In answer to some of THW's comments and questions: Solaria was a gear featured in the Guilty Gear X novel Lightning the Argent written in 2001, also this is still the beginning of it all I am doing my best to tie together all the plot lines that I can, not everything is as clear as it first seems. It's like I said, layers. I do not own Guilty Gear or any of it's franchises.
Appearance
He stumbled, but he picked himself up and pressed on. If his information was correct then he had no time left to worry about such unimportant things as his own welfare. He gripped his sword, his holy tool, the Fuuraiken in his right hand as he ran faster. He had to make it, for her sake if nothing else. He pleaded to God that he might make it in time.
His prayers were in vain.
Before he understood anything that was happening he found himself surrounded in a clearing. All around the warrior were what seemed to be copies of himself. They were machines, of that he was certain, but they all looked shockingly like him, what's more, it seemed like each one had a copy of his Fuuraiken.
These abominations of Black Technology crawled closer to the knight, each one laughing disturbingly. Upon closer inspection the Knight could see what looked like wind-up keys coming out of their ears.
There were dozens of them to be sure, all with what seemed to be the same purpose. , his death.
"Target Acquired." They spoke one after another, "commencing required negotiations." One of the robots stood, their back hunched over as if someone were pulling strings on it's back.
"Commander Ky Kiske," the one robot spoke alone, "please do not fight us and reveal the location of the Command Gear Dizzy." Hearing the name the Knight furrowed his brow. "We believe that you do not want the same thing that happened to Solaria to Justice's Daughter, therefore we will offer you a bargain, deliver us the gear and we will continue on as if you're deception never occurred. End message."
"Justice's," Ky let the full weight of the information placed before him, "what do you mean? What happened to Solaria?"
"The gear Solaria was dismantled," the same robot continued to speak, "unfortunately there was no new information from her."
"Dismantled?" The Knight remembered that child's gentle voice, her peaceful singing. Solaria had never done anything to harm people and yet? "Who sent you?"
"You do not need to know that," the robot's head twitched, "just comply with the Shussen Kanrikyoku's orders and reveal Dizzy to us."
"Justice's," Ky could not bring himself to say the rest, it seemed to surreal. "How do you know about Dizzy?"
"We have known about the child's heritage for sometime now, but our patience is running out. You have ten seconds to comply and tell us where she is." The robots eyes seemed to flash with the passing of time, proving that it was indeed counting down to something.
"She is," there was no way to prove the validity of the robot's claims, for all he knew they could be lying. However he knew how their masters worked, they would offer him this taste of the truth in hopes of blinding him once more. If Dizzy was, as they said, Justice's child then he knew that he could for certain never give her up. Clutching tightly to the hilt of his sword the former knight closed his eyes.
The robot continued counting down, unaware of Ky's present state.
"Did you know that Lightning is extremely hard to control," Ky laughed, "let me show you how hard." The Fuuraiken began to glow as sparks danced from the blade, all of the Robo-Ky were made aware of it, but soon the sparks grew until it spread from Ky's body itself. Feeling the growing power Ky gripped his sword in both hands and brought it to salute. "This is the Fuuraiken's power." No soon had he finished than electricity erupted from all around him.
The robots were too slow to react, feeling the charge with their sensors they screamed in agony before their bodies exploded. It wasn't long until a great crater lay where the Holy Knight once stood.
A being stood on a rock four miles south of Ky's outburst, it was dressed in clothing similar to his, but it's face was like that of one of the other robots. It viewed the blast from a safe distance, until the point where the knight's outburst had destroyed all around him it was linked to the other robots, now it stood alone, as it always did.
"01 reporting," it said as it held it's head, "the target has decided to not cooperate." Hearing orders come from the other end it nodded. "Understood then this will be covered up as quickly as possible, an alibi will be conceived as soon as one is able to. However it appears that the target was not able to survive it's own outburst. Given the target's nature and the information given to him it would appear that there is a 22.6 chance of target survival. Will commence retrieval now."
