Shuttle Two's site, fifteen minutes earlier
Chuck, Hayate and Arad had taken up positions around the shuttle, facing the direction the gunfire came from. Mirage, by then, had already woken up and was tending to Makina inside of the shuttle. Chuck was near a tree when the bullets started flying, so he immediately took cover behind the trees. Arad and Hayate were near the shuttle, so the two of them had went inside of the shuttle and aimed their rifles through parts of the broken hull. They couldn't clearly see who was firing at them, so they mostly held their fire until they saw people advance. The men approaching them shouted at them and each other as they advanced, but most of their voices were drowned out by the gunfire. It was difficult to see clearly, although it was evident their attackers had the advantage in numbers, but not in skill. Most of the shots hit empty spots on the shuttle or missed outright. The minutes dragged on as both sides exchanged shots. Only the attackers suffered any casualties, but their losses were minimal, to say the least. No one could confirm, but the attackers numbered around twenty to thirty, which meant they were going to run out of ammunition before they were going to repel their attackers.
After about thirteen or so minutes, they were down to the last of their ammunition. As if aware of this, a man in distinctly different armor came up through the trees with at least four men, all of whom had cross-shaped energy glowing in front of them. The rounds bounced harmlessly off of the it, while the attackers were able to fire through their barrier. They quickly began to advance on the shuttle until they were close enough to make direct eye contact with the two pilots in the shuttle. While this was happening, Chuck found himself surrounded and had to surrender. As the men surrounded the shuttle, two of them breached the hole Shiro had made in the shuttle's hull and held Mirage and Makina at gunpoint, forcing Hayate and Arad to surrender. They were quickly dragged out, while Mirage had to carry Makina out, as she was still badly injured. They were forced to kneel in a cluster on the ground, save for Makina, who was barely conscious. Three of the men were carrying post-like objects with them, and when everyone had been settled, they set it up in a perimeter around the group. The lights flickered on, illuminating the area around them enough to where they could see clearly, but not so bright as to give away their position to nearby Valkyries, which were engaged in a fierce aerial dogfight above the area.
"So this is the infamous Delta Platoon, huh? The one that went toe to toe with Windermere's elite Aerial Knights?" The leader taunts as he kicks Arad in the ribs.
Arad coughs a bit as Hayate shoots back. "Yeah, that'd be us. Want an autograph?"
The leader smiles sickly at Hayate. "I'll do you one better, kid. I'll make you kiss my ass."
Hayate continues, unfazed. "Untie me, and we'll see about that. I'll bet my mother hits harder than you."
The leader laughs, and punches Hayate in the face. "I know your weakness, and I have it right here. Let's see how long you can keep up the tough guy act."
He motions to one of the men. He turns to the group behind him and nods. Another man comes out of the group, with Freyja in his arm. The Windermerean singer was somewhat doubling over as she walked, and she has bruises littering her body. Hayate's eyes widen as they fixate on the battered Freyja. The man holding Freyja brought her close enough to the group so that there would be no doubt, but just out of Hayate's reach, in the event he rushed her captor.
"H-Hayate..." Freyja weakly groaned.
"Freyja!" Hayate's expression flickers from shock to rage. "What the hell did you do to her?!"
"Nothing too brutal, I assure you. I had to reserve myself until I brought you two together." The leader says as he walks over to Freyja. "I wanted you to see this." He motions to the the man holding her.
He nods as he twists both of Freyja's arms behind her back to restrain her. Freyja's eyes widen as she realizes what he intended to do. The leader grabs Freyja's cheek with one hand and plants his mouth over hers. Freyja's eyes bulge as she lets out a muffled cry. She struggles frantically as the man holds her down. At the same time, the leader's other hand slipped down to Freyja's lower region and she jerked back as she screamed, desperately trying to escape the leader's revolting touch. The leader began to pull down Freyja's shorts, revealing her light pink underwear. She let out a muffled scream as he began to rub her crotch and kiss her simultaneously. Time slowed down for the couple; Hayate felt his muscles burn and his heart wrench as the leader molested Freyja; Freyja twisted and squirmed as she felt herself get violated. After what seemed like an hour, the leader disengages from Freyja. She coughs and spits out the contents of her mouth. She trembled as she struggled to hold back her tears.
"That was just a taste of what is to come." The leader grins evilly as he looks at the furious and restrained Hayate.
"You son of a bitch, I'll kill you!" Hayate roars at the leader. He struggles against the man holding him down, and starts to stand up, despite the man's best efforts.
The leader looks back at the group of men behind him and motions for two more. The two men push Hayate to the ground, but somehow still struggle to keep him down completely.
