Eden's Zero's mission to liberate the planet Iceberg from Ziggy's clutches began. The group spread out into three forces to cover the most ground. Iceberg was a frozen planet in an eternal winter; as such, there was constant snow on the planet and it piled up everywhere. Dressing warm was advised for everyone. Rebecca, Happy, and Homura landed in the forest near the factory. They couldn't land any closer without arousing suspicion, and the snow helped cover their landing as well.
Homura was dressed in the same kimono as always, only she had a gigantic scarf wrapped around her neck that kept the heat insulated. Somehow that was enough for her. She would be the only one sweating when on a snow covered planet. "…Tis very warm…" Homura mumbled.
Rebecca and Happy would never understand Homura's sensitivity to the heat. "Are you going to be alright…?" Naturally, Rebecca was a little concerned. She was fully dressed in a jacket, long pants, and even boots. Everything she needed to combat the cold, and she was still freezing!
"Of course! I can handle a little heat…" Homura spoke with a firm nod. "I cannot allow it to slow us down either. I do not wish to be a burden."
"The factory is just up ahead." Happy pointed out. "I don't think they'll be expecting us!"
"Good." Rebecca then pulled her B-cube out and angled it towards herself. "Now, let's give the viewers a little sneak peek!"
"You're making a video? Now?" Homura was only a little surprised, but she also noticed that the angle Rebecca held the cube at would also show her. "Oh, do I look alright?"
"You're fine!" Rebecca smiled as they walked carefully through the snow. Rebecca then began to record, but this was only a short snippet of what was to come. "Who's ready for a new video? This time, we'll be uncovering the snowy truths of the frozen planet, Iceberg! Stay tuned for the full video later!" Homura and Happy were in the background, the former giving a sheepish wave, while Happy gladly waved to the potential audience. "Ah, it feels so good to have my channel grow…"
"You have been rising…it's nice to see." Homura still didn't quite understand how B-cubing worked, but she was more than happy to support and aid her friend in it. But she suddenly stopped in her tracks, brown eyes narrowing as she began to glance around. "…"
"What's wrong?" Rebecca's happy expression shifted to something a bit more serious when Homura stopped.
"Do you hear that?" Homura kept her voice low, staring at the trees around them. Something felt…off. Like they were being watched…
"I don't hear anything…" Happy said quietly. The only sounds around them were their own voices and the former crunch of their footsteps in the snow. A gentle, chilling breeze passed by as the trio remained tense and still.
Homura activated her Ether Gear, Soul Blade. The red lines extended from her wrist and along her arm, forming a singular sword within her hand. She quickly tossed it at the canopy of a tree behind her. The blade cut through the branches, whiffing its intended target. A white, spherical robot emerged from the snow, its center gleaming bright red. It blended in perfectly with the snow covering the ground and the trees. The moment it was spotted, it flew into the air and started to speed off in the direction of the factory. "A surveillance droid!" Homura gasped, beginning to follow it along with Rebecca.
"We have to stop it before it informs the factory!" Rebecca said. She glanced at Happy, and the robotic cat was already on it, transforming into dual pistols for Rebecca to make use of. She already had to ditch her boots, activating Cat Leaper to spring up onto the trees, catching up to the droid in the blink of an eye. "I don't think so!" She fired a few shots, all of them connecting and sending the robot down into the snow. "I got it!"
"I'll finish it!" Homura jumped into the air, spinning around before aiming a fierce, singular slash to the spherical robot's frame. Just as she did, it moved and began to transform slightly. What was once a small orb turned into a humanoid sized combat bot, equipped with a sword of its own. It was roughly Homura and Rebecca's size and height, but the glowing red orb in the middle showed its possible weak spot. "Huh?"
"It transformed…!?" Rebecca was also surprised. Were these kinds of robots being created in the factory!? Before the two girls could question things any further, the robot spun around while extending its sword. This created a miniature blizzard as it kicked up a ton of snow around, blowing it into Homura and Rebecca's faces. "Ack!"