Ky's eyes opened evenly, it was the same memory dream that he's had since the whole thing started. He had confirmed Solaria's state with his own eyes mere hours later, the mere memory of it forcing him to cover his mouth to hold back his bile.
He remembered how even Sol could not bring himself to harm the child, yet his former superiors had not had the same feeling. His heart broke at that failure and he forced himself to suppress the fresh tears that threatened to spill forth.
It was not the time to cry, it was time to make plans. He had little time to make his move before the Shussen Kanrikyoku made theirs, but there was still much to do. As the song went, 'People to see and miles to go before I sleep'.
With that thought in mind Ky left his bed. It had been little more than a day since he had explained himself to Dizzy. After their initial embrace Ky had gone off to his own living quarters to think. The Atonement was an almost entirely self-reliant airship requiring only one individual to actually guide it. However it did need supplies and fuel, this was exactly the reason they would land soon.
"What is this place?" The assassin Venom asked. In the instant that he agreed to follow this Raven being he found himself being transported to a cave of some kind, but this cave was made of metal. All around him he saw various pipes and brackets that lead to who knows where. As they walked he idly thought that the place was some kind of alcohol induced illusion and that he was still dreaming.
"Here," Raven answered, "this is where my master waits." He did not trust this Raven at all, he looked like some kind of abomination. His body was racked with spikes that seemed to go through his shoulders, hands and feet. These were no mere adornments as he even had one going straight through his skull. His body seemed spindly and frail. His face was like a broken porcelain doll's and his pale hair seemed like something from a broken child's toy. No there was nothing that Venom felt that he could trust about this Raven.
Still he had worked with other, somehow more disturbing creatures before and the prize, if it was real, was too important for him to turn away. Soon he would have his precious master's body back. In the back of his mind he relished the thought of the Kinju still being there and the way's he would make it suffer if it actually still were.
"The Assassin Venom," he heard a new voice speak, "and the Gear Testament," Looking around himself suddenly Venom realized he was in a large room filled with glass pipes and strange creatures confined t them. At the center of it all was a dark man standing next to a strange console, I welcome you to the future."
Looking over to his left Venom did indeed see the gear Testament, more importantly he saw the red woman standing next to him. It had been her fault that he was unable to secure Zato-1's body in the first place. Removing his weapon from it's case Venom put himself in a defensive position, waiting for I-no to make her move.
"There will be no fighting here," The shadowy man assured, "besides that I have something you are looking for." Venom froze, with the danger that surrounded him he had almost forgotten his purpose. When he realized that the red musician wasn't going to attack he lowered his guard and looked to Testament, realizing quickly that the gear did not want to be here. When the crow on Testament's shoulder looked back at Venom he decided it was time to look at something else.
"I didn't know Zato's little pet was going to be here too." The voice made Venom's blood freeze, it couldn't have been? Was this Raven's sick idea of a joke? Was HE with them?
When he saw the all too familiar swirling darkness, the assassin clenched his teeth and shuddered with anger. In that instant any trace of alcohol left his system. He would have killed the Kinju where it stood had he not been mindful of his surroundings.
"There will be no bickering amongst ourselves." Raven turned his broken doll stare at Eddie. "We aren't here because we want to be."
"There is not that much time either," the being known only as That Man said, "now everyone come with me, there are preparations to be made."
Venom trailed behind the others wondering what the Hell he himself had just gotten into.
Hong Kong, It was a grand city, one teeming with all sorts of people. It was here that Ky's airship landed, hopefully they would be able to get what supplies they needed and go, before anyone dangerous was able to find them.
He had wanted to keep quiet, not leave the ship if at all possible. There were unknown factors to consider though, it had been a long time since he had been anywhere near China and the knight's thoughts switched to something less ominous.
Dizzy had never seen this part of the world and showed expressed interest in going at least as far as the port. He had wanted to deny her, to keep her locked away in his palace and protect her. He did not want anyone outside finding out about either one of them.
