The Next Generation 24
Magicman: Hi everybody! Here I am, still typing away. I have a good idea as to what's going to happen for the rest. My only problem is writing it out, eh? Well I'd better give it a try before I'm kicked off the computer. Enjoy!
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: I'm significant!
Smokegirl: Sure you are.
"Yukari!"
Hitomi nearly pulled a Merle and jumped onto her daughter, so great was her joy at seeing her alive and well. Instead she settled for rushing closer and giving her a big hug. Embarrassed, Yukari hugged her mother back briefly.
"Mom! You're embarrassing me in front of the soldiers."
Hitomi looked about at the neighbouring beds. Several soldiers wounded from the battle had been moved here and a couple were grinning inanely at the sight. She scowled at them and they quickly averted their eyes.
Millerna shook her head. The queen was working on the other side of the room and she could hear everything that was said. "Would you please not threaten my patients? They've been traumatised enough as it is."
Mother and daughter laughed. They talked happily about nothing in particular, just enjoying being reunited once again.
"So, have we taken an account of the losses at the battle yet?"
"How'd you know about the battle?"
Yukari picked up her mirror, smiling slightly. "Oh I have my ways. I think I'm getting the hang of this Visions thing."
Hitomi smiled. "I'm glad for you kiddo." The smile turned mischievous. "But you still need practise."
Yukari frowned. "Really?"
"Really. Otherwise you'd know that Mark is running down the hall even as we speak."
The hospital door flew open. "Yukari!" Mark raced across the room to his girlfriend, tripped over a stool, fell flat on his face, got up completely unfazed, and swept Yukari into his arms in relief. "Oh thank God, you're alright!"
Yukari looked over his shoulder and glared at Hitomi, who looked innocent, and Millerna who was giggling to herself. "Hey Mark. How've you been?"
Mark ignored her and continued on with his ecstatic babbling. "I'm so glad you're okay! When that bastard zapped you I had no idea what happened. I was so worried for you. But you're okay and everything is better now."
"Okay! Calm down Mark! Just try and relax."
"Okay, I'm relaxing." He sat down on a stool next to Hitomi and remained still to such an extent that she burst into giggles.
Ignoring her mother, Yukari addressed her boyfriend. "Thanks so much for worrying about me. I really appreciate that."
"Really?"
"Yep! I actually enjoy it when people worry about me" Yukari cheerfully explained. "Isn't that nuts?"
Mark grinned. "That's why I love you."
Yukari blushed under the whistles of the nearby soldiers, who shut up when Mark glared at them. "So, uh, is this it or can I expect more joyful reunions?"
The door flew open again as the father son duo burst into the room.
"Yukari!"
"Yukari!"
"Oh brother!"
***
Hitomi frowned down at the map.
It was now night-time and everyone was asleep. There had been an all around party to celebrate Yukari's recovery and the wine had flowed freely.
'It may have been a little excessive' Hitomi reflected, 'But these people need a reason to celebrate, what with this siege and all.'
Everyone had gone to bed but Hitomi. Setto had gotten drunk and was dragged of by Sabrina, who had showed up at his insistence. The soldiers and company had accepted her rather well, considering she was the general's daughter. Hitomi suspected Setto had something to do with this but it didn't really matter. She smirked slightly at the memory of the Slayers had called for her to dance for them. Even more amusing, she had dragged a half-inebriated Setto into it. They danced quite well together and Hitomi sensed another romance in the making.
Apparently so did Dilandau. The pyro had spent most of the time sullenly glaring as Sabrina and Setto while he drank down wine like it was grape juice. Currently he was snoring on the floor, curled up in his own cute little way.
Mark and Yukari had gone to bed a while ago and were probably snuggling happily. The Slayers had gone too, and so had Van and Millerna, leaving poor Hitomi alone in the dark pondering over a map that gave her the willies.
This bloody map had been bothering her ever since that meeting and it was costing her sleep. It was a standard Asturian map. It showed Veers' armies surrounding Palas, with the location of Basramian depots and supply lines. Small sheds, probably for the tanks, sat in rows in the middle perimeter, along with a blacksmith. There was a building for the sorcerers and even a pen to keep the army's livestock in before they were butchered to make rations. It was a virtual city, but that was to be expected.
"So why is this bothering me?" Hitomi growled in frustration.
She was literally up all night pondering and got absolutely nowhere. When the dawn peeked through the windows, it saw her head resting on her crossed arms, fast asleep and snoring lightly.
***
Eries had left for Zaibach the previous night, leaving the soldiers and generals and all the rest to deal with any assaults by Veers. And it looked as if the general was planning an attack indeed. His aerial forces were swarming to the frontlines. Some were massive leva-cruisers like the Destiny, bristling with weaponry, others were single pilot fighter craft that had been introduced into armies recently, and still others were troop carriers designed to latch onto enemy ships and release squads of highly trained soldiers into the victim.