"It got in my eyes…!" Homura recoiled, eyes squeezed shut. She was expecting an attack and there was one, but not the type she was expecting. The robot swung its sword at her, letting loose a pressurized slash of air towards Homura. It caught the swordswoman by surprise, knocking her into a tree. "Ow!" She grunted. Before Homura could recover, the snow on top of the tree she was under collapsed and fell on top of her, burying most of her body under it.
By the time Rebecca cleared her eyes, she saw Homura in the snow, and the robot attempting to escape. "Homura!"
"I'll be fine! Do not let it escape!" Homura said, slowly pulling herself from the snow. Thank goodness that scarf was doing its job in keeping her warm.
"Right!" Rebecca nodded and quickly sped off to chase after the robot. When it came to speed, she had the edge thanks to Cat Leaper. If things got really bad, she could Rewind, but that was a last resort type of deal, even if she could expand the number of rewinds she could perform. Most importantly, she quickly zipped along the ground, catching up to the robot in the blink of an eye. "You're not getting away from me!"
"Intruders detected. Initiating combat mode." The robot spoke, turning on its heel to stop and lunge at Rebecca. It aimed its sword at her, but she dodged it by jumping over it.
"Too slow!" Rebecca grinned while pointing the Happy Blaster down, releasing numerous ether bullets upon the robots body. These bullets were all direct hits, and by the time she landed, she was already prepared to shoot another volley. The robot did sustain some damage from Rebecca's bullets, but it wasn't so incompetent to be stunned by this. When Rebecca began firing again, it simply started to slash through the bullets while rushing towards her. "Gah?!"
"Close range imminent. Power Slash." The robot spoke while swinging its sword at Rebecca. She was able to avoid it narrowly with a duck, but the force of the slash cut down one of the nearby trees. This made Rebecca sweat, as she now had to avoid numerous attacks by stepping backwards and to the side. It wasn't an ideal situation for her, because her feet did not enjoy being on the cold snow for this long. This made her slow down a bit, which did result in her taking a hit.
Rebecca was at least able to cross her arms, lacerations appearing on her fair skin that drew some blood. "Ouch…" She couldn't afford to dance around this thing forever, so she decided to go on the offense. The green lines on her ankles lit up and she pushed forward, rearing her right left backwards. "Bellholy Slash!" She swung her leg at the robot's face, her momentum forcing it to stagger backwards across the snow. Rebecca landed, practically hopping in place to prevent her feet from becoming too cold. "Cold, cold, cold…!"
The robot sustained damage from that strike, but it wasn't enough to finish it off. It was preparing to attack again, but a crimson sword pierced its centerpiece. Homura made it just in time. "That is enough of that…" And with a vertical slash, she cleaved the robot in two from the waist. It wasn't an android, but more of a drone. As such, there were no qualms about taking it out.
"Thanks, Homura." Rebecca said with a slight smile. Homura tossed Rebecca her boots and she quickly put them back on. They had heating, so they would quickly warm her cold feet. She sighed contently. "That's the stuff…" She then looked over the robot. It was different than an android, which was intriguing. "This is definitely one of Ziggy's robots, but I think it was made here to serve on this planet…"
"I'm glad we were able to deal with that before it became too troublesome." Homura said, dusting off some lingering snow on her kimono. Her attention then turned in front of them. They couldn't have dealt with the robot a moment too soon, for a large factory was in front of them. Smoke floated out from the top, which led them to believe there was at least some form of heat indoors.
"So we're here. Are you guys ready?" Rebecca asked Happy and Homura.
"Aye sir!" Happy said.
"The core is undoubtedly within that factory. Be careful, you three." Hermit spoke through their coms.
"Don't worry, we got this!" Rebecca said with a wink. "Let's go!" With Happy in hand, she and Homura quietly stepped into the factory, in search of the core they needed to shut down to liberate the planet.
