A tale of Sword and Shield
Chapter 3: The Genius of magic and technology
Central plaza of Bordaussie, Cetala´s Pov:
30 Minutes and one single try, if I screwed it up, we all might die.
Quite a dangerous rhyme, if you were to ask me.
Of course, I knew about the dangers of my action, either A., the Ghouls which are already here will attack us, or B., the Warships will attack us once they have spotted us, both options meant possible death.
One question I didn´t even needed to ask myself, surely was this…, are there any worse conditions I could work under?
I bet not.
While we originally wanted to all go together, we had to make a change of plan as the first few ghouls began to creep out of their holes, in which they had hid themselves, while father and co held them back, was it decided that Alpharia and I were to go on, to bring my plan to fruition.
If the new horde of Ghouls were to be released, death was certain, at least for the unprotected citizens, but most likely also for us.
Betakin and Alpharia, the duo of Armatura Impervius was strong, but its power was surely not infinite, especially since their power has just recently being woken by my siblings.
Eventually its effect will run out and if we are then surrounded by ghouls, we are dead.
This here is the final solution to prevent our situation from even going into that direction at all and it might be just as outrageous, as the construction the Lycanians have built, but at the very least I will put my whole being into making this plan work.
Ever since Brother Red, Elh and Chocolat were down on the planet's surface and returned with new informations, mother was fascinated with the possible knowledge she might gain if she managed to reach this place as well, unfortunately was she never able to do that until today, as the Flute to summon Sumear, the Lord of the Clouds, has apparently gone missing.
Though Mom has the assumption, that Red and co. actually still possesses the same, more precisely Elh, for safeguarding and making sure that no one would be able to access the Knowledge which was to be found under the surface.
As Mom is the living example to our day and age, that too much knowledge can be dangerous, for herself as well as for others, either quickly or as consequence in the near future.
But even with the flute´s absence, was Mother still craving for that knowledge, so she and other researchers searched far and wide in our Republic.
And they found various ancient bunkers under the surface of the islands, with still existent content, kept in a vacuum for millennia and before these books, reports and other findings were to decay due to being exposed to this changed environment, many scribes were asked to replicate these scriptures to make the knowledge of the old world available for our times.
Through one such reports, which Mother deemed appropriate for us to read, we learned about the animal kingdom of that time, to a time as the Humans were the most intelligent creatures on the planet…, apart from the Juno as it seemed.
We learned about the biology, physiology and the behavior of many animals and so even understood various things about ourselves which we did not yet knew, things which were not on instinct, things we had to learn.
After all, we, as hybrids, are the bridges between Animal and Human, far more than the normal population of our world could ever be.
"An Eagle…, aeons ago known as the King of the Sky…, well before their Kind became self-aware, thinking and intelligent enough not to function on their mere basic instincts, much like us too.
An Eagle, the symbol of power, of victory and of Freedom, a fitting symbol for reclaiming control over our home." I though as my mind began to plan the steps to victory.
Of course, I was aware that my sudden claims were followed by skepticism on some parts, especially if you are aware of the situation, we are in.
And as I said earlier, executing my plan was bound to various life-threatening dangers, so, to say that it was a safe method was definitely an overstatement.
"How will our Mecha´s help you in the first place, Cetala, I mean you are well aware that they are broken, partially destroyed even…, mine lost its legs, Beta´s lost its head and yours, well whatever remained of it…., you can be glad to have gotten out of it unscathed at all…, how will you use them if they are completely dysfunctional?" Alpharia asked.
"If you cannot use a few broken Mechas, why don´t you just create a whole new one out of their remaining parts, and since we can use magic it will be a lot easier than building it by hand." I replied.
"What about the E.M.P…., it does not really mean much, if the enemy just takes it back down again, right?" She dug even further, her eyes speaking of confusion, skepticism and deepest concern.
"Well about that, to be honest, there is something that was bothering me, after all, we all forgot something fundamental, a certain Detail, which mother would reprimand us harshly for, if she ever were to know that we ignored such an obvious fact, especially since she was the one to give us this gift." I replied but she only looked even more confused.
"It is something about which you silently always complained, something you hated until a moment ago, something which put a burden on all of our lives, the twins included, some of us learned to live with it early, others needed a little time to accept it." I explained, as I stopped at an intersection, looking at her, but she still didn´t really seem to understand, or maybe she just still did not want to hear it.
"Seriously, sister, you still don´t get it…, or do you just wish to close your eyes before it?" I asked but she remained silent.
"What are we, Alpharia?" I asked her, standing right in the middle of this crossroad, while we were on our way towards the Central plaza, if we were to be spotted now, we would be dead in an instant.
"Children, trying to fight a battle which is far too big for us…, the Million Family, people who try their most to do the right thing while keeping their ideals alive….?" She stated, more like a question, thinking and believing as well as partially hoping that it was that, what I wished to hear from her, other than the one detail I actually wanted to hear out of her own mouth.
"Indeed…, but that is not all we are, you know that, so what else are we?" I asked her and I could see the reluctance in her eyes, which began to tear up.
If I ever thought it was just hard for Alpharia to accept the facts of our heritage, then I was wrong, she downright despised the idea of having to accept these facts and that devastated her, it was clearly to see what this knowledge does to her and I hated myself for knowing that I was hardly any capable of easing her pain and fright.
