Chapter 11
To Search for Answers
The Diplo soared through conventional space towards Vanguard III's orbit. Meanwhile Welch and Misty were taking a tour around the Diplo before deciding to take a rest in their room which one of the Quark personnel showed them to.
"This will be your room," the Quark soldier said as he slipped the key card into the device next to the room. He then offered them the key card.
"Oh! Hey that's so cool!" Welch snatched the keycard from his hand and examined it like a child holding his favorite toy. "I'm going to have to get used to using these."
Both Welch and Misty settled their belongings into the room before Welch insisted they chat for a while.
"So what do you think of the world outside Misty? Oh wait, you've already been here... oh sigh I guess i'm the only one." Welch said as she sat on the bed on the right side of the room.
"No, I don't remember a thing about the last time I was away from Elicoor. Although i'll admit, it is a little unsettling to be back out here."
"I don't know about that, it's pretty exciting. But I wonder what Vanguard will be like..."
"You don't have a clue about it do you? I've been wondering Welch... why is it that you insisted on coming along? I'm sure you have a big reason to come all this way and drop everything at the Craftsman Guild."
"Well... I guess I can tell it to you, but honestly I haven't completely figured it out myself. But when that time I came to Kaddan and helped you guys, it was the first time I ever felt so appreciated. I never realized I could be this valuable, and it made me feel more worthy of myself. So rather than sit back at home and continue my boring job, I wanted to continue doing what I did back there. That's all."
"Sounds a little naive... but that's quite noble of you although... I don't think what you do in Peterny is any less of value."
Welch grinned. "I'm just flattered I got you to talk this much to me. Speaking of my job, alchemy has always been at the top of the invention charts because of you. I never got a chance to say it but i'm impressed by some of the alchemic inventions created by your hands. Rumors even said that your alchemy was used in Greeton's technology for enhancement purposes."
"And i'm not going to quite anytime soon either." Misty said with a confident voice. "My life revolves around alchemy."
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"Pssst. Yo, Lieber!" Steeg whispered to Lieber beside him on the bridge. Both were close brothers who never hide almost anything from each other. They work in a very similar manner and like to handle tasks together. If there is any difference between them, it's their combat capabilities. Lieber is the far better combatant due to the training he has been through for the past few years. Sometimes Marietta likes to poke fun at their attachment for each other which leaves them with a feeling of discomfort.
"What's up?" asked Lieber looking busy as he gazed upon the monitor's screen.
"How did your date go?" Steeg snickered. He figured he'd kill some time to pester Lieber.
"Didn't you hear me earlier?"
"Relax, I was kidding." Steeg looked towards Marietta as he continued to whisper to Lieber. "That's good to hear though. It probably wouldn't help if you started wandering around other women."
"Why's that?" Lieber asked curiously this time turning towards Steeg.
"Remember what I told you about Marietta? Don't tell me you forgot."
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Lieber hung his head down not knowing what to say. "I don't know if I wanna ever get into something serious. You know... after all that I was put through."
"Ah, Maria... that must have sucked, didn't it? But tell me this, would you want Marietta to go through the same thing?" Steeg said as he realized what he wanted to poke fun at was slowly turning into serious matters.
Lieber was silent for a while before replying, "I don't know yet. Sorry, but that's the last thing I need to pressurize me. We have a lot of things to handle at task, right?"
"Whoa, i've never seen you get this serious before! It's good to see you follow our Two-Headed Dragon motto!"
Lieber suddenly focused all his attention to Steeg after hearing what he had to say. "Hey! We agreed on the Binary Star Lazeria!"
Steeg crossed his arms in a serious manner. "Don't tell me you forgot about our deal."
"Fine. I'll call it the Binary Star Lazeria and you call it whatever you want." Lieber grumbled as he got back onto his task showing no more interest in the discussion. "Man, you can be really stubborn sometimes."
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Meanwhile in the main Alliance Lab Facility on Vendeen, the Talwar had reached its destination as Wakou was greeted by the Vendeeni soldiers in the lab. One of the Vendeeni officers came to greet him personally as he escorted him through the lab to explain details of their work and show the progress they had been going through.
"I must say," Wakou said as his attention was focused on the spherical large container which looked to be filled with many different chemical compounds. "Your work has been efficient lately."
"I appreciate your kind words, Sir Wakou. I've always felt a close connection to my tasks ever since i was promoted to the Inner Alliance team." the Vendeeni commander said grimly.
"Tell me then, Svenh" Wakou spoke as he continued to stare at the spherical container. "How has that synchronical expirement come along?"
Svenh hung his head slightly in shame as he replied. "We've tried consistently, not only here but all four surrounding labs, but there's been no result. None of the DNA structures have matched accordingly so far in the process."
