Elsie's ship made its way towards the Midi Orbital Gate. Based on what Hermit said, a shard of the Black Moon Star was somewhere on that space station. Elsie's ship was already known throughout the various cosmoses, so she already kind of expected a fight when they were spotted. But the sight that she saw before her was shocking even to her. "What in the-!?" The Midi Orbital Gate was in ruins. The defensive ring around the planet was annihilated. There were bodies and android parts floating about in space.
"What the hell happened here?!" Gowen shouted.
"There's absolutely nothing here…it's all destroyed…" Hyoga looked around. "As much as I hate to say it, it appears that someone else came here…and they found that they were looking for. If there were any traces of the Black Moon Star, it's gone now."
Elsie grit her teeth, staring at the destruction ahead of them. While it may be the pot calling the kettle black, destruction on this scale was deplorable. "Are there any survivors?"
"I doubt it." Hyoga shook his head. "Whoever did this was extremely thorough. But there may be an android that is fighting to stay alive. If that is the case, perhaps it saw something that we can use."
"Look for it." Elsie said. If there was even a single person alive – human or android – she wanted to save them.
"Of course." Hyoga nodded. Elsie had a large fleet at her disposal, so it was only a matter of time until someone found something. Some time passed and eventually the head of an android was brought back onto the ship.
"The hell is this?" Gowen scoffed. "It's just an android head."
"Unfortunately…nobody survived this attack. Some of the debris was even forced onto the planet Midi. They weren't expecting to be attacked." Hyoga reported. "But this android has some audio and visual data we can extract."
"I see." Elsie crossed her arms. "Show us the data. If there's really someone else out there who's willing to go this far…we need to know who it is." It could've been Ziggy for all she knew…but that wouldn't make sense either. If he was on the warpath to make Androids the superior race, would he really have gone so far as to wipe the androids here out as well!?
"Playing the data now." Hyoga reported. The visual data of the android displayed on the screen ahead. The audio was static and broken, so they weren't getting much. They could make out voices and a few words, but nothing substantial. They could see through the android's eyes, what looked like a piece of the Black Moon Star.
"That looks like what Hermit showed us." Elsie confirmed. They continued to watch the feedback; they saw the small ship approach the orbital gate, but there was some static in the visuals. In the next second, the Galactic Fleet was attacking. The size of the fleet surprised everyone on the Skull Fairy.
"Whoa!" Gowen gasped. "That fleet is MASSIVE! Where the hell did it come from!?" All they could do was watch as the Midi Orbital Gate was assaulted. It happened far too quickly and the defensive station around the planet of Midi was destroyed.
Alexei was on the screen and he stepped through the rubble, taking hold of the Black Moon Star piece. "And that takes care of that." The Black Moon Star shone brightly, releasing numerous black beams that spread out in all directions.
"Two of these beams are pointing towards the Kaede Cosmos. The other two are pointing to in the direction of the Sakura Cosmos." That was Hubert's voice, but the crew of the Skull Fairy had no way of knowing this. "To be more accurate, I believe those coordinates are leading…Blue Garden…" The audio cut out a bit. But their destination was clear.
"Ain't this bad?" Gowen asked. "If those bastards are making their way to Blue Garden, there's a chance it's gonna end up just like this place!"
"It's incredibly bad." Hyoga said. "Whoever these people are, they don't care about life."
"We're setting a course for Blue Garden." Elsie said while turning around. "We have to act before it's too late. We're setting a course for Blue Garden effective immediately!"
.
.
The crew of the Fiertia were busy with repairs and a messy ship. Hanabi was stepping over some trash littered about and groaned all the while. "Are you guys serious? What's with the mess?" She asked. It had been some time since their battle against the Eden's Zero, so they were recovered by this point. Their ship had seen better days.
"Someone's supposed to clean it all up." Jigan said while rotating his arm.
"Blair's not here anymore. You practically kicked her off the ship." Hanabi placed her hands on her hips, scowling at Jigan.
"She failed, what else was I supposed to do?" Jigan replied with a casual shrug. "Besides, all we need to do is just steal a better ship. I have no real attachment to this halfway decent thing."
"Whatever it takes." Waltz was polishing his sword. "But more importantly, what are we doing to do next? We were absolutely trounced by the Eden's Zero. It's infuriating."
"Next time I see that brat, I'm gonna kill him!" Jigan slammed his fist against the wall. His defeat by Shiki's hand was incredibly irritating.
"Oh yeah?" Hanabi quirked a brow. "You're gonna kill him? After he absolutely wiped the floor with you in his Overdrive?" Jigan was about to retort, but Hanabi held her hand up. "And don't even say 'if it weren't for that, I would've won'. Because you two fought at full power. You had the help of the Black Moon Star and he crushed you."
Jigan's anger was clear when numerous bolts of lightning struck all around them. "How dare you talk to your captain that way?!" Jigan suddenly backhanded Hanabi's cheek with his left hand. There was a bruise on Hanabi's cheek and her head violently snapped to the side.