"Well, well, you're quite the energetic one. I hope you can stomach more, because I'm just warming up." The leader grins evilly. He looks at Mirage, who is glaring daggers at him. "She looks like she may be close to you. It doesn't matter, but it looks like she'll be some fun too." He looks at the man restraining her. "Bring her here."
Mirage struggles against her captor as he stands her up and begins to bring her over to the leader. The leader gives Mirage a twisted smile, and in response, Mirage high kicks him in the chin, sending the leader tumbling back. He gets up, spitting out a little blood.
"You'll pay for that, bitch." The leader growls.
"Try me." Mirage replies.
The leader walks toward Mirage, and as she raises her leg to kick him again, he pulls out a straight edged knife and stabs her calf. Mirage screams in pain as the leader lets her limp leg fall to the ground.
"Dammit! Leave her alone, you bastard!" Hayate roars at the leader.
"Make her stand on her other leg." He barks to the mercenary holding her. "Also, tie up her arms."
Mirage winces in pain as the man holding her forces her to stand on one leg and tightly ties up her wrists. She realizes that the leader had left his knife in her leg. She grimaces as the leader cups her chin. She tries to turn her head away, but he keeps an iron grip on her.
"Now then," the leader smirks at Mirage, "Let's have some fun, shall we?" He grabs her shirt and yanks on it, the fabric quickly giving way. Mirage winces as he exposes her sports bra underneath. He ignores the shouts of protest from the rest of the pilots behind him as he pulls on her bra, ripping it off. He grins as he slowly traces a finger under breasts, the action making Mirage bite her lip. She struggles to avoid showing any signs of breaking, but a soft whimper escapes her lips as his hands travel over her breasts. Mirage struggles to free herself as the leader then gropes one of her exposed breasts. She cries out and tries to pull away, ignoring the man behind her. He squeezes hard and she screams, twisting in every way possible, ignoring the hot pain from her leg.
"What a lovely body for a pilot." The leader grins as he leans in close to Mirage. "I can't wait to make you mine." He whispers in Mirage's ear. Her eyes widen in horror at the prospect of ravaged by the man standing before her.
A series of gunshots interrupts them, and as they turn toward the sound, they see Mikumo leaning against a nearby tree with a pistol in her hand. Her captors are on the ground, writhing in pain as blood pools around them. Mikumo turns toward the leader, giving him a glare capable of melting steel.
"Hoh, sure didn't take you long to wake up. You're quite resilient, if I do say so myself." He grins as Mikumo aims the pistol at him. Before she can fire, he shoots the gun out of her hands, the bullet grazing her shoulder. Mikumo grunts as she flinches. She grabs a tree to steady herself, but as she looks back, the leader is directly in front of her. Before she can react, he grabs her by the neck and throws her in front of everyone. Her body skids a few times before coming to a stop. Mikumo coughs as she struggles to get up, unaware of the leader coming up from behind her. He grabs her by her hair and yanks her up before releasing her to wrap an arm around her neck. Mikumo tries to free herself, but the leader uses his free arm to pull out a second knife from his belt. The knife, unlike the first one, was serrated. Mikumo saw the knife plunge into her stomach at an offset angle. She cries out, and coughs up blood. The leader throws her to the ground, causing her to cry out in pain. The blood from her stomach steadily begins to form a pool around her. Mikumo felt her vision blur back and forth.
"You need to learn your lesson, my dear. You see, I have little patience for your insolence. You think you can leverage yourself to me in your favor, but it's not quite what you think." The leader narrows his eyes at her as she writhes on the ground. "I only have to bring you back in one piece, they never said I had to bring you back alive. So, to save myself some trouble, I think I'll end this little charade of yours right now." The other men look at each other, confusion in their eyes. He looks down at her as he pulls out a pistol and aims it at her. Mikumo's eyes widen before she shuts them and tenses, waiting for her imminent death.
As the gunfight began, in the forest
Shiro, after making sure that Kaname and Reina were out of sight, sprinted towards the shuttle. The area around the shuttle itself was illuminated by flashes of gunfire, some in bursts, some in single fire, others in continuous spraying. Shiro noticed that all of the men were spread far out and had a significant amount of space in between each man. Which meant that, even if he were to attack them, he would quickly lose the element of surprise. He also knew that in doing so, he risked being hit by Delta Platoon, who probably didn't even know he was there. So he decided to wait it out, hoping to find a decent enough opening to take out as many men as possible. Shiro also noted that the men were equipped with different armor and weapons than the first group he encountered. It seemed that the information he got from the mercenary he interrogated earlier was correct. Whoever was after Mikumo had essentially set up the whole thing as a competition, with the prize being an unreal amount of money. The gunfight lasted longer than Shiro expected, as he didn't remember bringing that much ammunition. After about twelve minutes, the gunfire started to die down on the shuttle's side, and Shiro focused on the four men behind the firing line. Each man was putting together a large metal cross, and as they attached it to their wrists, Shiro frowned. He turned his attention to a spot of violet hair and orange fluff near the four men.