Jasmine watched the preparing warships from the battlements with enthusiasm. Air combat. Now THAT was the stuff that war legends were made of! 'Give me the open skies over the infantry's dirt fighting any day.' She thought.
"You know what he's up to, don't you?"
Jasmine turned to Sageth who had joined her.
The old general continued. "He's testing us; trying to find any weaknesses we may have before he plans his final attack."
Jasmine shrugged. "I'll take care of them. Just leave the leva- ships to me."
Sageth smiled grimly. "Right. Well my boys will be waiting on the ground in case they start dropping in soldiers. You keep alive. We haven't got so many men that we can afford to waste them."
Jasmine grinned cockily. "Why of course my dear Sageth! And you do the same."
The two military leaders headed off to their respective command centres while above the city the Vione floated.
The ex-Zaibach Floating Fortress was currently in stealth mode, preparing for the coming battle. Folken had escaped/been set free from Millerna's hospital and was currently walking back and forth on the bridge.
He had posted the Dragonslayers all throughout the fortress to stem any break-ins and the twins were in charge of protecting the hangar bay. Merle was at her com station, ready to relay orders to the various peoples that worked and lived in the Vione.
Right now she was relaxing in her chair filing her nails, as was her wont to do before a big fight like this. She looked up at Folken and sighed. "You know Folken" she said, "You get too worked up about these big battles. Come on, what could they possibly do to the Vione?"
The cyborg glanced at her as he walked past as smiled slightly. "Oh you know me. I get nervous before any of these fights."
Merle eyed him shrewdly. "It's the twins, right?"
Folken shook his head as he continued to pace. "No. They can take care of themselves."
Merle paused, considering. "Well how about the Slayers?"
Folken snorted, still pacing. "What am I, their mother? They're big boys!"
"Well, maybe Dalet isn't." Merle chuckled at the thought. "Is it Van?"
"Hell no! He's got Millerna to make sure he gets back in one piece."
Merle frowned. Then a sly smile stole over her face. "Eries has gone to Zaibach, you know?"
Folken nearly tripped. "Yes, I heard."
"She's off to make an alliance with the warlords."
Folken grunted.
"It's got to be dangerous work" the cat girl rolled on irrepressibly. "There's still a lot of bad blood between Asturia and Zaibach and I bet they'd love to get their hands on a member of the royal family-"
Folken suddenly stopped moving and swore loudly. Fortunately he and Merle were alone on the bridge.
Merle's eyes widened and a smile split her face in two. "You like Eries!"
"I-I do not!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"I AM NOT BLUSHING, DAMN IT! This is sunburn. You hear? SUNBURN!"
"How did you get sunburn if you've been in the hospital for the past couple of days?"
"Well...I..."
Merle laughed delightedly. She'd always thought that Folken needed someone in his life. "Maybe we should tell Eries when she gets back, hmm? Maybe she'd be interested in a mysterious, sophisticated gentleman like yourself."
"No way! ...Do you think?"
"Well there's only one way to find out-"
"No! Alright! I admit I like her, are you happy now?!"
Merle just smiled innocently. Folken growled. "And don't be letting out that I, a 41 year old man, had a crush or I will hang you by your tail!"
"Of course Folkie!"
Folken sighed and put a hand to his forehead. He knew that he'd regret this sometime.
***
The Basram airforce attacked quickly. Waves of fighters streaked towards their targets with a high-pitched buzzing sound. Asturian machines moved quickly to intercept and soon the sky above Palas was swarming with dogfights as individual machines clashed or packs dove after the larger capital ships. Still more swarmed through the defences, leaving their companions to deal with the Asturian airforce, to go for the capital. That was where the Vione floated.
"Folken, they're coming this way!" yelled Merle. The cyborg stood up.
"Alright then we'll answer in kind. Bring the guns online, manual orders only. Those fighters are to fast for the targeting computers. Tell the gunners to lock on and fire at will!"
Merle switched on a button at her come station. "All gunners fire at will!"
As the Basramians dove for the castle, weapons spewing death, they were blasted from the sky. The formation broke up to avoid the concentration of fire coming from the hidden fortress. Unable to find a target, discipline wavered as the men watched their comrades destroyed. Orders came from the command ships to fall back and they did so, unwilling to find the strange unseen enemy.
Folken watched the withdrawal with a smile. It seemed that their part in this fight was done already. A shame the twins couldn't get a chance to fight but what could one do?
He frowned as another wave of fighters attacked. They were coming again? He began to give the orders to defend the castle until they swooped up. Folken's eyes widened as they flew toward his hidden leva-ship. "What are they doing?" he thought aloud. "Can they possibly see us?"
His question was answered. The fighter craft fired wildly in all direction. The Vione was a big ship and not all of the fire missed. About half struck, and seemed to have struck hard if the red lights on the control panel were any indication. "Merle what happened? How could they know where we are?"
The cat girl was scanning her console frantically. "I don't know!" she yelled. "It's like someone told them!"