A fright which was maybe unnecessary…, but definitely not unfounded.
"We are…, Paladins, a race of ancient wonderworkers, who could penetrate the veil that hides the true world and shape reality to our will, even if just a little…
And we are…, Hybrids, beings with extraordinary powers beyond compare, sometimes benevolent but also sometimes malevolent…, a danger for others and ourselves..., and sometimes society´s final defense, or public enemies…., I get all that but what are you getting at?" She asked frustrated as she looked aside ashamed, silently crying, her hands curled into tight fists.
I walked up to her and I had to step on my toes to reach her face, I gently shifted her head making her look at me.
I looked deep in her eyes, before hugging her.
"Sis, …, we are all that and that is our greatest asset right now, this is what we are but not what ultimately defines us, we got these powers for a purpose and it is at ourselves to define what this purpose is supposed to be, not at Mom, not at Dad and surely not at anyone else on this island.
We are who we are, no one forges our destiny but us!" I explained to her as I wiped away her tears, my eyes never leaving hers, which still were a bit teary, but at least she nodded in acceptance of my claim.
"And what has that now to do with the Mechas?" She asked with an awkward smile.
"We are Paladins and Hybrids on top of it, the best of both so to say, so why do you think Mom would build us something which can so easily been taken down, especially since an EMP had already killed the communication and electronic on the surface.
We all assumed that since the latest E.M.P had broken the systems of the Mechas, that we won´t be able to use them anymore, but we forgot that the Electronical system was but a help to us, to make it unnecessary for us to move the Mechas on our own and exhaust our forces before a real battle." I explained but she still looked at me unsure.
"The joints and the core of the Mechas are made of crystals and Nano-metal, there are crystal particles molded into the metal, effectively lacquering every nook and cranny of the Mecha, to make it more durable.
Alpharia, we Paladins are able to influence crystals with Nono, aren´t we…, and since we are also Hybrids, we have a certain control over Nano-Metal, you have seen the reports of Brother Red and his Septentrion which Mom showed us…., the way he uses it, while being in Trance-Form….
Just because our Mechas are broken down by missing electricity, or parts, doesn't that mean that the scraps aren´t usable anymore, all we have to do is to create a Mecha out of them, which does not require an electronical system, one that is flexible enough to evade attacks and who can reach incredible altitudes, to tear the Lycanian´s plans to pieces, literally." I explained and finally it dawned to her.
"This…, is, reckless, completely unlikely to ever succeed and then again absolutely brilliant…., why did none of us managed to think of something like this?" She asked herself.
"Because you guys were busy with being concentrated on fighting and surviving, since my forces are not so strong, combat-wise, I was more defended by you, which made it easier to have the time to think properly about such things.
I had something similar in the back of my head the whole time, but just no time and nerve to test things out, but when not now, when will I ever get the opportunity anymore to do so, especially since we are in a dire need of a new solution to our newest problem?" I replied, as I pointed at the three Airships high up in the sky, which had the cloth almost entirely spread, the moonlight was almost completely covered, casting a huge shadow on the islands.
"Sounds fair enough, so, may I help you in any way?" Alpharia asked.
"Well you can help me gather the Mechas together, as well as defend me while I built the new one, as I said before, it will take some time." I explained and she nodded.
"What ever happens, you can count on me, Sis." Alpharia stated with a lot more confidence than before.
"If my little sister says that she believes in me, then I can surely not just sit around doing nothing, I swear on my honor as your big sister, that not even a dust-flake will be able to touch you." She explained once we reached the Central Plaza.
"Much appreciated." I replied as I began to use my magic on the first piece of Betakin´s Mecha which I was able to reach.
30 Minutes will make the difference between survival or death here.
While I was busy assembling all the components I needed, to make my plan come to fruition, little did I know that somewhere else a certain person was toasting to her crew for their apparent success.
On the Invaders Mothership, The Deathwing, General Lunnare´s Pov:
A giant black-cloth to hide the moon, a Moonlight-shade so to say, which pulled the entire island into the darkness of the night, it was as though I just created a night of a new-moon myself.
A success and an Ingenious idea, if I may say so myself.
To anybody down in Lunaris, who ever said that a woman would not be able to carry out military missions of such a scale, I love to prove them wrong and shove them my achievements right down their throats, along to their complaints and taunts.
Yes I was a Woman, but believe me when I say, I was so much more.
Some might call me a successful experiment, some call me a mere Chimera, or a Hybrid…, but what I am is nothing but General Lunnare, and as such the people under my rule are knowing me.
"To my great success, this might have lasted a little longer than expected but at long last these pests of the million Family and S.I.T.K.A. will be eradicated.
Seriously, as if they would have been able to stop me with merely 7 Mechas.
They were quite strong though, I give them that, but now playtime´s over, I have to produce some results after all." I thought as I looked at the hologram in front of me, the distance we still had to cover.
If we are to reach our true Goal, we need to hurry things up.
If only these brats would not stay in the way of our Ambitions, I would have been done here in a jiffy.
After all that Place appears and disappears on a whim.