So Mikumo and Freyja were captured... I can't rescue them right now. There are too many men surrounding them, and even if I managed to kill the men around them, I can't carry both of them and guarantee their safety. Damn it.
Shiro grits his teeth as he watches both of them get dragged up by six men behind the firing line. He scans the group to count how many men there were.
Six to hold them hostage. Four men with shields of some sort. One leader. Twelve men advancing on the shuttle. Twenty three total. This will be a challenge.
As the men advance, Shiro silently tails them at a distance, searching for any openings he could exploit. Seeing as there were none, he maneuvers around the battle, similar to how a predator would circle its prey. By the time Delta Platoon was forced to surrender, Shiro had already circled the entire area around the shuttle without being detected. Seeing as there were no openings, he stayed behind the group from the direction in which they came from. He instinctively jumped back behind a tree when they set up and turned on the light posts. It was obviously advantageous for them to set up lights in the area to increase their visibility. However, it was also disadvantageous in that Shiro could clearly see the positions of the men, even the ones standing on the opposite sides of the light.
Four men, one for each pilot. Freyja and Mikumo take up four people, so that's eight. Plus the leader is nine. Fourteen men holding the line.
The apparent leader designated the rest of his men who weren't holding Mikumo and Freyja to set up a semi-circle around the unilluminated side of the lights. Shiro silently started to move toward his right, hoping to expose their weakened flanks. As Shiro was moving, the apparent leader had the men restraining Freyja come forward in full view of the rest of the group. Their reactions, to say the least, weren't positive. Hayate's especially, Shiro noted, was one of shock and anger. As Shiro made it into his position, he witnessed something that would disgust him to the point of anger. The leader had his mouth planted over Freyja's, and she was clearly against it. Shiro frowned at the action when the leader decided to go further and expose Freyja's underwear and touch her in places she wouldn't let anyone touch. Hayate was on the verge of breaking free and killing the leader, as the man holding him was clearly having trouble keeping him down. The leader motioned for two more men on top of the existing one to restrain Hayate.
That's two less men guarding their backs. That makes twelve men guarding the line. I have to move.
Shiro hoped that was the last of it, but the leader was unknowingly out to prove him wrong. Deciding to move while everyone was preoccupied, Shiro drew both of his swords and stabbed the nearest man in the spine and in the head. As his body was falling, Shiro pushed off of a nearby tree and sliced apart three men, all of whom were standing in a straight line. The sound of bodies hitting the ground must've drawn someone's attention, because one of the men turned in Shiro's direction. Shiro, not wasting any time, pushed off the ground in dashes toward the remaining men. He sliced the one closest to him in an X pattern, his pieces splattering the ground. The next man had his arm sliced off before his head was split apart horizontally.
Six down. Six more to go.
Shiro moved faster when he heard Mirage's scream. The remaining men noticed something was wrong, and they began to move towards the shuttle. Shiro made a tch sound as he sprinted towards the retreating men. He slid towards two of them, slicing their legs and stabbing both of them in the head as they fell backwards. Three men stopped and turned around to aim at Shiro. They froze when they saw nothing but blood splatters and body parts lying on the ground, but no sign of their attacker. They were distracted by gunshots that weren't fired by them, so none of them realized that Shiro had side stepped out of their field of vision. They didn't have a second to react as Shiro pierced the first man in the side before bringing his sword up and half bisecting the man. Not allowing them any breathing room, Shiro kicks one of the two remaining men into the other. They slam against a tree, and before they can recover, Shiro stabs both of them in the jugular. He turns and sees the last one nearing the clearing. He sprints as fast possible, and realizing that he would lose the advantage of surprise either way, he throws one of his swords at the man. It finds its mark, as it impales the man. Before he falls, Shiro grips the sword in him as he pierces the man a second time.
