again growing to ludicrous size as it charged the alien craft. As if sensing the rising fury in its sibling unit, the Leonarch let out a loud roar, living up to the beast its decorations were styled after.
"Finally." the Father's voice echoed with glee. "You are taking things seriously."
Atreus ignored the remark and continued, slicing through a trio of the spherical fighters with a single swing. Meanwhile, the Leonarch aimed its Judgement Buster again and fired. The orb impacted another of the spheres and unleashed a spherical blast wave that downed another two.
The X-COM fighters spun and weaved, trying to avoid the blasts from both the large craft and the spherical machines, but the pilots had already expended their missiles and were dangerously close to running out of ammunition for their auto-cannons.
"Nothing more we can do now." Asaru noted from his post as he watched the engagement. "Withdraw the interceptors."
The remaining X-COM interceptors, with their ammunition spent and various degrees of damage, broke off from the engagement and returned to their base. They had dealt some marginal damage, but the ones directing their efforts knew they would need to step up their game.
"We'll definitely need to focus our efforts on improving our interceptors next." Gilliam mused, standing next to Asaru.
"The orichalcum we have is too precious to waste on warheads." Asaru pondered. "But those magnetic craft weapons should be rolling out of the workshops soon."
Not wanting to fall behind the boys, Amelia focused her will… and the Hoplon's spear pried itself from the wreckage unscathed and obediently flew back into the machine's grasp. She held it with both hands and the tip started glowing with a loud hum, until an instant later a continuous golden beam shot forth, wreaking havoc on the alien craft's plating and melting one of the spheres that got too close. Unable to sustain it much longer, however, Amelia chose to sweep it across, reducing as many of the large vessel's turrets to scrap as she could.
As Atreus continued his charge, his mind raced.
"We have to finish it before this thing gets over a city. No more burning homes. No more screams. No more people dying in vain!"
More of the spherical craft kept pouring out from the larger vessel's belly, faster than Alexander could dispose of with the Judgement Buster. Changing his tactics, he summoned the Greater Curtana and with a surge of white flame, the blade sliced through two of the hideous spheres. A third rolled around and tried to shoot the Leonarch from behind, only to find itself skewered by the Hoplon's spear.
"That's it girl…" Fairy thought with pride. "Get the bastards!"
The Apotheosis kept surging upwards, preparing for a swing. However, it built up more momentum than its pilot was prepared to handle and a distraction in the form of a spherical craft ramming it head on caused the blow to go wide and the blade to slip out of the construct's grasp.
"Skata!" the scion fumed, before unceremoniously punching the sphere into pieces and diving back after his misplaced blade.
"I told you before." the Father retorted. "Will is power. Focus."
"Not now…" Atreus growled in annoyance.
"Calm down, my friend." the Son chimed in, surprisingly serene. "You are not at your best when you get carried away."
"I know, but…"
"Calm down." the Son insisted. "That blade, just like the construct, answers to your will. Call out… and let it come."
Atreus halted his dive and tried to calm himself.
"Get back here!"
And in a flash, the blade did just that. Relieved, he resumed his ascent, vowing to himself to be more mindful.
"I guess all the men in this family are the same." Fairy remarked with a smirk.
"You, Ciel and Alouette definitely have your hands full, we know." the fifth voice said, though it did not sound particularly apologetic.
"Which is why we're grateful that the children have such wonderful godparents." a softer male voice added.
"You shouldn't say those things out loud." Fighter retorted with a scoff. "You don't want your wife to get the wrong idea."
"But are you absolutely certain about this?" Phantom asked.
"After what they went through together…" Cadmus said with somber expression from his seat in the Sanctum. "And after they returned to us… I would have loved nothing more than for them to be able to live their new lives in peace."
"But since that isn't an option…" he added with his second voice as his eyes began to light up with the strange green glow again. "We'll make sure they're strong enough to cut down any enemy that appears before them."
"Besides…" Cadmus thought. "Should this body become too weak to host both of us… the future will be safe in their hands."
"Knock it off." a familiar voice retorted. "The only place we're going is out there, as soon as we're ready."