Luckily it did appear today, so we were able to pinpoint its location but if I don´t hurry up, it might vanish again, it rarely stays at one position and open for more than 2 days.
If only we would not have gotten these new orders in, we would already have reached it and awaken that Thing.
But no, now I am stuck here until I either destroy this island, or kill all rebels.
And as I know my King he surely would want to keep this island as a base, so what else to do than to overtake it.
"Well as far as I am concerned everything seems to go according to plan, we had some little setbacks earlier, but ever since the E.M.P, their resistance has practically died down.
I give it about 5 hours anymore and then we are back on our way." I mumbled as I looked at my crew as they were working.
The Deathwing, the Warship I had under my command, was accompanied by 8 smaller Warships, though I had to pull five of them back, which were supposed to already secure the entrance to that Place before I would arrive, after I were to be done here. But due to their formidable resistance I had to call them back to assist us, especially after I got reports from an incoming Airship which surely was not one of us.
Once we are almost done here, the 5 shall bring that thing down, while I make my way towards our goal, I shall not lose any more time, the Gate will close in nearly 16 hours, and I need at least 6 hours until I arrive there.
So if nothing more come in-between I should surely make it in time.
"General Lunnare!" I heard one of my men from the Cockpit crew shouting alarmed.
"What is it?" I asked in a harsh tone without looking, more interested in that fine wine I was currently drinking.
"There is something strange coming at us." The Voice said.
"Well what are you waiting for, shoot it down!" I commanded
"Well we did try to do so, but it evades every attack, I doubt this is a Missile." The voice stated and I looked up to see the strangest thing I had ever seen on a monitor.
"Is this…., A bird?" I asked unsure at what I was looking here.
"We aren´t quite sure, though it also does not seem to be a machine, at least not a normal one, I doesn't react to any decoy or E.M.P. we are sending to it, as if this thing indeed was a living being, but a living being cannot evade fire from 6 different cannons simultaneously." The Pilot explained.
"Well if you cannot shoot it down, then how about you ask the other ships to do so, someone must catch this thing!" I commanded.
"My General…!" I heard from the other side of the cockpit.
"What!" I shouted annoyed.
"The Cloth…, our Moonlight-Shade…, it is burning..." I heard that new voice saying.
My head spun around faster than ever before, only to see that I was indeed not fucked with.
"How the…., what the heck is going on here!?" I asked enraged, upon what I saw.
"It´s this Thing my General, it seems to fire some Scorch-bombs at the cloth, igniting it…, but not only there, it shoots them at our Airships as well!" The voice reported as suddenly the cockpit shook violently, throwing me almost out of my seat.
"What the hell was that for!?"
"My General, our Engines have been ignited in flames, the cooling systems can´t put the fire out, we are about to crash-land!" The report came.
Can anything still go more worse than this?
"My General, the Airship of the enemy is rapidly coming closer and our Airships, in the attempt to take this thing down, have acciddnetly shot each other and have now engaged in an aerial battle against each other.
"WHAT. THE. FUCK!
AM I SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS OR WHAT?
MAKE THEM STOP IMMIDEATELY, AND GET SOME OF THEM TO OUR ORIGINAL GOAL, IF WE CANNOT SECURE THAT THING FOR OUR King, THEN WE CAN SAY GOODBYE TO OUR LIVES!" I shouted at them, my hands ruffling my white hair in frustration.
"But General we would need them here and…" The voice tried to argue.
"GET TO IT; NOOOOOWWWW!" I screamed, baring my fangs and my Batwings unfolded to their full size, making me taller than anyone in this room, it was sure to make my point clear.
This surely was the worst situation to be in….
If King Lycan would hear of my failure, then there would be no stone to hide under in Lunaris, then I might as well die here…, but even more so, didn´t I wanted to give that wretched wingless bitch Meave any opportunity to score with my King.
Just because she is a fallen Princess, doesn´t mean she has more right to share his bed with him, than I do.
Even if my ship goes down, I will not loose and fulfill my purpose and then get back home to my King.
I surely will get that thing for my King, this Autonomous weapon, this Titano Machinae…, Lucifer.
15 Minutes earlier, Cetala´s Pov:
The Eagle was done, even faster than I thought, maybe because most of the materials I needed were surprisingly still intact, or should I say luckily...
"So…, this thing is supposed to be our last resort before an invasion of Ghouls?" Alpharia asked in newfound skepticism, as she looked at the big metallic bird.
"Indeed, once Ares is in the air, all I have to do is to shoot the tissue with Torch-bomb and if I am already up there, I try to bring one or two airships down." I explained.
"Ares…, as in the Greek Mythology…, the god of War…, seriously…?
Wait as Second…, you are not planning on sitting in that Mecha, am I right?
You know that if you do, I am like completely useless to be here, from down here I cannot truly pinpoint your location to raise a lasting shield around you, should you be attacked?" She asked me shocked.
"Of course not, do you think I have a death-wish, what kinda moron are you taking me for?
Obviously, I have constructed him in a way, through which I am able to remote-control him, but it will be hard to evade attacks when I am down her, so I needed to build in a system which makes my vision a perfect 360°." I explained to her as I showed her the many eyes this Mecha possessed
It was far from being a real Eagle, but in our current situation, this was by far the best I could bring up and she began to calm down.