Present time
The sound of a man screaming makes everyone turn to see the bloodbath behind them. Every soldier that wasn't restraining a pilot or singer lie in pieces on the ground, trails of blood leading to the clearing with the shuttle. The only man in one piece was being pierced by two silver blades with blue circuit like lines on it. The man makes a choking sound before the blades piercing him retreat and his body is sent skidding across the ground. Everyone freezes at the sight of Shiro standing there, not one drop of blood on his body or his swords. He wasn't facing the group when he split the man apart, and he looks around before focusing on the group. His eyes narrow as he focuses on the leader, who still had his pistol aimed at Mikumo
"Who the fuck are you?" The leader glares at him. He turns and fires multiple times at Shiro. Without even looking, Shiro deflects some of the bullets, the others hitting the trees behind him.
Shiro doesn't respond as he makes eye contact with Mikumo, who can barely stay conscious, the pool of blood around her growing ever larger. He walks toward her, ignoring the other men.
"Hey, answer me, you-" The leader manages before Shiro kicks him hard enough to punch through the shuttle's hull with his body.
Shiro slowly turns toward the other men restraining the group members. "If you don't want to die, throw down your weapons and let them go."
The men look at each other before releasing the pilots and singers. They throw down their weapons before putting their hands behind their backs and backing away. He walks towards Mikumo, who is on her side, bleeding. She looks at Shiro, her eyes distant. He picks her up gently, rolling her on her back as he carries her towards the group. He lays her on the ground and tears off a part of her shirt. The bandage on her side is soaked with blood, although it wasn't even meant for her most recent wound. Mikumo groans as Shiro takes out a packet and some bandages. He tears it open and pours it on her wound. Mikumo screams as her body jerks. Shiro gently holds her down with his free arm as he wraps the bandages around her stomach tightly. She coughs up some more blood before her body stops squirming. She makes a pained sound as Shiro finishes tying the bandages. One of the men behind Shiro grabs a gun off the ground and fires at Shiro. He doesn't even turn around as the bullet impacts one of the swords on his back. Mikumo looks at him, worried that he would be injured, but he simply rubs her head and smiles gently at her. He takes a small pad out and wipes the blood off her face. Mikumo blushes as her heart skips a beat.
He leans in and whispers in her ear, "Don't worry, I'll be right back."
She looks at him, unsure of what to say. He slowly stands up as the man fires again. In a split second, Shiro draws both of his swords and flicks the bullets aside. The man makes a sound as Shiro dashes toward him, appearing directly in front of him in seconds. Shiro stabs the man dead center in the chest with both swords and finishes the man in a similar way to the last man. The body leaves a long bloody trail that begins at Shiro's feet. The remaining men look utterly horrified as Shiro walks toward them, a neutral expression on his face. They back up as he nears, and Shiro looks all of them square in the eye.
"This is your last warning. The next person that acts up will get all of you killed. Better yet, if you have any useful information, speak now or get lost." Shiro's even voice and expression unnerves all of them. They all stare in a mixture of shock and awe as Shiro turns away and walks back to Mikumo. He picks up a medkit lying on the ground.
Shiro kneels in front of her, examining her body. He focuses on her wounded knee. The wound had already started to close up, although Shiro could see the bullet. He looks at Mikumo, who is dizzy, both from her past ordeal and the small but existent affection from her bodyguard. He puts a hand on her head, and she looks at him, her eyes slightly wider and her cheeks flushed a light pink.
"I'm going to try to take the bullet in your knee out before it closes up all the way, okay?"
She nods. Shiro gently turns her leg to expose the bullet wound. Mikumo looks off to the side while Shiro takes out a pair of tweezers from the nearby medkit. As he pinches the bullet with the tweezers, Mikumo inhales sharply, her body tense. Shiro quickly pulls it out, tossing the bullet aside. Mikumo yelps as Shiro pours the rest of the packet's contents in her wound. As he bandages her knee, Mikumo gazes at Shiro intently. She quickly became lost in her thoughts when Shiro finished bandaging her knee, and didn't notice Shiro looking back at her until he leaned in close to look into her eyes. She also didn't notice that she had leaned forward to look at Shiro either. She snaps to attention, and lets out a small squeak as she pulls back, hitting her head a little too hard on the ground. She rubs the back of her head with her uninjured arm before realizing that Shiro was looking at her with a strange expression. It seemed he was trying to figure out the reason why she was acting the way she was. He sits her up and bandages her shoulder.
"Shiro?"
"Yes, Mikumo?"
Mikumo pauses, unsure of how to continue. She looks around, at the rest of the group, and at the trail of bodies Shiro left behind. Shiro follows her gaze, and he immediately guessed what she was thinking about.
"I'm sorry you had to witness all of that. I couldn't risk you getting hurt anymore-" Shiro begins.