But what they didn't know was that the robot they defeated had one last task. Even though it was torn to shreds, it was not a mere surveillance robot. It had a secondary function, which was even more important than the first. "Data…uploaded…"
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Weisz, Laguna, Jinn, Pino, and Kleene made their way to the area where the humans were said to be held captive. They were expecting some sort of containment facility, but what they found instead was a town. The buildings were covered in snow and there wasn't a single person out in the streets. That was only more reason to be wary. "It's a ghost town here…" Jinn said, carefully looking around.
"Are we sure there are people here…?" Kleene had every right to be suspicious.
"There are definitely people there." Ivry spoke through the communicator. "Plenty of androids are there as well…"
"She's right." Pino nodded. "I am detecting high android activity somewhere within this town. But these do not match the signals that come from robots directly controlled by Ziggy."
"So these robots are native to the planet…" Laguna said.
"In that case, we have to take care in not hurting them, right?" Kleene said. The group nodded and they slowly, carefully traversing the street. The only sounds were the crunching of the snow underfoot. "But where are they? There's not a single person here…"
Weisz was skeptical about all of this. His eyes glanced towards the frozen windows of nearby houses and that's when he noticed something. He briefly saw a person in the window; a man with a heavy coat, his expression and body language completely tired and exhausted. When he saw the group from the Eden's Zero, his eyes widened in surprise and he quickly left the window. "…They're in the houses." Weisz told the others quietly.
"I wonder…" Jinn jumped onto the rooftops silently. When he looked around, he saw a large transportation car due east of their current location. It was manned by a few androids and he couldn't determine if those were native robots, or Ziggy robots, but it looked like it was picking up humans to carry them to the factory. "I see what's going on here…" Jinn then jumped down to report his findings. "These people are definitely being used for labor. Just east is a car to transport them, likely to the factory where Rebecca and Homura are."
"That's terrible…" Pino could not help but frown. Co-existence between human and androids should have been peaceful. But wherever they went, one side was always trying to take advantage of, or just completely get rid of the other. It was a never ending cycle that persisted for far too long, but at least they were doing their part to help everyone.
"So what are we going to do?" Laguna asked the others. "Because I don't intend to stand in this cold all day."
"I got a plan." Weisz said with a wide grin. "That vehicle is nearby, right? Let me get a crack at it. I think I can have a little fun with that bad boy. We just need a little distraction."
"A distraction, is it?" Kleene repeated. "I think I can do that."
"Wait, are you sure-?" Jinn's overprotective instinct of his sister immediately shone through in that moment.
"Yes, brother. Just leave it to me!" Kleene flashed a gentle smile. That was enough to get Jinn to relent.
"Very well…we'll leave it to you." Jinn said with a slow nod. He trusted his sister, that went without saying. He just worried.
Nodding, Kleene used her ether gear to float into the air, and float off towards the east where the vehicle was. "Just watch this…!"
Little did this group realize that there was something hidden within the snow of the rooftops. A surveillance drone, just like the one Rebecca and Homura dealt with, was watching them from above. It was recording and watching their every move. "Uploading data…"
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As for Shiki, the mountain region was the coldest. The snow blew the heaviest there, and his thick coat barely staved off the cold. But this was fine, because the area was just as heavily guarded as he expected. The robots scattered about the mountains were familiar models, all robots that worked directly for Ziggy. "Just as I thought. Since you're all Ziggy robots, I don't mind roughing you up a little bit…"
He struck while the iron was hot. Green lines appeared along Shiki's arms as Satan's Gravity activated. Shiki altered the course of gravity around him, sliding along the snow so quickly it looked like he was teleporting. By the time he closed the gap between the first robot he saw, it was too late for them. "Magimech Attack: Gravity Fist!" Shiki slammed his fist into the android's head, driving it into the snow. He was careful to temper his strength, since he didn't want to destroy anything, but simply incapacitate them.