"Phew…, I see, well as long as you don´t take any risks, I am all in." She replied.
"You are aware of the fact that merely standing here, already puts us in danger, if the Lycanians would spot us while I am literally up in the air with my Vision and kind off also with my mind, we might die, unless you can defend me until the end, then we might have a chance.
Our first priority is to destroy the moonlight-shade, afterwards we need to do something about reducing their numbers and firepower…, maybe I am able to hack into their systems and make them attacking each other, which would be priority 2.
If I could take down their Mothership for example, the rest might flee, or at the very least act in disorder." I explained and she nodded in understanding.
Father always said, that a disorganized pack of enemies, who has lost its leader, is the easiest to defeat, especially if the disorganization results in infighting for the newly open leading position.
"I will trust you on your method, just be careful, I do not wish to lose you, you hear." Alpharia stated to her as she took me in her arms.
"Of course, Sis…, I ain´t trying to get myself killed, there is still so much to do and to discover in the future, I want to see where I can get to, and stopping here is so not my plan." I replied as I took her embrace with love.
Alpharia´s Pov:
"Anyways we better hurry up, or else we truly will be spotted, I think we first need to find a place to hide, from which I can effectively control Ares, while being out of sight." Cetala explained, as she looked around.
"It has to be something in close vicinity, or else I won´t be able to move Ares from the start, and high, if possible, the higher the better." She stated.
"How about this place." I stated as I pointed towards the old Radio-station of Bordaussie.
Old, since its entire system has been built, once the first Public Radio-shows came to light, which is nearly 50 years ago, Bordaussie was one of the first to have a functioning Radio-stations, mostly due to advertising the town, its Bazar and other facilities, since we were such a remote place to begin with, easy to overlook.
"Yes, this should be sufficient…, if I do it right, I might even use the still intact antenna as amplifier, for the signals I send to Ares, maybe it might become a little easier to remote-control him then." Cetala replied and I nodded, though I was not sure to understand, how she intended to move this strange metal-bird anyways.
Nevertheless, we made our way over to the nearby station.
"So…, and how do you now intent on moving this thing?" I asked.
"By doing that, which you hate the most in this world." She just replied but all I did was looking at her confused, there surely were enough things I hated to do, so it was hard to pinpoint what she meant.
"I will Trance." She simply said at my glance of uncertainty.
All what´s left of me was blankness in my mind.
That surely was what I hated more than anything in my life.
"Is that really necessary, Ceta?" I asked.
"How else am I supposed to get my full H-Forces out…., Alpharia, I think you underestimate our current situation…., we are in war, lives are at stake, there is no time to do anything halfheartedly anymore…., if we do something, we surely have to go all out for it, maybe even beyond that." Ceta explained with a serious look in her eyes.
"Yes…, I guess you are right." I stated avoiding to look into her eyes.
I was once more reminded of how cowardly I must act, in front of my younger siblings…., one fine older sister I am…
"Why do you even hate it in the first place, I mean this is something which belongs to ourselves, doesn´t it…., so why?" Cetala asked upon arriving at the Station, we broke our way through the broken doors and blasted us a way open, with our paladin forces.
"It always feels as though I lose part of myself, as if my mind is being set to sleep, while something completely different takes my body over, comes in charge in my place, changes it to its own benefit…
Every time I wake up, I can barely remember what happened during this time, not the good I have done but even more so, all the damage I´ve done." I explained and she looked at me in understanding.
"I see, well if you look at it that way, it surely must feel that way." She stated, her eyes a little forlorn.
"Ain´t that the same for you?" I asked unsure as to what her look meant.
"You do remember that I am different to you and Betakin, I have far too much H-Serum within me, due to that accident in our childhood, which I did to myself.
To cancel that fact out, our Mother, out of sheer desperation to safe my life as well as my sanity, to not turn out as a second Baion, practically pumped me full with Paladin-serum, won out of father's DNA.
Which had as consequence, that my Trance-Form is incomplete, which however also results in me being grandly aware of what happens during Trance, my mind remains even if some emotions, feelings and characteristics of my own change in a certain way.
It is Me, and yet not Me at all." She explained and I was in awe, I never really knew that it felt this way for her.
Maybe out of consideration for the others we rarely spoke much about what was going on in the training sessions we had with Father, if he taught us personally one by one.
Little it made me afraid, it was as though I did not know my own siblings, neither did they know me.
"Anyways, I think if we use this hole, we should make it up to the ceiling, or at least to the relay-stations, from there should usually be a passage to the roof." Cetala stated as she pointed to a huge hole in the ceiling, which seemed to have been caused by the bombardments yesterday.
"I think I saw one of the satellite-dishes, which has been remained greatly intact." She continued as we climbed up the hill of rubble, right underneath the hole.
"So you saying that you use your H-forces and the Dish as an amplifier, to connect with the receiver of this Bird-Mecha you build, to remote-control it, like a TV with its remote?" I asked and she nodded.
"It is all a matter of Radio-waves, upon investigating Brother Red in his H-form, Mom found out that the claws and float-boots are working with waves send from a corporal transmitter system, which is connected to the main transmitter in his brain, it´s like a separate nerve-system, which only activates when he is in Trance-Form.