"Why did you rub my head?" Mikumo asks, throwing Shiro for a loop. He stops and looks at her. Mikumo had a noticeable blush on her cheeks and Shiro suddenly found it very hard to tear his eyes away from her.
"...Does it bother you?" Shiro asks, still completely confused.
"No, it's just..." Mikumo averts her gaze, finding the ground easier to talk to. "No one's ever done that before, and...it feels...strange..." She couldn't quite put the feeling into words.
"I'm sorry if that bothers you, Mikumo. I'll stop-"
Mikumo puts her hands on Shiro's shoulders before she could stop herself. "N-no, it's fine, I...uh...don't mind..." Her crimson eyes meet his onyx eyes.
They stare at each other, and Mikumo subconsciously realized both of them had leaned in closer to each other since they started talking, and they were very close to each other. Mikumo felt Shiro's firm muscles under his jacket, and Shiro swore he smelled cinnamon. They stayed like that until someone coughed. They both twitch and snap their heads toward the sound and find that everyone, including Kaname and Reina are staring at them with various expressions. It was only then did the two realize the positions they were in and promptly separated. Mikumo's cheeks stayed a light pink, while Shiro backed away slightly and cleared his throat, looking towards the shuttle. Everyone either giggled, chuckled, or outright laughed at the two of them. Shiro and Mikumo look back at each other with strange expressions.
"Ehm, it would appear that everyone else is in decent condition." Shiro softly remarks to Mikumo.
"It would appear so. At least they're in good spirits." Mikumo replies.
"Hey, the new guy's moving ahead in a relationship faster than I am." Chuck makes a face.
"You two need to hurry up and kiss already." Makina teases.
"Geez, if you're going to stare at each other like that, you might as well." Reina adds.
"I think it's great that you guys are gonna date." Freyja chimes as Hayate hugs her from behind.
"They suit each other pretty well if you ask me." Hayate says, smirking.
"I thought Mikumo was only three; shouldn't they wait a bit?" Mirage raises an eyebrow as she wraps the remains of her shirt around her chest.
"Let them move at their own pace. Relationships can't be rushed like that." Kaname smiles.
"Kaname's right. It's like they say; 'Jellyfish taste better the longer they swim together." Arad leans against the shuttle.
Nobody says that... was everyone's collective thoughts.
Mikumo blushes outright while Shiro maintains a straight face, although everyone could tell he was bothered. An audible groan draws their attention. Shiro walks over to the shuttle, where there was a relatively recent hole in the shuttle's hull. He looks in it to see the leader sprawled out on the floor of the shuttle. Shiro turns around to face the group.
"What would you all like to do with him?"
They all look at each other, the previous fifteen minutes not forgotten. Hayate, Freyja, and Mirage looked at each other, their expressions hard.
"How badly is he already injured?" Mirage and Hayate ask in unison.
Shiro turns around and a minute later, drags out the leader's limp body. Everyone stares at him, their expressions a mix of anger and coldness. Shiro leaves him in front of everyone.
"I do not believe he is in any condition to be interrogated via physical means." Shiro says as examines the leader's body.
"What do you mean?" Arad asks, a frown on his face.
"It would appear that I shattered his spine and rib cage when I kicked him into the shuttle, so it is highly likely that he cannot feel anything below his neck." Shiro stoically remarks.
Everyone looks at him, their faces both surprised and not.
"So what do we do with him?" Mirage asks.
"I leave that decision in your hands. I am well aware of what he has done, but he has not done anything to me personally, and from what I can tell, everyone else has...conflictions with him."
"Can he talk?" Hayate glares at him as he puts himself between his closest companions and the unmoving leader.
"I am almost certain of it. I am also fairly certain that he can turn his head as well." Shiro says as he looks at him.
"Leave him. If we can't get anything out of him without hurting him, there's no use trying." Arad says as he leans against the battered shuttle.
"What are we going to do with him then?" Chuck asks.
"Why don't we ask his subordinates?" Arad responds as he looks towards the five men still standing there. They flinch when they realize they had everyone's attention.
"Well? What do you all think?"
They all look at each other, nervousness evident on their faces. One of them opens his mouth to say something, but a blaring scream drowns him out. Seconds later, an a teal object slams into the ground where they were standing. Almost everyone is knocked to the ground, half deafened by the noise. When they get up, the dust had partially settled, revealing a mangled and battered VF-22 in Gerwalk mode resting on where the five men used to be. The familiar sound of a Siegfried's guns firing fills their ears. Everyone looks up to see a Siegfried fly directly above them and transform into Gerwalk mode. It blasts a dozen missiles out of the sky before switching back to fighter mode and accelerate near vertically, giving everyone a brief glimpse of the insignia on its back. At that point, everyone forgot about the leader and his pancaked minions. After a minute or so of complete silence between the group, Hayate speaks.