"….." Hanabi's hair created a shade over her eyes, and she rubbed her cheek. Her mind flashed back to something similar. Jigan was going to hit her once for speaking out of turn, but the one who stopped him was….Blair.
"Hey. Lay off." Despite being the new arrival, Blair stuck her neck out for Hanabi and Jigan's unfair treatment of her. In the end, that unfair treatment was turned to her…but Blair endured it and for a reason Hanabi never learned.
But Blair wasn't here right now…
"There's no need for any of that." Tobias spoke from the corner.
"Shut up, Tobias." Jigan scowled and turned away from Hanabi. "I'm appalled you all would doubt your captain. I know what it is I need to do. First, I need to unlock my own Overdrive. I was absolutely dominating the Demon King until that point. My own power as is…it is not enough. I know where I stand now, unfortunately. But I have a plan."
"What plan is that?" Weavel asked.
"Even though I did lose the Black Moon Star piece…I can still feel some of its power lingering within me. When I took hold it in my hand, I had a vision. I saw several planets in my head, and I can only assume those are where the rest of those shards are. The Black Moon Star wants nothing more than to be complete; and it was attempting to show me where to find the rest of it."
"Are you serious?" Tobias turned his head to Jigan.
Jigan had a menacing grin on his lips. "That's right. I didn't recognize most of them…but I knew what one was without a shadow of a doubt." The captain of the Fiertia threw his arm forward. "Blue Garden! That is our next destination!"
"Before we head off, there is something I have to report." Tobias said. "I was wondering why the Interstellar Union Army showed up when they did. As it turns out, I was able to pick out an outgoing transmission to them, from this ship, a few nights before we fought the Eden's Zero."
"What are you trying to say, Tobias?" Weavel glanced towards Tobias curiously.
"It means that someone on this ship contacted them." Tobias said grimly. The crew of the Fiertia looked at one another, the tension in the ship growing. This was not a crew that was bound together by trust or companionship. This was a crew held together by results and efficiency and thinly at that.
"…What if it was Blair?" Waltz suggested. "She hated being on this ship more than anyone."
"I wouldn't be surprised. She was always looking for a way to take us and me down." Jigan scoffed. "But we can worry about that later. If it's her, or even one of you, I'll deal with it. Now then, we head to Blue Garden!"
Hanabi was still rubbing her cheek. She fell silent after Jigan hit her. She left the bridge and grumbled. "Blue Garden, huh…"
.
.
Everyone gathered in the meeting room of the Eden's Zero. Hermit finally pinpointed the location of the other Black Moon Star piece in the Kaede Cosmos. "Sorry it took so long. I don't know why it did. But I know where we have to head next."
"So, where's our next destination?" Shiki asked.
Hermit placed a hand on the table in the center. A planet with a single ring appeared on the display and Hermit began to explain. "This is the planet Delta Ridge. The next piece of the Star is on this planet."
"Delta Ridge?" Rebecca tilted her head. "I feel like I've heard of that name before. We've been in the Kaede Galaxy for a while."
"This is the planet large in charge of communication within this cosmos." Blair explained. "It's very strong in the radio waves it emits and it attracts all kinds of weird stuff. At least that's what Hanabi told me." Blair said. "I don't really know anything else about it."
"A communications planet?" Kleene tilted her head. "So if something were to happen to that planet…it would be difficult for the entire cosmos to talk to each other?"
"Simply put, yeah." Hermit replied.
"Well, that doesn't sound so bad." Weisz was sitting in a chair, arms behind his head. "So we just head down there and grab the shard. Sounds easy enough."
That's when Hermit sighed. "It's not that easy. As it turns out….Ziggy's forces are on that planet as well." Everyone suddenly snapped to attention. "It's another planet we'll have to liberate."
"I was really hoping we wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of Ziggy getting his hands on the Black Moon Star." Shiki frowned a bit. "But it's still on a planet, so it's possible his forces haven't found it yet."
"It looks like we'll have our work cut out for us this time." Jinn said. "Is there anything else we should be aware of?"
"Nothing until we get there." Hermit said. "I tried to do a bit of research on the planet, but Ziggy's forces already put in a lot of work interfering with any scans of the planet."
"Then we should proceed with caution as usual!" Homura said. "We know not what we're up against this time, but I believe we can handle it."
"Yeah, well…I'll be keeping myself out of that fight." Blair waved her hand. She did say she was going to stay out of anything involving Ziggy. The Liberation front of the Eden's Zero was none of her concern; she was just here for her own fight as far as she was concerned.
"Good, you can help us keep an eye on the ship then." Sister said with a grin. She wasn't going to let Blair slip away that easily. "If they bring the fight to the ship, you don't have a reason to say no, now do you? It's the least you can do since you can fight."
"Ugh." Blair rolled her eyes and groaned. "Fine."
"Thanks, Blair." Rebecca flashed Blair a smile, but the woman turned her head away to now acknowledge it.