She devised the theory that if he would learn to directly control them, he could even manage to repel as well as attract these claws far further from his body than they usually are.
If I, as I am aware of what I do during Trance, directly influence this process, I am certain to get some kind of results and if I use such a huge satellite dish for amplifying my forces, I am sure I could even reach the other Mechas, which still lie at the central plaza, just in case I would need more material for on air repairing and reconstruction, should Ares being hit." Cetala explained but I only managed to get that last part, as my head began to fume from trying to make heads with what technological jargon she was spouting around.
"This is too high for me to understand but I think, as long as you know what your are doing, all I have to do is defending you with all I´ve got, am I right?" I asked her and she nodded.
"Indeed, simple as that." She replied with a smile.
"Well that certainly is something I can do." I stated with a more confident smile, as we climbed as best as we could to the upper floors, sometimes using our ability to float, to get higher.
"I hope Betakin and Father are alright." I stated as I went past a Window as we were already high up.
"They surely will be, same as the twins and the citizens, but they might not be for long if we don´t hurry up, look the fabric is almost done covering the moon, let´s go." Cetala said as she pointed up to the Airships.
"Yes, you´re right!" I stated loudly, to regain confidence in my doing.
The worry for my family was tying me up mentally, I was afraid to lose the one part I still had, I was someone who wanted to have his loved ones near me, never straying from our mutual path.
But now me and Cetala were here, my father and Brother were somewhere in this town trying to survive, and mom…, well she surely was in not less danger than we were, if she even was still…, no, I am sure she was, a member of the Million Family does not eat grass so easily.
"There we are, from here on out we should make it, alright then, Alpharia, please stand back for a second." Cetala stated as we arrived at the roof of the Radio-station.
"Oh, alright, if you say so." I stated as I stepped back, not sure what to expect.
To be honest I never saw the Trance-form of my Siblings, mom and Dad had decided to teach us one by one in private, in that particular lesson, out of safety measures, no one knew how much we change during the Trance-form, and if anything goes wrong, we might even see our own transformed siblings as enemies in that state.
Mother did not wish something similar to happen, which happened between Red, Blanck and Nero, and since Dad was with mom, he could surely defend her, if something did go wrong.
So, it was the first time ever, that I saw my own sister Transforming herself in a Human.
"I wonder how she might look like?" I wondered, as I looked at Cetala who had her eyes closed in concentration, suddenly it was as if a gravitational field was raised, I saw how little stones began to float, the dust of the rubble began to float upwards like during a tornado, though long not as strong, which surely was a blessing, if that were to happen, we surely would be spotted, if we haven´t been by now.
Suddenly it was as if Cetala´s body began to glow, I saw how strange lines appeared on her body, most likely the corporal transmitters she talked about earlier, this separate Neve-system.
Her snow-white fur began to vanish, at least on her hands and her face.
Alone her tail and her ears remained, but turned near black in the process.
Her gold-blonde hair shortened itself, as though it was pulled back into her skull, it also toned itself down in a darker shade of blonde, but still bright nevertheless.
Aside from these few changes to her body, the biggest change was perhaps the fact that she became a lot taller, even taller than myself.
"Is that really you, Cetala?" I asked afraid, as I took some more steps back.
"Indeed I am, I am still myself." She replied with a deeper voice than usual, as if she suddenly had aged as well.
"Wow…" It was all I could say to that, as I said, it was the first time ever, that I saw my sister that way.
"Don´t you think the shining is being seen by them up there?" I asked her as I frantically looked from her up to the fiend Airships.
"I would be astounded if they weren´t, that's why you are here, while I concentrate on sending signals towards Ares, controlling him, you have to make sure that we as well as this building remain unharmed, will you be able to do that?" Cetala asked me.
"I think I can." I stated though I sounded anything but certain.
"Let me rephrase that, will you do that, or shall we return to Father and exchange the partners." She asked and of course being indirectly compared towards Betakin made me angry.
Didn´t I told myself earlier, that I won´t stand behind him anymore, that I, as their older sister had to take the lead, had to be the idol I was supposed to be for them.
"I will do that, I can do that, I won´t stand behind Betakin, no more!" I stated with outmost confidence, or at least the most I was able to muster up in our situation.
"That is what I like to hear, alright then sister, I´m counting on you, let´s begin Operation Torn Sheets." Cetala explained as she walked towards the Satellite Dish.
"You can trust me, Little sister, I will keep us safe." I replied and she nodded with a thumb up and a confident grin.
Cetala´s Pov:
Operation Torn Sheets had definitely more holes than a sieve, but it was the best I could come up in that short time and with such a situation we all were in.
Since neither our bullets nor bombs could reach that far up, the Enemy surely was at a huge advantage, unless we take them that.
"Well then, time to get this show on the road." I mumbled as I concentrated to focus my Hybrid Forces.
Due to the training with father, I was able to move objects, through magnetic forces, from quite a distance away, all I had to do was to focus and to send my forces like a wave-signal to said object, in this case it was Ares, my Mecha.
The Receiver I had built within its head was strong enough to pick up the faintest signal of my forces, so with this antenna, I was surely able to reach far up high.
