Chapter19: Air Turbulence

When I was young I flew on wings across the sky so high. There were many of us then of all the elements. My memory fails me. I was always the loneliest - always.

I am a dragoon.

All Hail Diaz.

All Hail King Albert.

When I was young I was lonely too. I was an orphan boy like so many tragic others. I had to make a living some how.

You stole – you killed – you murdered. You are irresponsible and damned.

It reminds me somehow of this machine that floats. Or maybe this reminds me of then. Somehow things never worked out the way they were planned.

It is always the way.

You have lost the way.

I'll Kill Her!

She was always so lonely.

I had not foreseen that they would all die the way they did. It made her so lonely that he was not there for her.

The moon child descends upon the earth to fill the world with holy bliss except that the Black Monster devours her.

There has only been one before you.

There has only been one before me? Why me now? Why am I any different?

They are after you and if they catch you they will kill you and enslave me into their machine.

Why do they want the dragoon spirits?

Why does anyone want the dragoon spirits?

Power. Raw power.

It is the will of the creator Soa.

The God of destruction will destroy the world. When light fails darkness shows the way. It is an ill omen when Hell lights Heaven's doorway.

They are after me?

They are after you now!

He woke up. He was still on board and it was almost pitch black inside the cabin. There was a soft hum in the air of the machinery. Again the dragoon spirit – it was resonating with a dark purple light. Megufu's heart was beating fast. Something was wrong and he knew it. In his dream he had been warned.

Grabbing his things he dressed himself and pulled the black coat around him. Leaving the small cabin he walked down the metal corridor being careful to make as little noise as possible. It was difficult as the floor was metal grated and it was easy to clang. His shoes sounded soft against the metal like a large out of tune metal bell being tapped quietly at one pitch. The hum of machinery was hypnotic. It had been difficult to get to sleep in the first place.

The wind was blowing harshly on the deck. It was very cold as Megufu looked around him. It was hard to see anything through the clouds. How far they were from Rouge Megufu could not be certain. For the first time in the chaos since that phone call Megufu wished very strongly that he was back at home – that is if he had a home to call on. It had probably been searched and burned to the ground by now by either of the two mafias. It would be difficult to know what to go back to.

In the distance Megufu saw the problems. The dragoon spirit resonated softly in his pocket. In the distance there were lights – many of them coming closer. The Rouge Enforcers were on to him. There must have been ten or eleven Mech platforms following them. Rouge was probably in a state of national emergency after the museum incident. They had probably left the island before enforcers could be dispatched to check this cargo. Now it seemed that the enforcers had come to them to stop them going any further.

"What do I do now?" he whispered to himself. Unsure he hid himself behind one of the far large air vents and peered out from the shadows. The platforms came closer and closer until they pulled up beside the ship on both sides.

"This is the Rouge Enforcers – we have a search warrant for the ship – drop your speed now!" boomed a voice. Megufu ducked as one of the Mech platforms circled round scarily close to him. There was nothing between him and the platform for several seconds apart from a safety barrier and the night darkness. The head lamps blazed out over the ship illuminating different parts like spotlights in a dance hall. Several of the Mech Platforms stopped over the ship and gently came to land. Small metallic holding legs shot out the bottom to protect the propellers from being damaged. The enforcers on board jumped off smoothly and landed on the deck. They spoke to one of the crew who looking very flustered ran off down the steps in a hurry. They waited impatiently and one loaded a magi-tech weapon with a Burning Wave spell. They looked at each other purposefully talking softly amongst themselves with deadly serious expressions.

Captain Pichel came out looking sleepily from side to side. Evidently someone else had been doing the night shift. Him and the enforcers spoke together but it was impossible for Megufu to make out what the Captain or the enforcers were saying.

Seeming to agree on something they all walked down the stairs to the lower decks. Evidently the Captain was probably taking them to the room Megufu had been staying in. Had Megufu still been there his chances of getting to Demingrad would have been slim. The deck was mostly empty now. There were still platforms hovering here and there around the ship but even so, it was only a matter of time before they found him.

"I'll take my chances while I have them," thought Megufu to himself. Pushing up he ran through the darkness and dodged once across the deck to avoid a spot light as it shot passed. Jumping up he climbed onto one of the docked Mech platforms. He was surprised how easy it was to balance on the thing. There seemed to be an artificial field of gravity that held you in place as you stood on the actual platform.

Having no knowledge of how to work the machine Megufu was surprised when he managed to get the thing to take off. The propeller started and the control panel gave way to the control stick. Leaning on it he pushed in the direction he wanted to go and it flew.

"You stop!" came a voice from the other platforms. Megufu ignored it and pushed the stick hard so that he left the safety of the ship behind. Below him he could see the ocean roaring with the tides. The other platforms screeched into action with a whirring of noise followed him. An explosion of flames rocketed in the air just missing Megufu. It was a sharp reminder that they had weapons and he didn't.