Behind the Four Guardians, oblivious to the exchange, a trio of Pantheon machines in flight configuration followed.
"Wow…" Rouge commented. "Those kids are good."
The Leonarch rolled out of the way of a barrage of fire and slammed its shield on one of the spherical machines before cutting another one down with the Greater Curtana.
"Makes you wonder why they need us her." Jaune added.
Atreus continued his ascent, briefly raising the left hand of the Apotheosis to fire a thick beam of golden energy at the alien vessel's exposed belly. The damage to the craft was definitely piling up, but it still would not stop or slow down.
"If I'd missed that one, I might as well get a dog and a cane." he thought with some irritation at his missed shots during earlier battles. "Well, maybe I'll still get a dog later."
"You did say you wanted to learn a thing or two from the Guardians." Colbor reminded.
"Not to mention this is your chance to look good in front of Fairy." Rouge teased.
"I still don't know where you get those notions from." Colbor retorted. "Besides, a battlefield is no place to be showing off."
The tip of the Hoplon's spear glowed again and Amelia drove it into the alien craft's side, dragging it along the surface and shearing off a portion of the plating. Meanwhile, Alexander dutifully covered her back with the Leonarch's shield while firing a few more bursts from the Judgement Buster. The alien craft shuddered and something inside sputtered as its speed faltered.
"Aww!" Jaune pouted. "You're no fun."
"Well…" Colbor sarcastically retorted. "I'm sorry I'm not crashing into things like that maniac Craft."
"Neige was definitely pissed at him." Rouge snickered.
"At least while we're here we don't have to deal with his or Faucon's crap." Colbor noted.
"Between them and Fighter over there…" Jaune commented, keeping a safe distance from the Great Fefnir. "I'm not sure which is worse."
"Funny." Fighter remarked as he watched the trio's aerial battle.
"What?" Sage asked.
"They haven't had many chances to fight together but they're already finding their pacing together." Fairy noted.
While the Apotheosis and the Leonarch definitely had a connection and continued to resonate in each other's presence, the Hoplon was entirely man-made. Still, it was keeping up with the others, its lithe frame weaving across the battlefield and dishing out a fair deal of punishment.
"Watch out!" Alexander shouted in warning as two spherical machines buzzed around the Hoplon. Before he could intercept them, they opened fire, one from the left and one from below.
Amelia instinctively blocked the shots from the one on her left, but the one below had a clear path… until her incensed brother brought his blade to bear, cutting it in half.
"I said nobody was laying a finger on you again." he reiterated.
Whoever was in command of the battleship suddenly decided to start taking things seriously and all the remaining armaments focused fire on the Apotheosis. While nowhere near as powerful as the cannon that had struck it before, the sheer number of energy bolts raining down on a single target had the potential to become a threat.
To his credit, for once Atreus managed to keep a cool head, spinning the blade to deflect as many of the blasts as he could.
"Where did he learn to do that?" Sage wondered. "Wait… wasn't that one of… his moves back in the day?"
"Truly…" Cadmus thought with a grin, still watching from his chair. "He's your son as much as he's mine."
"But I don't remember ever teaching him that…" the voice in the back of his mind noted, caught by surprise.
It was still not enough, though, and the barrier was beginning to falter under repeated impacts. However, Alexander and Amelia weren't about to idly watch.
While Atreus changed tactics, barreling around erratically to make himself more difficult to hit, the Hoplon and the Leonarch charged the alien craft and started tearing through its surface with spear and sword. The claws ornamenting the Leonarch's left hand grew in size and Alexander started alternating between sword swings and claw swipes.
"What are you doing you idiot?!" one of the aliens inside shouted over his shoulder. "Send out the bomb drones!"
"Your mother is a bomb drone!" another alien retorted. "Don't rush me!"
Amelia picked up another alien unit emerging from the craft and initially mistook it for another of the spherical fighter craft. She was quickly disabused of that notion as the object, slightly smaller, lit up with a crimson light resembling a baleful eye, and then rammed the Hoplon at full thrust.