In order to do so, I climbed up into the antenna myself, before beginning the operation.
"Ares, I´m calling you, come here to me." I muttered, as I formulated the order in my head and send it through my Hybrid-nerve-system, into my hands, through them, into the antenna and from there to the Receiver, bringing Ares to live.
With a screech of its own, it began flexing its mechanical Muscles before spreading its wings made of Plasmantium-plates resembling feathers, which each could individually be moved to direct the airflow during rising and landing.
Its wings had some inbuilt jet turbines, which made it easier for the entire body to be maneuvered in the air, igniting the same after gathering the plasma in the air, through its heart, the Plasma condenser system, which sent energy throughout its entire body over vein like pipes.
The Construction was not as easy as it would have been, if the right components had already been available, I had a lot of pieces to reshape before being able to use them, my Mecha Dimens and Betakin´s Mecha Umbra were completely used for it, mostly due to Umbra´s black colored plating, which helped Ares not to be instantly spotted in this dark night.
In its mouth, instead of a tongue, which wouldn´t be necessary anyways, was an assortment of different sized guns, machine guns, rocket launchers and many more.
In its chest area, I had built in two different Plasma condensers, one for the entire system to run and one to be used for the weapons separately, so he would not run out of energy.
In its head was, next to the receiver for my signals, a camouflage and recoil-tool, to shield it from being detected by the radars and homing missiles, like rockets, effectively creating an area of 50 meters around it in which rockets would be redirected and instead being sent to one of its many decoys which it was able to deploy.
Rounded up was Ares with the AI of Dimens, which I was able to command before, I just gave him a new program, which enables it to move like a Bird of Prey, out of the ancient data which Mom received from Yulungur, or better said from the Futzu tower.
More involuntary than voluntary, as she had ordered Red, in a secret talk to him before they went down, to use a 10 Terra-bit strong storage devise, to gather as much information as possible from the old earth, if there truly was a way to do so, which apparently was.
Though she was certain that this was long not all the information that was to be gathered down there.
It was one of the things which Elh Melizee didn´t really knew, as Red managed to truly gather these informations, without her being aware of it.
Mom was certain that Elh would have stopped Red if she knew about it, as paladins are quite close to nature, rather than machines and technology.
Also due to the things I meant earlier, that too much knowledge can be disastrous, if falsely used.
While I admired the work, which I had put into constructing Ares, the same appeared here right before us.
"Wow, now that is surely a sight." I heard Alpharia stating.
"Indeed it is, anyways, get ready for deploying the shield, I will send him up to them now." I replied and she nodded as she inhaled deeply before exhaling to calm herself down.
She closed her eyes to focus her Paladin forces and began to mumble her incantations.
"Just let a single point open, otherwise the signals might not get through anymore, just the spot were the Low Noise Block Converter (LNB) is positioned, all other things in this building you better surround with the shield." I explained.
"Well, I will do my very best." She stated and although I knew that it sounded weak coming from here, was I sure that this was more than I should expect right now.
Alpharia was frightened, so afraid, the most she wanted to do right now was to grab us and hide somewhere where no one would find us.
Maybe you don´t understand it from her constant bickering with Betakin, but for Alpharia, Family, trust and community meant everything, if those things were in danger, she felt herself weak, unable to progress, unsure what to do.
The current situation was far too much for her, and so it hindered her natural abilities.
And that was the thing she despised most about herself, because it might well mean that we would be put in even more danger, if she were to give up.
As I said before, we are in war, and war is not for the weak of heart, that is something Alpharia has to learn, its just a shame she has to learn it the hard way.
"Well then, onwards we go, I bet these assholes have already spotted us anyways and are readying their cannons to take us down." I stated and so I refocused on Ares which still did as told and waited for instructions, flapping his massive wings to stay airborne.
"Fly up to these airships, evade every bullet and decoy every homing missile away from you, once you reach the first Airship, redirect your flight towards the fabric they hold, shoot it down with rocket launchers and if it is too strong for that, try to destroy the point where it has been attached to the Airships, make it fall at all cost.
That shall be your first Priority, the second priority, is to destroy the enemy-Warships, you can do that by dodging their bullets in a way that they accidently shoot one another or you can try to hack yourself into the systems of the airships.
For that, you must rip the Warships´ jackets off at their weakest point, where you can get access to their electronical system, find a way to get towards their Airships main server and override it, that shall be your second priority.
By all means make them attacking their own people, this serves as plan B if the Fabric should not come off no matter what you do, either way the Moonlight-Shade will fall." I muttered as I send the very same conversation towards Ares AI.
With a screech, that indicated that it understood my commands, it made its way towards the first Airship.
My mind connected to its optical sensors, so that I see what it sees, in case of me having to correct or direct its actions manually.
"I´m getting closer to the Airships, geez, these things sure are massive…" I mumbled before I saw something rapidly coming closer.
"Woah…., attention Alpha, missile incoming, prepare for impact!" I stated aloud as Ares evaded said projectile.
"Alright, thanks for the Info." Alpharia stated.
I could feel the impact of the rocket, as the entire roof trembled and the antenna in which I stood shook strongly.
I had to keep my balance by grabbing one of the poles holding the LNB in place.