In a flash it hit Folken. The guy in command, probably Veers himself, had seen the results of the first engagement and pinpointed the location of the Vione from the trajectory of the weapons fire. "Merle set us a random course over Palas, always staying in weapons range of the castle. That way they won't track us by our weapons."
The cat girl carried out the orders with alacrity and soon the Vione was lumbering over the city, plowing through the occasional fighter. No others after that well-informed squadron came directly after them though. Probably Veers saw the futility of it. The battle itself was starting to wind down as the Basramian fighters started to pull back and Folken allowed himself a small sigh of relief.
A sudden explosion rocked the Vione and the bridge crew was thrown to the floor. Folken grabbed his captain's chair and managed to keep his feet. He stared at the monitor with growing horror as the enemy's capital ships closed with the defending fleet. Another explosion and a warning siren signalled the loss of their cloak shield and suddenly the fortress was wide open in the air.
Merle scrambled back to her post. "We've got three troop transports coming this way Folken! Weapons are down and we've got no shields!"
"Order the troops to stand ready to repel invaders! I want those weapons back online!"
"Yes sir!"
Merle only ever called Folken 'sir' when things were getting really bad.
***
As the capital ships bombarded the aerial battlefield a pack of troop transports cut through the chaos to assault certain enemy leva-cruisers. Three flew on a suicidal course toward the Vione, banking at the last moment and throwing out grappling hooks. Thus attached the other ship, the invaders forcibly docked, blowing holes into the walls, and pouring dozens of highly trained troopers into the interior. Their black, beetle-like armour and black-steel helmets filled the halls as they moved to sieze control.
Alarms blared and defending men rushed to choke points in the halls and fought viciously against the attackers. The Dragonslayers divided into pairs and roved freely through the Vione, taking advantage of their knowledge of the ship to launch surprise attacks on the boarding parties. Naria and Eriya drove the Teirings against the hapless troopers that tried to take the hangar bay and Mark and Yukari (who had been shipped to the Vione early that morning) were living nightmares. The psycho girl's grin and Mark's cold eyes were the last sight of several soldiers.
The fiercest of the fighting occurred in the first few minutes of invasion. The attackers swarmed like ants in their multitudes, but the defenders, though outnumbered, held the choke points valiantly.
It was at that time that the Vione's weapons came back online and the big ship began firing with abandon at the encroaching ships. Having learned all that he wanted to, Veers ordered a general withdrawal of all men and ships. The boarding parties now fought to reach their ships, and those that did flew back to their own lines in relief.
Folken sighed in relief as his bridge crew cheered at having repulsed the assault. Out of all of them, he was the only one who knew that this was a test designed to find a weakness. He sincerely hoped that they hadn't.
***
The map was driving Hitomi nuts.
All through the battle she had remained inside at Dilandau's insistence, and it had given her a chance to try and find out what it was about that map that made her uneasy. Now the battle was winding down and she still hadn't found anything useful. She growled in frustration and clapped a hand to her forehead. This was insane! She was an intelligent experience woman who'd gone across all across Gaea! A stupid map of Asturia shouldn't make so much of a difference to her! She smiled as unbidden memories of her original time in Gaea came to her. She remembered popping up in Fanelia from out of nowhere. She remembered Freid and it's beautiful scenery. She remembered first arriving in Asturia in that old fort on the border.
Wait a minute.
Hitomi looked again at the map, seeing it with new eyes. She smiled at her own idiocy for missing the obvious. "It was right under my nose this whole time!"
"What was?"
Hitomi looked up to see Van coming over. He'd been forced to stay out of the fighting too and was looking bored out of his skull. Hitomi jumped up and ran up to him, waving the map.
"Van! As soon as everyone gets back to the castle we have to have a meeting! I think I've just figured out something very important!"
***
Important people still in the city had their eyes on Hitomi as she presented the map that had started her whole mania.
"General Sageth" she began, "Would you tell me what this is?" she pointed to a small fort on the outskirts of the map.
The General looked over curiously. "It's that old swamp fort on the border. We used to put officers who'd gotten in trouble there."
"So you think it wouldn't be worth much effort to take it back from the Basramians?"
"Not in my opinion, no."
"Hitomi what has the fort got to do with anything?" asked Millerna. Hitomi smiled.
"I'm getting to that. So we've established that the fort is out of the way, not of any military importance, and not worth taking back. What does that suggest?"
Dilandau snorted. "That Veers was cracked for taking it in the first place?"
"No" Sabrina spoke up suddenly. She quivered slightly when everyone turned their eyes on her but calmed down when Setto patted her hand gently. "He'd use it for something important if no one was likely to take it."
Hitomi smiled. The girl was smart. "Exactly. Now what does he need the fort for?"
"He doesn't need position on us, what with him having us totally surrounded." Shoal frowned in thought.
"Maybe his supplies are there?"
"No. He's got loads of them with him and his supply lines are still intact."
"Maybe he's keeping a weapon there?"