As it exploded, knocking the Hoplon off the sky and making it drop its spear, several things happened at the same time. Alexander froze in place. Atreus felt his heart threaten to jump out of his chest. The Pantheon trio gasped. The Four Guardians tensed up.
"Playtime is over." Sage hissed before surging forth at an impossible speed.
"Wreck the FUCKERS!" Fighter roared, raising his oversized cannons and pouring a seemingly endless stream of burning plasma shots on the alien craft and the remaining drones. The aliens tried to deploy more of their explosive devices, but between Fighter and Alexander, they were quickly shot down, detonating right as they emerged and damaging the craft's innards.
"Send out the bomb drones, he said…" one of the aliens inside grumbled.
"I hate you…" another retorted.
Phantom, in the meantime, not caring about theatrics, instead making his machine vanish in a puff of smoke and reappear underneath the Hoplon. Atreus, clearly having the same idea, strained his will and once again managed to vanish and reappear in a flash.
"SIS!" he called out, staring at her damaged machine.
A good portion of the frontal plating was scorched and dented, with some portions missing, and the binocular visor on its head was cracked, but it looked like the blast had failed to breach the cockpit.
"Ow…" Amelia groaned, having hit her head on one of the consoles during her tumble.
"Damnit…" Atreus hissed, feeling as though he had aged ten years in the previous few seconds.
"I'll be fine." she assured, despite her obvious discomfort. "We'll just have to think about getting some helmets later."
"Don't scare me like that…" Atreus muttered, placing a hand on his chest.
He took a deep breath and then turned his attention to Phantom.
"What are you four doing here anyway?"
"Seven." Phantom corrected just as the Pantheon trio came into view and started peppering the alien craft with rapid fire Buster shots. "And what does it look like we're doing?"
"Covering for us." he deduced, before turning back to face the alien craft, clenching his fists.
"Take care of her, Uncle." Atreus growled. "I'm going to correct my mistake."
With that, he broke into a mad dash, the blade once again extending.
"I said nobody would lay a finger on you…" he fumed inwardly. "I guess I couldn't keep that promise, but they'll pay for this!"
It only took one glance for Fighter to understand what was happening.
"Oh shit…"
Still firing the Great Fefnir's oversized cannons, he turned his machine's head to face the Leonarch, though there was no physical need, and shouted a warning.
"Get out of the way NOW kid!"
"What the…" Alexander muttered as he sensed the furious presence rapidly approaching and decided to give it a wide berth.
There were no grand proclamations or speeches. There were no promises of retribution. There was only a furious young man avenging his sister… and the blade, reaching the most ludicrous length it had ever reached while the construct's golden eyes momentarily flashed crimson.
"Yes…" the Father hissed with glee. "Strike it-"
His voice was drowned out by the tremendous roar as the blade came down in a vertical sweep, cutting the alien craft in half. The two halves split apart and the vessel crashed upon a barren field below, rendered lifeless by some industrial accident a century prior. As the thunderous impact kicked up a tremendous cloud of dust and debris, Atreus just stood there, his eyes nearly bulging out of his sockets, as he contemplated his handiwork, until the impact jolted him out of it.
"Is there… nothing this blade cannot cut?" he quietly wondered, once again feeling uneasy about the sheer power at his command.
"That depends entirely on the wielder." the Father said, for a change without a hint of derision.
"Holy shit…" Rouge muttered, watching the wreckage.
"What do they even need us here for?" Jaune wondered.
From his chamber, Asaru watched on in stunned silence as the satellite footage continued to play on his monitors.
Next to him, Gilliam smirked.
"I've definitely seen that before. I wonder if the boy has German relatives."
As Cadmus watched the scene unfold from his seat at the Sanctum, he let out the breath he had been holding.
"That was… too close…" he muttered, placing a hand on his chest.
"She's tougher than she looks." the voice in the back of his mind said with pride. "Just like the machine we built for her."
"Is this really what you want?" another male voice intervened from behind.
"Hello, X." Cadmus said, glancing over his shoulder.