"I try to expand the shield a little while keeping the small area around the LNB open but know that this is our greatest weakness, if they were to directly fire on that spot, I will have to completely close the shield, which might cut off the communication between you and your Mecha, but at least it will save you." Alpharia explained.
"Yes, I guess it would be bad if I were to die, still, having Ares being destroyed before destroying their Moonlight-Shade will only add to our overwhelming number of disadvantages against them, by all means we need to rip this thing in pieces before that happens." I stated.
"I know….., but you are my only Sister, a Mecha can always be rebuild, but you only exist once…., if I were to choose between our mission´s success and your life, I will definitely save your life." Alpharia stated with a loud and clear voice.
"I understand…, which means I have to hurry up before that happens." I muttered as I accelerated Ares by igniting his Jet-turbines even more.
While the same flew through hailstorms of ammunition turned against it, our eyes were fixed on the goal, the Moonlight-Shade.
A giant piece of durable fabric as far I could see.
The Airships flew in constant speed, surely as to not accidently tear the fabric asunder, which might help us later on to bombard them, though I am sure that once the fabric would rip, they would no longer bother with maintaining their speed and go all out instead.
"I will now begin bombardment, keep the shield up, I bet they will attack with all ammunition that can reach us." I stated.
I was certain they would no bother to fire with machine-guns at us, instead they surely will attack with a lot of missiles which will destroy the entire places around us, I knew this made the task of maintaining a shield around this building not easier at all.
But if it were to be damaged enough, it might cave in, if that were the case, neither I nor Alpharia would be able to keep our current tasks up.
As fast as my commands reached Ares, he began to fire its own missiles, gathered together from the still intact ammunition of our 3 Mechas.
It weren't much individually, as we had been fighting for days already and spent so much ammunition just to hold of ghouls and the enemies Mechas and drones, but gathered together we came at nearly 60 rockets, at least 20 of them were the combustion types, filled with highly explosive liquids, they were called Scorch Bombs or Napalm-rain.
A thick liquid was sprayed, through the explosion´s shockwave, over a wide area and ignited through the explosion, it was hard to be quenched with water to begin with and up here in the air it was nearly impossible.
It was a miracle for me, how they were still all intact even after our Mechas had been bombarded earlier and ripped asunder.
It was a lucky strike and I thanked all the gods I knew for it…
Of course, the fabric soon burned brightly, while I only needed 5 of these bombs to set it all ablaze, firing one in every corner at their attachments and one straight into the middle.
In my opinion, to get it as black as it could get, these morons painted it with oil, under other things, which would explained why it burned so well, or maybe they used cheap but thick cloth, thinking that up here we wouldn´t be able to reach them anyways, even with the island´s Anti-Air-raid systems, which in hindsight had been attacked first by their vanguard and meanwhile lied in ruin anyways.
While some of the Warships desperately tried to take Ares down, as he fired his missiles at them, after the first priority was fulfilled, the biggest of the Warships, most likely the commanding Mothership, pointed it´s cannons at us instead and began to decimate the buildings around us.
As I was not glowing brightly anymore, it was hard for them to determinate which building we currently were on, so razing the entire block was surely a good way of hitting, if we were normal citizens that is.
As their cloth burned brightly, it had the entire opposite effect of what they planned, the Ghouls they had meanwhile set free were eradicated by the blinding light of the fire and the resurfacing Moon, I could hear their screams from here.
"Guess this was a good success, but I think it will be better to get out of here for now." I stated to Alpharia.
"Roger that, but are you planning on taking your Mecha with you?" She asked concerned.
"If I would like to show them exactly where we are, I surely would do so, perhaps for luring them into a countercharge…, but since we haven´t anything like that prepared, to show them our position if they haven´t yet pinpointed us, would be quite disastrous.
Also will this building not hold out much more bombardments, soon the ground beneath us will give in under its weight and the constant, destabilization through the bomb-impacts and then we are toast, if the building would collapse.
For now I think, that I can let Ares run loose on the Warships, it surely has done a good Duty so far, executing our first priority in this match, so now it can execute priority two, taking down the Airships as far as possible for it or hack them so they take each other out, for that it can do so automatically, I don´t need to input any new orders, at least not for now.
Also, if not being shot off and in full motion, its power reserve should hold out for the next 5 hours at most." I stated and she was buff.
"So long?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yes, while I was building Ares, I filled the energy-cells, over the still external Plasma condenser, while gathering all the plasma in the atmosphere around us, after I was done with the outer shell, I put the P.C.-system and the filled energy-cells inside of it, like you would connect and put in a battery, into a toy, just in over-dimensional size." I explained and she nodded.
"I think I get what you want to say.
Anyways, what are we doing now, shall we return to father?" Alpharia asked.
"Well, I´m honestly not so sure as to what to do, I mean we could but would it really change much if we did, the Ghouls have meanwhile being taken out, Ares tries its best to destroy the Warships and Father, Betakin and the others are surely trying to get to the I.D.A Facility to restock on ammunition.
Considering that Ares manages to distract the Airships long enough, the White Whale might even soon arrive here without many complications." I explained.
"I see, shall we then try to find some more survivors, which we haven´t yet found?" She asked.