Hitomi nodded excitedly. "Exactly! I think he's hiding his supply of energist bombs in that fortress! We'd never think to look there, so out in the open."
Sageth frowned. "But how could we possibly be sure? For all we know it's a ruse."
Hitomi nodded. "I've thought of that. I think I prove they're there. If I can mind search it than we'll find out for sure."
Van objected. "The sorcerers will have though of that. They know that you're psychic and can see these things so wouldn't they have shielded it?"
"I've thought of that to and I think that I can break through with Yukari's help."
Yukari was present but hadn't said anything up 'till now. Now her eyes widened. "Me? But I don't have the training to know what I'm doing!"
Her mother smiled encouragingly. "Just leave everything to me Yuki. I'll be doing the doing. Alright?"
Yukari hesitated for a moment then nodded. She gripped Mark's hand tightly for a moment before letting go.
***
"I want you to relax your mind" Hitomi soothed. She and her daughter sat on stools facing each other. They sat in the centre of the room with everyone else crowding the edges, not wanting to disturb anything. Yukari was very nervous. She was new at this. What if she screwed up?
"Just relax" Hitomi repeated. "Relax and look into my eyes. Focus all your thought on my eyes".
Yukari looked up into Hitomi's emerald eyes, studying their colour- shrouded depths, completely inscrutable except to those who knew her. She looked into them expecting to see her reflection but instead she fell deep into the endless sea of green. She never knew when she lost herself in those eyes. When she blinked she found herself in the misty grey realm where visions became reality.
Hitomi chuckled, the laugh having a misty quality. "Welcome to the astral plane" she said. "Well that's what I call it. I don't know its real name." Yukari tried to whirl but found she couldn't move. Before panic could grip her, Hitomi's voice spoke to her. "I'm sorry we have to travel like this but it's the only way we'll find what we're looking for. I'll explain. If we run into any defences the sorcerers set up here than we might not have the strength to deal with them on our own. But with our powers combined we should be able to handle anything they throw at us. The catch is that one of us had to be the body while the other made the decisions, as it were. Again, I'm sorry but I have more experience than you at this." A wave of sadness crept over Yukari's being.
If Yukari could have moved she would have squeezed her mother's hand. She seemed to sense this and the sadness disappeared. "Shall we go then?"
They journeyed through the mist with a thought. In a brief flash Yukari saw countless things too fast to make sense of them. The next moment, the daughter with her mother guiding her had reached a section of the misty world. With a wave of Yukari's hand, Hitomi cleared the mist. There was a brief view of a small fort before a wall of shadow cut them off from their destination. The blackness crackled with magical power that was decidedly sinister.
Hitomi growled in frustration and Yukari felt her mind surge. The wall of darkness suddenly shattered and the view of the fort was unimpaired.
Yukari sensed satisfaction and she moved forward. Together her mind and Hitomi's flowed through the fort and saw everything in a brief instant. Hitomi seemed to smile as she found what she was looking for. In the next instant the mist of the astral world began to fade and Yukari suddenly found herself looking into Hitomi's eyes.
Hitomi smiled. "Nicely done Yuki!" she said, calling Yukari by her nickname as a child. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Yukari panted, suddenly tired. "What was that shadow?"
"That was a defensive barrier that someone placed over the fort. Neither of us could have broken it alone but we managed it together."
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
They turned and looked over to their audience who were watching in anxiety. Hitomi nodded.
"Yes. They have five energist bombs in that fort. They are all that Veers brought with him."
"Then our next move should be to take the fort!"
"That's impossible! The minute we make a move then Veers will attack and destroy us all."
Before another argument could flare up Millerna raised her hand like she was at grade school. "Perhaps we could sneak a small group of men out of the castle to capture the bombs?"
There was total silence for a second.
"Or we could do that."
Van smiled briefly and gave Millerna a little sideways hug.
Dilandau frowned. "We'd need someone to guide us. Those bombs could be hidden anywhere and that fort has dozens of passages. It's like a freaking maze in there! Who was stationed there last?"
Millerna shrugged helplessly. "The only ones who could do it are the old Crusade crew and they joined Dryden's crew after the Destiny war."
"But if we go in there alone we'll have no idea where to look. We'd get lost and slaughtered by guards!" Dilandau was on the verge of ripping out his hair in frustration.
"And if we don't do anything we're screwed anyway." Pointed out Van. "We have to try."
Suddenly Millerna turned thoughtful. "Maybe He could help us."
Van was puzzled. "Who's He?"
"He knows that fort inside and out. He commanded it for years and if anyone could find the bombs it would be him."
"But who is he?"
Hitomi suddenly realised what Millerna was trying to say and swore. "You can't be serious! You'd really trust him?!"
"I would" Millerna answered in a confident voice.
Dilandau was beside himself. "Who?!"
"Allen Schezar".
Magicman: Dun dun dun! And the biggest plot twist of them all has come! I'd say more but I think I'll let you all sweat. God, I've missed these cliffhangers! I'll see you later after comprehension has dawned. Bye!