As soon as the first one was down, his eyes locked onto a pair nearby. Gravity shifted once more, pulling him towards the pair of androids while he spun around. "And…Windmill Kick!" Once he was close enough, Shiki extended his legs, slamming both of them into the androids to knock them down. By this point, the androids were becoming aware of what was happening, but Shiki was simply moving too quickly for any of them to react. Shiki jumped into the middle of a large group and crossed his arms. "And…Gravity Center!" A powerful pulse of gravity boomed outwards, pushing back a number of androids with its intensity.
By this point, Shiki gathered a lot of attention. But this was perfectly fine with him. The more heavily guarded the area became, the closer he had to be to the core that needed to be shut down. The direct approach was the one that suited him best. With the others taking care of the factory and the humans, he was confident that things would go smoothly. The additional core only meant they had to add an extra step, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. "Come on, I'm just getting started!"
And just like with the last two locations, there was a drone hidden within the snow, uploading everything it saw about Shiki's actions. "Uploading Data…"
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Within the factory, a male android watched the data coming in from the surveillance drones. Even though one of them was destroyed, it didn't bother him too much. This android took the appearance of a young male with short, blonde hair, and a gaudy crown atop his head. His attire was that you'd see on a royal, purple in color and bejeweled with numerous gems. Clearly, he was built different than all of the standard androids that Ziggy had under his control. One side of this room displayed the data from the drones, while the other was just footage from the factory. Be it exhausted human workers who were on the verge of collapse, or the two intruders of Homura and Rebecca that just walked in. "So, they've finally arrived, have they? Alright then…I think it's time to roll out the red carpet for our guests."
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In the Eclipse Ark, Ano was typing away at something. His Ether Gear, Serpent Eater, activated. Yellow lines appeared along his face, taking the shape of serpents. With the Eden's Zero so close by, he could not resist the urge to try and slip into their systems. Attempting to hack into the Eden's Zero would naturally set off all kinds of alarms, especially since he knew not every crew member went down into Iceberg. Luckily… "Heh...luckily, my Ether Gear allows me to slip into any server undetected…" Ano was far from a combat specialist. His talents lied in his hacking ability, and this was more of an insurance plan in case things went south for Casey.
"Let's see…" Even though he could slip into the Eden's Zero's network undetected, there was still a mountain of security measures he had to deal with. A single misstep and the Eden's Zero would notice him. It was kind of exciting, but he knew what was at stake here. "If Casey makes contact with that crew, I should be able to help him if I can worm my way through their network fast enough…"
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In the Aoi Cosmos, a man with blue hair stood at the bridge of his ship. His gaze was cold, empty, yet there was a flicker of determination on his visage. "So…the Black Moon Star has reappeared once again, is that true?"
A woman with red eyes and red hair tied in a ponytail spoke. She had no defining features aside from her slightly gruff voice. "Yes sir. That's what our scouts in the Kaede Cosmos reported. One of the fragments flew to a planet known as Iceberg, but that planet is currently under android control. Some crew is attempting to fight them off….it is unlikely they do not find that fragment."
"I see. We can consider that fragment lost for the time being." The man said with a slow nod. "Tracking the Black Moon Star with no leads is near impossible. All I require is a single shard…that shard will lead us to the rest. The Black Moon Star yearns for nothing but to be complete, and once I have all five, I can enact my plan."
"Sir Alexei." The woman said quietly. "How do you intend to find a shard? They've scattered all across the Sakura, Aoi, and Kaede cosmos…"
"Simple." Alexei replied, closing his eyes. "There is a woman who knows the answers to everything…on the planet Mildian. I believe she is known as the Time Oracle. Though the planet is constantly moving, I've been able to roughly pinpoint its next location. At that point, all we need to do is ask her where a single shard is. Once we succeed in that endeavor, everything will fall into the place.
This universe, filled with emotion…I shall bend it to its knees in my vision with the power of the Black Moon."