"Did anyone else see that?" Hayate's expression is one of disbelief.
"Wasn't that..." Chuck trails off.
"It can't be..." Mirage stares.
"Oh, it is." Kaname says. Everyone turns to her to see she had a smile on her face.
"Kana-Kana, are you okay?" Makina asks, worried Kaname had lost it.
"How is that possible?" Freyja asks.
"He didn't say, but that's definitely Messer-kun." Kaname states.
"I don't remember meeting him. When did this happen, Kaname?" Reina asks, shock in her voice.
"It happened when you were unconscious. He knocked out all of the Valkyries that had surrounded us. He also told us which direction to go to find the shuttle."
"What did he tell you?" Arad asks, his tone neutral.
"He told me to take the padding off of his old seat, if it still existed."
"You mean his Siegfried?" Makina asks, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah. Is it still around the Elysion somewhere?"
"It should be among the scrap parts somewhere on the Aether, I think."
"That reminds me," Shiro interjects, "I managed to make contact with the Elysion in the last twenty minutes or so."
Everyone turns to him.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT SOONER?" All of the pilots gape at him.
"For one thing, I did not believe that telling you all while Freyja and Mirage were being molested and Mikumo being about to be executed to be the best time to tell you all this." Shiro calmly states. "That, and I made contact with them right before I found Kaname and Reina, so I figured that telling you all when everyone was present would save us some time."
Seeing as they couldn't argue with his logic, they calmed down a bit.
"What's the situation with the Elysion?" Arad asks.
"From what I can tell, not good. The Elysion is crippled; the leg units and reactor have been destroyed, cause unknown. Our attackers are mercenaries hired by a sub-faction of NUNS known as Red Veil. I am sure I do not need to point out that they have a significantly large attacking force, so they have been pressing our forces rather tightly. The Aether and Herrara are still functional, but as you can all tell, there is a massive assault against our forces, and it would appear that we do not have the capability to repel them ourselves."
"And what about Messer coming back from the dead?" Hayate interrupts.
"That, I do not know about. I do not even know much about your friend, but it appears that he is part of a third party that is assisting us in repelling the assault."
"What evidence do you have to support that?" Mirage asks.
"On my way here, I saw multiple Valkyries that somewhat resembled a Siegfried, but had forward swept wings as opposed to a Siegfried's reverse swept wings. That, and they were engaging the Nightmares that were attacking the Elysion."
As he is speaking, a buzz in his ear makes him stop. The other pilots get the same buzz.
"Elysion to Delta Five, come in. Do you read me?" The green-haired bridge member's voice rings in their ears.
"Elysion, this is Delta Five. I have secured Delta Platoon and Walkure for the time being. Two members of Walkure are injured and require medevac. All other members are alive and well." Shiro ignores Makina's and Mikumo's soft protests.
There is a sigh of relief on the other side. "Thank god. Good work, Delta Five. Is Delta One there?"
"Elysion, this is Delta One. Good to hear your voice." Arad smiles lightly.
"Captain Johnson is currently organizing all of our platoons to defend the remaining critical areas of the Elysion, so he's a bit busy right now."
"Can you send a shuttle to our location, or if not, atleast our Siegfrieds?"
"The airspace is still pretty congested; if you want to risk your Siegfrieds being destroyed mid-flight, I can send them, but I strongly suggest you find a way to get as close to the Elysion as possible."
"Got it. I'll see what I can do."
"Good luck, Delta One. Let us know if you come up with anything."
"So what's up with the Elysion?" Hayate asks.
"They're still fending off our attackers; they can send us our Siegfrieds, but they might get shot down on their way here. We need to find a way to get close to the Elysion to minimize the risk to our Siegfrieds."
"I have an idea, Arad." Kaname interjects.
"What is it?"
"Reina, can you wire those headsets to be able to send a communication signal to a Valkyrie?"
Reina looks at her. "If I had a device that could access the same frequency as the Valkyrie's receiver, then probably. Why do you ask?"
"I think I know someone who can help us." Kaname smirks as she looks into the sky, her eyes locked on a certain Valkyrie soaring through the sky.
"I honestly want to see if that's really Messer." Reina says as she takes Mirage's earpiece. She motions for Chuck to follow her into the shuttle to see if there was anything they could salvage. As they wait, Shiro walks over to Mikumo and kneels next to her.