"Hmm, this may be trickier than I thought. The problem could possibly lie within the transmitter itself as well. Hmph, well it's the price we have to pay in order to use something so beneficial, right?" Wakou said as he tried to cheer up Svenh in his own odd way.
"It may be only a matter of time until we find the right one. But still... with so many different types of these beings abound in our universe, we'll eventually need to find a more efficient way of completing this task than trial-and-error, sir." Svenh spoke.
"Of course, it may ultimately not be up to us as to when and how this task will be complete."
Svenh's face had big question mark written all over it. "What does that mean?"
"Synchronology. It's a fascinating complexion." said Wakou as he looked up lost in his thoughts. "Continue the expirement. Once the analysis is complete, only then will we be taking our first step."
"Yes, sir." Svenh nodded as Wakou walked towards his companions behind him and Rudra, his subordinate.
"I want you to keep tabs on this lab until the task has been carried out." Wakou whispered to Rudra.
"Roger..."
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"Vanguard III, the third planet of the Vanguard System. An underdeveloped planet with the technological level equivalent to that of 16th century Earth. It has an axial tilt of 35.0 degrees and is 1.2 astronomical units away from its parent star. Its atmospheric composition is very close to Earth's, and it has a surface gravity of 0.72 G, giving Vanguardians 70 possession of physical strength compared to Earthlings. That would be only 30 physical strength of Klausians." Marietta informed the Quark members of the details on Vanguard before Mirage and the others were ready to be transported off the Diplo.
"Looks like we can't tell what part of Vanguard exactly the Alliance has run off to..." Xeim said as he stretched his shoulders before crossing his arms.
"We're just at the southern tip of the western continent of Rashfall. The town of Rashfall should be near our current position, which is the ideal location that can give provide us some details about the Alliance." Marietta answered. "55 of the continent is covered with forested regions and the eastern continent Gernn is covered up by 78 of forested regions."
"Thanks for the details, Marietta. Xeim, how's that shoulder?" Mirage asked as she looked towards Xeim in concern.
Xeim just shrugged it off like it wasn't anything to worry about. "I visited the sick bay on our way here. Anastasia did manage to heal most of it. I can hardly feel the pain anymore, so i'll live."
"I'm glad to hear that. Anastasia has been one of the best medics we've had in Quark."
"Where's Lieber?" Welch asked as she looked around the whole area of the upper deck.
As Mirage, Xeim, Misty, Welch, and Marietta started walking towards the transporter room, they were stopped abruptly just at the entrance of the bridge by a surprise.
"Let's all bring a performance that will amuse"
"Beginning with us we introduce"
"Quickdraw Lieber!"
"Steeg the Sharpshooter!"
"We may be far... but we're still the Binary Star"
"He may be vigorous... but i'm sagacious!"
"More like nerd, and a turd!"
"We are not just parts of a wagon, we are indeed the Two-Headed Dragon!"
"OH yeah! The Binary Star"
"..." everyone except Welch was silent as the two finished their rather interesting performance. Welch cheered and applauded while Lieber and Steeg bowed as the other female personnel behind them gathered in a group.
"So what's that all about?" Mirage asked raising one eyebrow looking a little embarrassed.
Xeim simply walked past them towards the transporter room. "No one told me we'd have a couple of jesters onboard before getting on this ship."
"Ahem Sorry about that little introduction." Lieber chuckled. "Quick-draw Lieber and Steeg the Sharpshooter at your service ma'am. We're all set to go!"
"Oh, that was marvellous!" Welch yelped excitedly. "It's gonna be so much fun with you two coming along."
A brigade of Quark soldiers gathered in front of the transporter's room ready for battle.
"We're all set to go, capt'n! Surely you don't plan on going all by yourselves again, we're all ready to give our lives in the battle against Alliance." one of the Quark soldiers said as he saluted to Mirage.
Mirage shook her head in disagreement. "We can't move around in big numbers. Otherwise, we will cause a lot of suspicions and we may violate the UP3 in doing so. Besides, we won't be fending against the Alliance unless deemed necessary... we're here to gather information on the Alliance and what they are up to. Steeg, as much as i'd enjoy the company... i'd rather you stay with Marietta this time as well."
"Yes. I've just received a request from Commander Paulin. He wants to meet us back at the remote station." Marietta said to Steeg. "Don't worry captain, we'll take care of that."
"Aww man..." Steeg and Lieber slumped not happy about the situation. "Fine."
Once Mirage, Lieber, Xeim, Misty, and Welch were ready to take off... they were transported off the Diplo and onto the continent of Rashfall. Mirage rubbed her boot into the soil. The soil was russet colored due to a large amount of hematite.
"The soil is a little damp." Mirage noted as she looked around the area she was in. There was broad daylight and as expected, it was a forested region they were on and surrounded by many pine trees. There was a small pond nearby and not one would dare to even think of taking a sip from it, the dirt contaminated the pond and many insects roamed about the water.