Magicman: Hi everybody! Here I am, still typing away. I have a good idea as to what's going to happen for the rest. My only problem is writing it out, eh? Well I'd better give it a try before I'm kicked off the computer. Enjoy!
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: I'm significant!
Smokegirl: Sure you are.
"Yukari!"
Hitomi nearly pulled a Merle and jumped onto her daughter, so great was her joy at seeing her alive and well. Instead she settled for rushing closer and giving her a big hug. Embarrassed, Yukari hugged her mother back briefly.
"Mom! You're embarrassing me in front of the soldiers."
Hitomi looked about at the neighbouring beds. Several soldiers wounded from the battle had been moved here and a couple were grinning inanely at the sight. She scowled at them and they quickly averted their eyes.
Millerna shook her head. The queen was working on the other side of the room and she could hear everything that was said. "Would you please not threaten my patients? They've been traumatised enough as it is."
Mother and daughter laughed. They talked happily about nothing in particular, just enjoying being reunited once again.
"So, have we taken an account of the losses at the battle yet?"
"How'd you know about the battle?"
Yukari picked up her mirror, smiling slightly. "Oh I have my ways. I think I'm getting the hang of this Visions thing."
Hitomi smiled. "I'm glad for you kiddo." The smile turned mischievous. "But you still need practise."
Yukari frowned. "Really?"
"Really. Otherwise you'd know that Mark is running down the hall even as we speak."
The hospital door flew open. "Yukari!" Mark raced across the room to his girlfriend, tripped over a stool, fell flat on his face, got up completely unfazed, and swept Yukari into his arms in relief. "Oh thank God, you're alright!"
Yukari looked over his shoulder and glared at Hitomi, who looked innocent, and Millerna who was giggling to herself. "Hey Mark. How've you been?"
Mark ignored her and continued on with his ecstatic babbling. "I'm so glad you're okay! When that bastard zapped you I had no idea what happened. I was so worried for you. But you're okay and everything is better now."
"Okay! Calm down Mark! Just try and relax."
"Okay, I'm relaxing." He sat down on a stool next to Hitomi and remained still to such an extent that she burst into giggles.
Ignoring her mother, Yukari addressed her boyfriend. "Thanks so much for worrying about me. I really appreciate that."
"Really?"
"Yep! I actually enjoy it when people worry about me" Yukari cheerfully explained. "Isn't that nuts?"
Mark grinned. "That's why I love you."
Yukari blushed under the whistles of the nearby soldiers, who shut up when Mark glared at them. "So, uh, is this it or can I expect more joyful reunions?"
The door flew open again as the father son duo burst into the room.
"Yukari!"
"Yukari!"
"Oh brother!"
***
Hitomi frowned down at the map.
It was now night-time and everyone was asleep. There had been an all around party to celebrate Yukari's recovery and the wine had flowed freely.
'It may have been a little excessive' Hitomi reflected, 'But these people need a reason to celebrate, what with this siege and all.'
Everyone had gone to bed but Hitomi. Setto had gotten drunk and was dragged of by Sabrina, who had showed up at his insistence. The soldiers and company had accepted her rather well, considering she was the general's daughter. Hitomi suspected Setto had something to do with this but it didn't really matter. She smirked slightly at the memory of the Slayers had called for her to dance for them. Even more amusing, she had dragged a half-inebriated Setto into it. They danced quite well together and Hitomi sensed another romance in the making.
Apparently so did Dilandau. The pyro had spent most of the time sullenly glaring as Sabrina and Setto while he drank down wine like it was grape juice. Currently he was snoring on the floor, curled up in his own cute little way.
Mark and Yukari had gone to bed a while ago and were probably snuggling happily. The Slayers had gone too, and so had Van and Millerna, leaving poor Hitomi alone in the dark pondering over a map that gave her the willies.
This bloody map had been bothering her ever since that meeting and it was costing her sleep. It was a standard Asturian map. It showed Veers' armies surrounding Palas, with the location of Basramian depots and supply lines. Small sheds, probably for the tanks, sat in rows in the middle perimeter, along with a blacksmith. There was a building for the sorcerers and even a pen to keep the army's livestock in before they were butchered to make rations. It was a virtual city, but that was to be expected.
"So why is this bothering me?" Hitomi growled in frustration.
She was literally up all night pondering and got absolutely nowhere. When the dawn peeked through the windows, it saw her head resting on her crossed arms, fast asleep and snoring lightly.
***
Eries had left for Zaibach the previous night, leaving the soldiers and generals and all the rest to deal with any assaults by Veers. And it looked as if the general was planning an attack indeed. His aerial forces were swarming to the frontlines. Some were massive leva-cruisers like the Destiny, bristling with weaponry, others were single pilot fighter craft that had been introduced into armies recently, and still others were troop carriers designed to latch onto enemy ships and release squads of highly trained soldiers into the victim.