"Shiki and I will discuss a plan when we get closer to the planet." Hermit said. "It'll take us a day to reach Delta Ridge. So it's time we all got ready for another fight."
"Aye!" Happy said.
"I'll be prepared!" Pino added.
"In that case, I should get ready." Laguna stood up from his seat and started to leave, since it seemed like the meeting was wrapping up.
"We could be on that planet for a while. I should get a video ready just in case…" Rebecca was looking around at the crew. "If Shiki's going to be busy, I'll need another volunteer…"
That's when Hermit grinned mischievously. "Go on, Blair. Help Rebecca out with her video." The petite android was even pushing Blair in Rebecca's direction.
"Wh-!? Huh? Are you trying to get me to be on camera!?" Blair asked, planting her heels into the ground to stop Hermit from pushing her. "No way!"
"Are you camera shy? Aw, don't be such a girl about it!" Hermit teased, her gremlin-like smile widening even more.
"I AM a girl…!" Blair shot back. Whatever tension in the room faded and everyone began to laugh. Blair was the only one who wasn't. "Hey, shut it, all of you…!" No dice. She was the source of their amusement. Not in a bad way, but Blair hated being the center of attention like this. Eventually she just gave up on resisting, with great reluctance.
.
.
The Eclipse Ark drifted through the space of the Kaede Cosmos slowly. Ano was bored out of his mind, leaning against his desk. After what felt like ages, something finally alerted him. He shot up and grinned. "Oh thank goodness! Finally they're moving again! Hey, Casey!"
Ano's call summoned Casey a moment later. The captain of the Eclipse Ark crossed his arms while looking towards Ano. "What's happening?"
"The Eden's Zero is finally starting to move somewhere." Ano reported.
"They came back to the Kaede Cosmos?" Casey asked.
"Yeah." Casey said. "Even though that android pretty much kicked me out of their network with no trouble at all, I was able to copy their navigation map. Normally this wouldn't do anything, but I've been able to copy it to our system so it can track where they're going. I don't know why they left to the Aoi Cosmos, but now that they're back…it looks like they're heading to Delta Ridge."
"That must be where the next Star piece is." Casey surmised. "If they're aware of how dangerous the Black Moon is, they must be working to gather the pieces as quickly as possible."
"Yeah. But there's one more problem." Ano sighed. "Turns out…it looks like Delta Ridge is Ziggy territory. So if we go in there, we're going to be picking a fight with his forces."
"It can't be avoided." Casey said. Behind him was the rest of the Eclipse Ark crew. There were five people standing behind him, their appearances were shrouded by the darkness of the corridor they stood in. "Listen up. We're making our way to the planet of Delta Ridge. Whoever stands in our way, you have my permission to engage combat. We're only there for the Black Moon Star. At this point in time, everything else comes second. Do you all understand me?"
"Yes, Captain!" The crew of the Eclipse Ark shouted in unison. They had their destination set and were now ready to go.
.
.
Delta Ridge was a planet filled with greenery and a mix of technology. Despite how peaceful it looked, the menacing tower erected in the center of the planet told the story. The story of how Ziggy's forces all but controlled the planet. Within that tower sat a piece of the Black Moon Star. Two androids were controlling this planet: one, a male android with the appearance of a grim reaper – Prometheus. The second was a female android, clothed in a white robe.
"Kyahaha…!" Prometheus stared at the Star Piece curiously. "Now, what a wonderful little find this was! I can sense the power coming off of it and waves, and this is only a fragment." His voice was maniacal and unhinged.
"I shall contact Lord Ziggy." Pandora spoke. She was calmer in comparison. A video screen appeared and Ziggy was shown on the other end. "Lord Ziggy. There is something here that we believe you'd like to see."
"What is it? It better be worth my time." Ziggy said.
"Oh, don't worry. Nobody can trace your location through any communication line. Not as long as we control this planet." Prometheus laughed. "Anyway, here!" And he brought the Black Moon Star piece into view. "This landed on the planet the other day, and its power is immense!"
Ziggy's jaw lowered slightly as he stared. "…The Black Moon Star. Or at least, a fragment of it. So, in this universe, it breaks earlier than it usually does. Fascinating…this universe truly is something else."
"What should we do it with, Lord Ziggy? Shall we give it to you?" Pandora asked.
"No." Ziggy shook his head. "Not yet." If he were to retrieve it now with the Wormhole ability he stole from Nero, that would just let anyone searching for the star piece know where he is. "I have a better idea. The Eden's Zero will no doubt be coming in search for that which you possess. You will use that to trap and kill Shiki. Once that is done, then I will take it and search for the remaining pieces myself…and then I can use the Black Moon's power to accomplish my mission."
.
.
Just outside of a small city in Delta Ridge, a young man with a red jacket, blue shorts, and a red visor resting on his forehead looked up at the night sky. His hair was brown and pointed up in a spiky way, and his eyes were brown as well. His left arm contained a blue device that was strapped around it. A quiet sigh escaped this boy as he stared up at the stars. "Humans and androids…they'll never get along…no matter what…"