"How are you holding up?" Shiro softly asks.
Mikumo winces as she sits up. "I can't say I'm fine, but I'm a lot better than I was five minutes ago."
Shiro leans in to inspect her bandages. "Well, your bandages haven't bled through, so I believe that is a good sign."
Mikumo blushes as she struggles to stop herself from moving. She couldn't quite understand why she felt strange whenever Shiro got close to her, she only knew that it felt warm and tingly, especially when he rubbed her head. She had never felt so...pleasant before in her life; the only thing that compared was when she sang to her heart's content.
She didn't realize her body started to sway as she became lost in her thoughts. Her mind started to drift, and she felt herself fall.
She suddenly found herself floating in the same outer space-like mental landscape like when she sang the song of the stars. She turned around and saw nothing but emptiness; when she looked down, she saw herself wearing a strapless white dress similar to when she was captured by Roid. The only difference was the lack of pulsating purple inscriptions all over her body. She suddenly felt a presence behind her, and when she turned around, she saw a reflection of herself. She then realized it wasn't quite a reflection; her 'reflection' was wearing a collared sleeveless white dress that reached just above her ankles and seemed to glow, white fingerless forearm-length gloves, and low white heels. The 'reflection' also didn't have her offset bun on her head, and her hair, instead of reaching her calves, went down to her hips. There was a ghost image of the rest of her hair reaching her calves, although it was rather faint. The strangest thing, however, was the reflection's aura. While identical in appearance, save for her clothing, she seemed...older, to Mikumo. She was wearing a soft, honest smile, which made Mikumo strangely uncomfortable, yet at the same time, comfortable. The reflection neared Mikumo and she instinctively tried to backed up, only to realize that it did nothing, because there was no ground for her to push off of. Mikumo subconsciously wondered how this near mirror image of herself was moving, but was far more occupied when she found herself face to face with, well, herself.
"You don't have to be afraid of me, Mikumo. I am you, after all." 'Her' voice is identical to Mikumo's, yet the way the words flowed out made her seem like a totally different person.
Mikumo couldn't find the words for a minute. "Who are you? What's going on? Where am I?" The questions were spilling out of her, as she was helpless to stop it.
'She' smiles gently. "I'll tell you who I am later. You're in your own mind right now. Your body is badly injured, and needs to rest. I also need to tell you some things, I figured this would be a good opportunity to do so."
"Tell me what? Is something going to happen?" Mikumo asks, completely unnerved by the fact that she was basically having a conversation with herself.
"Well, the first thing I need to tell you, or rather, show you, is how to control your powers. You should know that you command a great power, one capable of saving, controlling, or destroying the lives of many." 'She' sounded very comforting, despite the weight of the topic they were discussing.
"I-I don't-" Mikumo stuttered.
"It's okay, Mikumo. You don't need to understand everything. You just need to do what I tell you."
"What is 'it?" Mikumo asks.
"Mikumo, all you need to do, is focus. You ask others this question, but you've never answered it yourself. Why do you sing? For what purpose do you sing? Focus on the reason why. Focus on what drives you."
Mikumo stopped and searched the contents of her mind. 'She' was right. Mikumo didn't know why she sang, she only followed the burning passion that had been instilled in her for as long as she could remember. She racked her mind, searching for the answer.
"I-I can't answer that." Mikumo's voice falls. She felt a strange pain run through her body.
"Do not fret, Mikumo. It's okay if you do not know the answer right now. All that matters right now is that you acknowledge you have much to learn in this universe. That, and when you decide to sing, think of all the people around you. Do you care for them?"
Mikumo answered without even thinking. "I do. I don't want to be without them." She thought back to when she was captured, how inwardly scared she was. She'd never let it show to her captor, but when Chaos retreated from Windermere, she was crushed. The gravity of the situation hit her like the Elysion would a bug on the ground; the coldness of being alone, then being forced to sing a song that she didn't know would have disastrous consequences. Not to mention the flood of memories that both didn't belong to her directly, and caused her head to spiral in more ways than one. It was a horrible feeling, one she would much rather not experience again.
"Very well, then." 'She' seemed very pleased with Mikumo's response. "I do not have much time before your mind loses its grip in this plane, so I must make sure I complete two things."
"What-" Mikumo starts.
A purple pulse knocks her out.
Meanwhile, in the outside world
Shiro caught Mikumo as her torso fell backwards. He gently shook her as he checked her injuries for any signs of anything worth noting. He knelt as he placed her head on his lap. Shiro looked up to see if anything around them had changed. Seeing as nothing had happened, he turned his head to Arad.