Jasmine watched the preparing warships from the battlements with enthusiasm. Air combat. Now THAT was the stuff that war legends were made of! 'Give me the open skies over the infantry's dirt fighting any day.' She thought.
"You know what he's up to, don't you?"
Jasmine turned to Sageth who had joined her.
The old general continued. "He's testing us; trying to find any weaknesses we may have before he plans his final attack."
Jasmine shrugged. "I'll take care of them. Just leave the leva- ships to me."
Sageth smiled grimly. "Right. Well my boys will be waiting on the ground in case they start dropping in soldiers. You keep alive. We haven't got so many men that we can afford to waste them."
Jasmine grinned cockily. "Why of course my dear Sageth! And you do the same."
The two military leaders headed off to their respective command centres while above the city the Vione floated.
The ex-Zaibach Floating Fortress was currently in stealth mode, preparing for the coming battle. Folken had escaped/been set free from Millerna's hospital and was currently walking back and forth on the bridge.
He had posted the Dragonslayers all throughout the fortress to stem any break-ins and the twins were in charge of protecting the hangar bay. Merle was at her com station, ready to relay orders to the various peoples that worked and lived in the Vione.
Right now she was relaxing in her chair filing her nails, as was her wont to do before a big fight like this. She looked up at Folken and sighed. "You know Folken" she said, "You get too worked up about these big battles. Come on, what could they possibly do to the Vione?"
The cyborg glanced at her as he walked past as smiled slightly. "Oh you know me. I get nervous before any of these fights."
Merle eyed him shrewdly. "It's the twins, right?"
Folken shook his head as he continued to pace. "No. They can take care of themselves."
Merle paused, considering. "Well how about the Slayers?"
Folken snorted, still pacing. "What am I, their mother? They're big boys!"
"Well, maybe Dalet isn't." Merle chuckled at the thought. "Is it Van?"
"Hell no! He's got Millerna to make sure he gets back in one piece."
Merle frowned. Then a sly smile stole over her face. "Eries has gone to Zaibach, you know?"
Folken nearly tripped. "Yes, I heard."
"She's off to make an alliance with the warlords."
Folken grunted.
"It's got to be dangerous work" the cat girl rolled on irrepressibly. "There's still a lot of bad blood between Asturia and Zaibach and I bet they'd love to get their hands on a member of the royal family-"
Folken suddenly stopped moving and swore loudly. Fortunately he and Merle were alone on the bridge.
Merle's eyes widened and a smile split her face in two. "You like Eries!"
"I-I do not!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"I AM NOT BLUSHING, DAMN IT! This is sunburn. You hear? SUNBURN!"
"How did you get sunburn if you've been in the hospital for the past couple of days?"
"Well...I..."
Merle laughed delightedly. She'd always thought that Folken needed someone in his life. "Maybe we should tell Eries when she gets back, hmm? Maybe she'd be interested in a mysterious, sophisticated gentleman like yourself."
"No way! ...Do you think?"
"Well there's only one way to find out-"
"No! Alright! I admit I like her, are you happy now?!"
Merle just smiled innocently. Folken growled. "And don't be letting out that I, a 41 year old man, had a crush or I will hang you by your tail!"
"Of course Folkie!"
Folken sighed and put a hand to his forehead. He knew that he'd regret this sometime.
***
The Basram airforce attacked quickly. Waves of fighters streaked towards their targets with a high-pitched buzzing sound. Asturian machines moved quickly to intercept and soon the sky above Palas was swarming with dogfights as individual machines clashed or packs dove after the larger capital ships. Still more swarmed through the defences, leaving their companions to deal with the Asturian airforce, to go for the capital. That was where the Vione floated.
"Folken, they're coming this way!" yelled Merle. The cyborg stood up.
"Alright then we'll answer in kind. Bring the guns online, manual orders only. Those fighters are to fast for the targeting computers. Tell the gunners to lock on and fire at will!"
Merle switched on a button at her come station. "All gunners fire at will!"
As the Basramians dove for the castle, weapons spewing death, they were blasted from the sky. The formation broke up to avoid the concentration of fire coming from the hidden fortress. Unable to find a target, discipline wavered as the men watched their comrades destroyed. Orders came from the command ships to fall back and they did so, unwilling to find the strange unseen enemy.
Folken watched the withdrawal with a smile. It seemed that their part in this fight was done already. A shame the twins couldn't get a chance to fight but what could one do?
He frowned as another wave of fighters attacked. They were coming again? He began to give the orders to defend the castle until they swooped up. Folken's eyes widened as they flew toward his hidden leva-ship. "What are they doing?" he thought aloud. "Can they possibly see us?"
His question was answered. The fighter craft fired wildly in all direction. The Vione was a big ship and not all of the fire missed. About half struck, and seemed to have struck hard if the red lights on the control panel were any indication. "Merle what happened? How could they know where we are?"
The cat girl was scanning her console frantically. "I don't know!" she yelled. "It's like someone told them!"