However Dizzy was not a doll. There was something in her whole body that wanted to see this place, if only for a little while. She had done everything but outright begging to get Ky to allow her to at least leave the airship. It was a simple request and one the Bernard had agreed to. Agreeing finally Ky allowed the young gear to leave under one condition, that she never leave his sight.
And so Ky Kiske, the once leader of the Sacred Order of Knights had been defeated by an old man and a young woman.
That was about two hours ago. In truth it wasn't such a bad idea, they had wandered the busy streets of the city and seen all kinds of things. They walked through a local bazaar, a first for Dizzy. All along a particular dirt road were various scents and sights, unique rugs, pottery, glass and foods surrounded them openly. IN the overwhelming clutch of people Dizzy held on to his arm the whole time, claiming that she could still not walk comfortably without her tail.
Ky was bartering with a merchant over a tea cup he wanted when she smelled it. It was unlike anything she or Leap had made on the Mayship. It was tinged with the spices of the orient, a food that seemed to simply smell good.
"Ky," Dizzy tugged at the slightly larger man's arm, "what's that over there."
Looking over to a nearby stand Ky guessed at what had caught her eye. "Are you hungry?" After finalizing a price Ky took the cup and proceeded to what had so enthralled the young lady that was with him.
"You have a good eye Miss," the cook said as they walked to his stall, "I bet you would like to try some of my dumplings." The merchant didn't ask much for the particular items and Ky was feeling a bit hungry himself.
"It's good," Dizzy beamed as she enjoyed every bite.
"It certainly is," Ky was not near as enthusiastic as his partner, it filled him with apprehension. He had eaten these exact dumplings before, everything about the taste reminded him of food he had eaten months before. Yes he had eaten these dumplings before.
Turning suddenly at a sound Ky startled both the merchant and Dizzy, rending her from his arm. He seemed anxious, but not in any dangerous way. She saw in his eyes a look of fear that she had not seen before. There was no danger though, if there was Ky would have safeguarded her long ago, but the knight was definitely anxious about something.
He didn't talk much after they had tried the street vendor's food, but Ky hadn't really said much before then either. However Dizzy became acutely aware of his anxiety from then on.
"You're a pretty little thing," the stranger said. Dizzy struggled against him and some of his fellows as the each grabbed for her in the dark ally.
She must have gone through the scenario thirty times in the past instant. Ky had left her side only for a moment, he just needed to use a restroom. It was then that the child was attacked, several strangers had attacked her and dragged her to this place. The look in their eyes was primal, lustful, and unmistakable.
She cursed her luck. Had Necro and Undine been with her she could have defended herself easily, but now she was helpless. It was a feeling she did not like, and she found herself sobbing silently as the strangers encroached upon her.
"Don't worry," the same thug spoke again, "this won't take too long and when it's over you'll be happy that it happened." In the next instant she saw the nameless thug's arms fly towards her.
"NO!" The gear screamed at the top of her lungs, for as long as she could. It was not long though as one of the many loathsome men had placed his hand firmly over her mouth.
"Don't fight it," he said as he held her arms tightly behind her back, "you do and you just make it worse."
The group paused, hearing on of their own scream out in agony as they saw his broken body fly across them. The man that was attacked was no small man either, he dwarfed the others in both size and build. This man that was tossed like so much rotten meat was beaten by someone powerful, of that they were certain.
"Ky," Dizzy whispered as soon as the thug let go of her mouth.
"Who the Hell are you?" a knife brandishing thug asked the shadow that moved over them. What surprised them was not the relatively small stature of the person, but the appearance.
Dizzy had seen her once before, she wore her brown hair in a unique circular tail adorned with a Chinese hair piece. She was draped in red with bare legs and a stern look in her similarly brown eyes. She knew who this bounty hunter was, for she was the one that claimed the prize on Dizzy's very head.
"Kuradoberi Jam," the girl said with clenched fists, "and I'm making my appearance now."
-to be continued
I hope this has answered some questions, maybe even brought about a few more. I will do my best to tie up all the loose ends and major plot points before this ends, if there is anything I hate it's an idea going to waste.