"Arad, does Mikumo have a history of passing out?" His neutral tone betrays the concern he has for the violet-haired singer.
"No, why?" Arad turns around, inspecting Mikumo.
"It seems that she has lost consciousness, and it did not seem natural to me."
"Maybe it could be that she's exhausted from her injuries?" Arad questions, not visibly concerned about Mikumo.
"I suppose that could be the case. It's just that-"
Mikumo's body suddenly twitches, and purple sparks form around her body. They were short-lived, only moving a few feet away from her actual body. Her body begins to float lightly off the ground, and a ripple effect forms around her body. It barely grazes Shiro, who had stayed still to avoid potentially harming Mikumo any further. The sparks all arc towards Shiro, who did not understand what was going on, nor perceive it as a threat. He slumps over, his body in a kneeling position with his head dipping slightly. A translucent purple bubble forms around the two of them as Mikumo's body gently touches the ground in a lying position. The singers and pilots view the entire situation unfold with utter confusion. Reina and Chuck walk out of the shuttle, completely unaware of the events that transpired a minute ago.
"Good news, Kaname. I found a tablet that I can use to modify the earpiece's signal sender to-" Reina stops when she sees the bubble with Mikumo and Shiro inside.
"Hey guys, what was that?" Chuck says as he follows Reina out. He follows everyone's gaze and looks at the bubble. "What the hell is that?"
"We have no idea." Arad and Kaname say simultaneously.
"What happened?" Reina asks.
"We have no idea." Hayate, Mirage, and Freyja say in sync.
"Are they okay?" Makina asks as she sits up.
"It looks like they're unharmed, for now." Kaname says as she approaches the bubble.
"Well, it looks like we can't do anything right now, so we should just work on fixing our workable problems." Arad says, frowning lightly at the bubble.
"Agreed." Kaname says as she turns to Reina. "You said you had a way to send a signal with our current earpieces?"
"Yeah." Reina nods. "Should we get started?"
"Yeah, we haven't got much time to waste. Hopefully they'll be back from whatever is happening by the time we finish." Kaname says.
"Wishful thinking." Hayate mutters.
Inside Mikumo's mind
Shiro was momentarily blinded when the purple sparks made contact with him, and when he could see again, he found that everyone went missing. Except for Mikumo, who there were two of. That, and they were no longer on Ragna, apparently, because it looked like they were floating in space. He looked at both Mikumos and found that they were both wearing the same white strapless white dress as the other. They both also had Mikumo's signature offset bun on her head. Their facial expressions, however, were completely different. One had a small smile and had her hands behind her back, her head tilted slightly. The other looked completely confused, her eyes wide and stunned. Both slightly unnerved Shiro. The one with a smile seemed flirty yet mature, the other seemed like a flustered young girl, which also somewhat resembled Mikumo in recent experiences.
"Hello, Shiro-kun. Welcome to Mikumo's consciousness." The smiling Mikumo said.
Shiro frowned slightly. "I have a number of questions that I would like to ask, but I assume you are here to question me?"
The smiling Mikumo raised an eyebrow as she floated closer to Shiro. "You are a very perceptive man, Shiro. That, and your skill set makes you a very powerful man." Her smile disappears and her eyes narrow. "I'll get to the point. I can't tell if why someone as powerful and lethal as you is protecting us."
Shiro doesn't appear to fazed in the slightest. "You refer to yourself and her as being the same person. Does that mean that the two of you are part of Mikumo?"
The Mikumo questioning him crosses her arms. "I am what you all call the Star Singer. I am the memories of the body that the Mikumo you know inherited. She is the memories of the woman you know as Mikumo Guynemer."
"Why did you bring me into her consciousness?" Shiro asks.
"Because you are different, in ways I didn't expect." The Star Singer replies. "You are the only person that Mikumo's ever had a reaction to." Mikumo's cheeks flare in background.
"If you are going to explain these things to me, might I suggest explaining it in a way that I can understand?" Shiro calmly asks.
"If I am going to explain everything, I am going to have to affect both your mind's' perception of time significantly."
"As long as I am combat operational when I awake, I do not care." Shiro seemed unnaturally calm.
"IF you awake." The Star Singer scans him skeptically.
Alright guys, I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter! Also, I'd like to clarify some things, because enough people asked me about it. While I understand that Mikumo's official age is only 3, I will not be treating her like so in this story. For one thing, Mikumo is not really 3 years old, in the sense that she's experienced things most soldiers would. Also, her behavior, while erratic and random, isn't really 'childish.' I hope that satisfies you all who asked me, and I will get back to you all later!