In a flash it hit Folken. The guy in command, probably Veers himself, had seen the results of the first engagement and pinpointed the location of the Vione from the trajectory of the weapons fire. "Merle set us a random course over Palas, always staying in weapons range of the castle. That way they won't track us by our weapons."
The cat girl carried out the orders with alacrity and soon the Vione was lumbering over the city, plowing through the occasional fighter. No others after that well-informed squadron came directly after them though. Probably Veers saw the futility of it. The battle itself was starting to wind down as the Basramian fighters started to pull back and Folken allowed himself a small sigh of relief.
A sudden explosion rocked the Vione and the bridge crew was thrown to the floor. Folken grabbed his captain's chair and managed to keep his feet. He stared at the monitor with growing horror as the enemy's capital ships closed with the defending fleet. Another explosion and a warning siren signalled the loss of their cloak shield and suddenly the fortress was wide open in the air.
Merle scrambled back to her post. "We've got three troop transports coming this way Folken! Weapons are down and we've got no shields!"
"Order the troops to stand ready to repel invaders! I want those weapons back online!"
"Yes sir!"
Merle only ever called Folken 'sir' when things were getting really bad.
***
As the capital ships bombarded the aerial battlefield a pack of troop transports cut through the chaos to assault certain enemy leva-cruisers. Three flew on a suicidal course toward the Vione, banking at the last moment and throwing out grappling hooks. Thus attached the other ship, the invaders forcibly docked, blowing holes into the walls, and pouring dozens of highly trained troopers into the interior. Their black, beetle-like armour and black-steel helmets filled the halls as they moved to sieze control.
Alarms blared and defending men rushed to choke points in the halls and fought viciously against the attackers. The Dragonslayers divided into pairs and roved freely through the Vione, taking advantage of their knowledge of the ship to launch surprise attacks on the boarding parties. Naria and Eriya drove the Teirings against the hapless troopers that tried to take the hangar bay and Mark and Yukari (who had been shipped to the Vione early that morning) were living nightmares. The psycho girl's grin and Mark's cold eyes were the last sight of several soldiers.
The fiercest of the fighting occurred in the first few minutes of invasion. The attackers swarmed like ants in their multitudes, but the defenders, though outnumbered, held the choke points valiantly.
It was at that time that the Vione's weapons came back online and the big ship began firing with abandon at the encroaching ships. Having learned all that he wanted to, Veers ordered a general withdrawal of all men and ships. The boarding parties now fought to reach their ships, and those that did flew back to their own lines in relief.
Folken sighed in relief as his bridge crew cheered at having repulsed the assault. Out of all of them, he was the only one who knew that this was a test designed to find a weakness. He sincerely hoped that they hadn't.
***
The map was driving Hitomi nuts.
All through the battle she had remained inside at Dilandau's insistence, and it had given her a chance to try and find out what it was about that map that made her uneasy. Now the battle was winding down and she still hadn't found anything useful. She growled in frustration and clapped a hand to her forehead. This was insane! She was an intelligent experience woman who'd gone across all across Gaea! A stupid map of Asturia shouldn't make so much of a difference to her! She smiled as unbidden memories of her original time in Gaea came to her. She remembered popping up in Fanelia from out of nowhere. She remembered Freid and it's beautiful scenery. She remembered first arriving in Asturia in that old fort on the border.
Wait a minute.
Hitomi looked again at the map, seeing it with new eyes. She smiled at her own idiocy for missing the obvious. "It was right under my nose this whole time!"
"What was?"
Hitomi looked up to see Van coming over. He'd been forced to stay out of the fighting too and was looking bored out of his skull. Hitomi jumped up and ran up to him, waving the map.
"Van! As soon as everyone gets back to the castle we have to have a meeting! I think I've just figured out something very important!"
***
Important people still in the city had their eyes on Hitomi as she presented the map that had started her whole mania.
"General Sageth" she began, "Would you tell me what this is?" she pointed to a small fort on the outskirts of the map.
The General looked over curiously. "It's that old swamp fort on the border. We used to put officers who'd gotten in trouble there."
"So you think it wouldn't be worth much effort to take it back from the Basramians?"
"Not in my opinion, no."
"Hitomi what has the fort got to do with anything?" asked Millerna. Hitomi smiled.
"I'm getting to that. So we've established that the fort is out of the way, not of any military importance, and not worth taking back. What does that suggest?"
Dilandau snorted. "That Veers was cracked for taking it in the first place?"
"No" Sabrina spoke up suddenly. She quivered slightly when everyone turned their eyes on her but calmed down when Setto patted her hand gently. "He'd use it for something important if no one was likely to take it."
Hitomi smiled. The girl was smart. "Exactly. Now what does he need the fort for?"
"He doesn't need position on us, what with him having us totally surrounded." Shoal frowned in thought.
"Maybe his supplies are there?"
"No. He's got loads of them with him and his supply lines are still intact."
"Maybe he's keeping a weapon there?"
Hitomi nodded excitedly. "Exactly! I think he's hiding his supply of energist bombs in that fortress! We'd never think to look there, so out in the open."