"Let's head north." Xeim said.
As they moved north through the area, the forest fell more and more silent. The silence brought the kind of peace that looked like it was the kind that comes before a storm. It wasn't long before they encountered the exit to the forest. A small road outside led to a large sophisticated city.
"Hey, do you think this could this be the large city that bubbly girl was telling us about?" Welch said as she stopped to take a breath of fresh air and relax.
"If there's anyone bubbly in the group, it's you." Lieber replied with a smart crack.
Xeim walked towards the city to take a closer look. "Yeah, this looks like the city of Rashfall. Let's go in."
"Be careful." Mirage said cautiously as she followed. "The Alliance could be here."
The town was lively and there were many attractions worth seeing. It was almost like Elicoor's trading town of Peterny, except for the Rashfall manor that stood just behind the sophisticated city. The different sections of the city consisted of the residential area, market area, and a separate section for all the wild attractions. Mirage was a little surprised with the city's elegance since the official database never gave any information of its nobility and wealthy localities in the urban regions. It is most likely due to the UP3 law that the Federation nor any other force ever bothered to interfere with underdeveloped planets like this.
"This place looks more fun than it was back at home!" Welch said enthusiastically.
"Let's not waste much time here..." said Misty in her usual cold and calm manner, "we'll probably find something about the recent occurings of Vanguard in the manor which could possibly lead us to the Alliance's trail."
"Hey, not a bad idea Miss Tea." Lieber remarked. "What do you say capt'n?"
Mirage nodded before passing through the attractions of the city and towards the Rashfall manor where they confontred a couple of guards at the entrance. They gave the five an odd look just like the other citizens of the city. It was natural though considering how differently they dressed and their long ears gave them a distinct feature from the group. The one distinguishable feature of the inhabitants of Vanguard were their lengthy ears that were about twice the size of humans. Some of the Vanguardians also had the blood of the Felinefolk in them from their ancestors, that would explain why many inhabitants had a tail along with many other similar features that of a female cat.
"Stop." one of the guards in small leather armor with a rusty javelin in his hand moved to the front door blocking their paths. "Who are you folks? And what business do you have with Lord Dran?"
"Lord Dran? Err... we're from the west continent of Gernn. We have a message for Lord Dran." Mirage replied nervously as she tried to cover herself up along with the others.
However, it backfired. "What! You're from Gernn?" the guard gasped as the other one stared at her in shock as well. "Guards! Seize them at once!" He shrieked as he tapped his javelin on the ground repeatedly.
"W-Wait, stop!" Other guards came rushing in as Mirage tried to retaliate but to prevent a commotion in the city she decided to give herself up. Creating problems with the city's royalty will only create more problems for them. The others did the same.
They entered the manor secured by the guards as they were led to the corner path which led downstairs to the prison cell.
"Hey! Let go! We're not criminals dammit!" Welch yelled as she gave the guards the most trouble.
"Silence!" the same guard responded. "You three will be locked here for the meantime."
The guards pushed Mirage, Welch, and Misty into the cell and tied them up with restraints.
Mirage looked around but Xeim and Lieber were not in sight, "What's the meaning of this! Looks like i'm going to have a word with the Lord about this. And where have you taken Lieber and Xeim?"
"I said SILENCE!" the guard tried to scare them with their voice but neither of them reacted to it. "As for your other two companions, they will be interrogated. Heh heh. Something better come out of them so start praying!"
As the guards left the prison cell, Welch, Mirage, and Misty didn't feel like sitting idly and letting the other two suffer from interrogation.
"Looks like we can't do anything in this position." Misty said. "I couldn't even think of using alchemy like this."
Welch was flaming furiously. "What the heck was that all about! I don't think even any of my items are going to get us out of this. Ohhhh! Those filthy, rusty guards! I'm not used to being prisoned, and now look at poor ol' me."
"It wouldn't help complaining about it." Mirage said as she sat calmy.
"Hey Mirage, how can you just sit in peace at a time like this!" Welch shot back as she tried desperately to shake off the restraints. "You're strong, aren't you? Can't you kick them open or something?"
"If only it were that easy." said Mirage as she began to wonder about their situation. "What do you suppose prompted them to do such a thing? What could Gernn have to do with this city anway?" she wondered.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to mention Gernn. Rashfall must have some kind of enmity with that continent." Misty speculated.
"Oh no! It's serious-poke mode. Can't we try to get out of here first!" Welch complained which grew on Mirage and Misty's nerves.
Before the discussion went any further, the guard returned a few minutes later with some news.
"Alright, you're all gonna come with us. Lord Dran has summoned you all. But don't get too happy now, we don't know what he has in mind." the guard spoke ruthlessly as he opened the cell for them and unlocked their restraints.