"I'll admit they're putting up a good fight." X said, having replaced his plain clothes with a flowing, dignified blue tunic. "But if anything happens to them out there…"
"You didn't try to dissuade the Robot Masters though." Cadmus retorted, turning the chair around to face him.
"That's true." X conceded. "I suppose we couldn't have talked any of them out of it. Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"That said…" he added, glancing at the image of the Apotheosis on the screen, in particular the five pointed ornaments on its head resembling wings. "I still have a very bad feeling about that thing."
"A very bad feeling indeed…" he thought, noticing the flash of crimson before it faded from the construct's eyes.
"So do we all." Cadmus said with weary resignation. "But we need it, at least for now."
"Now then…" the Imperative said as he stood from his chair. "What brings you here?"
"I've been trying to find a permanent solution for our Titanium X problem." X explained. "The molecular furnaces to produce a pure version are too big to fit through the gateways, unless we disassemble them and wrap the components in protective materials."
"There's also a limit to how much of the stuff we can move around to this side." Cadmus added. "Our main constraint at this point is definitely the gateway size. So what do you propose?"
"Honestly, those things take so long to disassemble and reassemble, I might as well just start building some on this side from scratch. At least two here and two at the lab, for starters."
"Ah." Cadmus realized. "In that case, you're definitely going to need materials and components. That's where we come in."
Then the computer console signaled an incoming call and Cadmus turned the chair around to answer it.
"Your kids and Alex did a great job with that alien ship." Lan said as his face appeared on the screen. "But now a bigger one is on its way down."
"Damnit…" Cadmus hissed. "Where?"
"Probably the same place that one was heading." Lan said. "The Robot Masters are on their way."
Cadmus sighed and tried to think.
"Do what you can." he finally said after a pause. "I'll send the Guardians over as soon as we get Amelia patched up and back home."
"Some people from X-COM will be joining us this time." Lan informed. "Don't worry too much about us. Take care of your girl."
With that, the call ended, and Cadmus immediately contacted the Four Guardians and his children.
"Amelia..." he called out.
"Don't worry, I've had worse." she said with a confident grin while Atreus and Fairy, having entered the Hoplon's cockpit, checked her for injuries.
"Ow!" she suddenly interjected as Fairy set about disinfecting a cut on her brow.
"I should have been paying attention…" Atreus lamented.
"Live and learn." Amelia retorted, patting his head. "Besides, I'm not made of glass."
"It's the principle of the thing." he grumbled, before lightly squeezing her left arm. "This looks a bit swollen. Does it hurt here?"
"A little." she admitted. "Nothing some ice won't fix."
"We're going to have to bring the Hoplon in for repairs." Cadmus said. "It's too dangerous to send it out again in that state."
"I can still fly it myself, you know." Amelia said.
"No, dear." Cadmus said, shaking his head. "Even if it doesn't look like you got any serious injuries, we're not taking any chances."
His tone was kind but firm, and she did not argue, knowing her father could be even more stubborn than her.
"Fine…" she conceded. "I wouldn't want you doing anything crazy like getting on a Pantheon unit just to come pick me up."
"Another ship has popped up farther east." Cadmus informed. "X-COM is joining the Robot Masters in dealing with it. Sage, Fighter, Phantom… Can I count on you to give them a hand too?"
"By your command." Phantom simply answered.
From out of sight, X watched on until the call ended and Cadmus closed all the comms channels. Once he was done, X stepped forward again.
"You've come a long way from the timid, nervous man I met all those years ago." X remarked.
Cadmus turned the chair around again and smiled.
"I had to become good enough to look after them all."
"Besides…" he added, tapping his temple with his index finger. "I've got one hell of a coach here. I'm not ashamed to say he's ten times the man I used to be, but-"
"I thought I'd told you to drop that self-deprecating crap." the second voice admonished, speaking through his mouth.
"You did." Cadmus acknowledged. "And I suppose you're right. I should give myself a little more credit."
"You should." the second voice retorted. "We may have ended up like this by accident, but I stuck around by choice."