Sageth frowned. "But how could we possibly be sure? For all we know it's a ruse."
Hitomi nodded. "I've thought of that. I think I prove they're there. If I can mind search it than we'll find out for sure."
Van objected. "The sorcerers will have though of that. They know that you're psychic and can see these things so wouldn't they have shielded it?"
"I've thought of that to and I think that I can break through with Yukari's help."
Yukari was present but hadn't said anything up 'till now. Now her eyes widened. "Me? But I don't have the training to know what I'm doing!"
Her mother smiled encouragingly. "Just leave everything to me Yuki. I'll be doing the doing. Alright?"
Yukari hesitated for a moment then nodded. She gripped Mark's hand tightly for a moment before letting go.
***
"I want you to relax your mind" Hitomi soothed. She and her daughter sat on stools facing each other. They sat in the centre of the room with everyone else crowding the edges, not wanting to disturb anything. Yukari was very nervous. She was new at this. What if she screwed up?
"Just relax" Hitomi repeated. "Relax and look into my eyes. Focus all your thought on my eyes".
Yukari looked up into Hitomi's emerald eyes, studying their colour- shrouded depths, completely inscrutable except to those who knew her. She looked into them expecting to see her reflection but instead she fell deep into the endless sea of green. She never knew when she lost herself in those eyes. When she blinked she found herself in the misty grey realm where visions became reality.
Hitomi chuckled, the laugh having a misty quality. "Welcome to the astral plane" she said. "Well that's what I call it. I don't know its real name." Yukari tried to whirl but found she couldn't move. Before panic could grip her, Hitomi's voice spoke to her. "I'm sorry we have to travel like this but it's the only way we'll find what we're looking for. I'll explain. If we run into any defences the sorcerers set up here than we might not have the strength to deal with them on our own. But with our powers combined we should be able to handle anything they throw at us. The catch is that one of us had to be the body while the other made the decisions, as it were. Again, I'm sorry but I have more experience than you at this." A wave of sadness crept over Yukari's being.
If Yukari could have moved she would have squeezed her mother's hand. She seemed to sense this and the sadness disappeared. "Shall we go then?"
They journeyed through the mist with a thought. In a brief flash Yukari saw countless things too fast to make sense of them. The next moment, the daughter with her mother guiding her had reached a section of the misty world. With a wave of Yukari's hand, Hitomi cleared the mist. There was a brief view of a small fort before a wall of shadow cut them off from their destination. The blackness crackled with magical power that was decidedly sinister.
Hitomi growled in frustration and Yukari felt her mind surge. The wall of darkness suddenly shattered and the view of the fort was unimpaired.
Yukari sensed satisfaction and she moved forward. Together her mind and Hitomi's flowed through the fort and saw everything in a brief instant. Hitomi seemed to smile as she found what she was looking for. In the next instant the mist of the astral world began to fade and Yukari suddenly found herself looking into Hitomi's eyes.
Hitomi smiled. "Nicely done Yuki!" she said, calling Yukari by her nickname as a child. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Yukari panted, suddenly tired. "What was that shadow?"
"That was a defensive barrier that someone placed over the fort. Neither of us could have broken it alone but we managed it together."
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
They turned and looked over to their audience who were watching in anxiety. Hitomi nodded.
"Yes. They have five energist bombs in that fort. They are all that Veers brought with him."
"Then our next move should be to take the fort!"
"That's impossible! The minute we make a move then Veers will attack and destroy us all."
Before another argument could flare up Millerna raised her hand like she was at grade school. "Perhaps we could sneak a small group of men out of the castle to capture the bombs?"
There was total silence for a second.
"Or we could do that."
Van smiled briefly and gave Millerna a little sideways hug.
Dilandau frowned. "We'd need someone to guide us. Those bombs could be hidden anywhere and that fort has dozens of passages. It's like a freaking maze in there! Who was stationed there last?"
Millerna shrugged helplessly. "The only ones who could do it are the old Crusade crew and they joined Dryden's crew after the Destiny war."
"But if we go in there alone we'll have no idea where to look. We'd get lost and slaughtered by guards!" Dilandau was on the verge of ripping out his hair in frustration.
"And if we don't do anything we're screwed anyway." Pointed out Van. "We have to try."
Suddenly Millerna turned thoughtful. "Maybe He could help us."
Van was puzzled. "Who's He?"
"He knows that fort inside and out. He commanded it for years and if anyone could find the bombs it would be him."
"But who is he?"
Hitomi suddenly realised what Millerna was trying to say and swore. "You can't be serious! You'd really trust him?!"
"I would" Millerna answered in a confident voice.
Dilandau was beside himself. "Who?!"
"Allen Schezar".
Magicman: Dun dun dun! And the biggest plot twist of them all has come! I'd say more but I think I'll let you all sweat. God, I've missed these cliffhangers! I'll see you later after comprehension has dawned. Bye!