"I think this might be for the best, the way I see it, some of them might soon come crashing down, if the interior is still intact, the Lycanians might come out to fight as infantry-forces instead, if they would find any survivors, they surely would be mowed down without mercy by them." I stated and she nodded.
"Most likely."
"Father, can you hear me?" I asked, as I initiated the communication device in our E.H.C.A.s.
"Yes I can hear you loud and clear, very good work you two, Cetala good job on doing the things you intended to do and Alpharia…, good job on defending Cetala during that.
I wasn´t able to see well from here, what exactly happened at your location, but I saw how the Warships bombarded the city after their Cloth has been burned down, but since I am talking to you they at least have not managed to kill you so far.
Thanks to your doing, the Ghouls down here have been eradicated or at least fled the lights of the fire and the resurfacing Moonlight.
Our operators have been able to land as well, after you distracted them, and according to their report the White Whale will soon arrive, though they are still half an hour away from the edge of the island." Father stated as his voice spoke out of our shared radio-frequency.
"Those sure are good news." Alpharia stated.
"Indeed, and as it seems some of the Warships are already retreating, after one of them is going down burning." Father´s voice replied as we looked up in the direction of the said Airships, only to see that indeed one of them was falling from the sky, its engine burning brightly, while others seemed to have fled the scene instead of trying to help them.
As far as I could see it was the Mothership that currently went down.
"Shall we make sure to arrest them, once they have come down?" I asked father.
"Yeah, if they were to roam around now freely, should they survive, we would have much hassle with finding them later on, once the battles would be over.
Also, should we see to somehow put out the fires, if they crash-land on top of the bazar, large portions of the residential area will be set ablaze as well, if uncared for." Father explained and I nodded.
He was right, as we know are the fires of the Scorch-bombs not so easy to be extinguished, once they were lit, that´s the disadvantage of using them in midair, you never know what more you will set ablaze, if you use them carelessly.
The Cloth that fell down surely must have set many houses ablaze as well, the more things are burning, the longer it lasts to later rebuild things, and if the most unlikely but not totally impossible event occurs, that there are still some survivors hidden in their houses, they surely will need all the help they can get, to not burn alive or being buried under tons of rubble, suffocating, especially now that we actually can give some help, without having to fear to be shot down alongside them.
"Alright, we go to their Mothership, can you guys care about the fires caused through the burning cloth?" I asked.
"We will do so, though I will send you Betakin and the Twins as help, meet them at the central Plaza, but by all means be careful, if some of the Lycanians have survived the crash, they will be sure to attack you on sight, don´t hesitate to shoot, if your life or that of one of your partners is in danger." Father explained.
"Yes we will be careful, you guys be as well." I replied.
"Sure enough, daughter, see you guys later, stay safe, over and out." He stated.
"We will, over and out, Father." I replied, as we set ourselves in motion to return back to the central Plaza.
"I´m still wondering what this attack was all about anyways, I mean if their men so easily leave them, they cannot be here to conquer this place, am I right?" Alpharia wondered.
"Well if we find a Lycanian, willing to talk and incapable of killing us, we might ask him, if he then answers truthfully is another question." I stated, not sure that we would really get the answer to that question.
"Then again, it might also have been us, which they sought." I stated.
"Huh…, what do you mean with that?" She asked confused.
"Well, considering that some of those New moon bastards had been under the population of this island, and according to what Father said, that some of them seem to have been in the Kurvaz as well, causing our back-up to run late, it is not so farfetched to say, that there might have been some of them in S.I.T.K.A. as well.
If that happens to be the case, they surely will know about us and our powers, which in hindsight is a grave threat to their plans, whatever they look like.
So it is only logical that they will attack us, to take us out, before we would be able to hinder them in their plans, just as we do right now." I explained and she paled.
"What if they are with Prof. Aurelia, Orphelia and Connor, right now?!" She stated aloud.
"That might be a possibility, but I´m sure they would try to pull something now, they might be outnumbered for the moment, especially when they have already met with Father.
They might wait for the right opportunity, but it surely would be best to keep our eyes open." I explained.
"We need to contact them." Alpharia stated as she was about to call father or Betakin.
"Don´t do that…, not now Alpharia, you know that the communication, once established, can be heard in the Airship as well, right?
If you now warn Dad and the others from possible moles in our Organization, it is certain that the situation might escalate, if there are indeed some." I explained.
"Then what shall we do, if we don´t warn them they might be stabbed in their backs, like they tried to do it with us." She stated in desperation.
"I highly doubt that Father would be so careless, I bet that he already holds up his guard from the moment on, as we reported what happened to us, Betakin was with him after all and if they had gotten news from moles in the Kurvaz Organization, it´s only natural to assume that the same might have happened to us as well, so I am sure that Dad is constantly on alert." I replied.
"I see…, yeah I can see Father doing that." Alpharia stated as she calmed down, while we continued our way.
"For now, we should regroup with Betakin and the others and once that is done, we need to take some measures in damage-control, you know putting out the fire, checking the rubble for survivors, arresting the enemy as far as possible and so on…." I explained and she nodded.
"Well then, let´s go, to where our brother and friends are, which we surely can trust." I stated as we moved on, to where the fires raged.
Ares was still flying in the sky, evading attacks and attacking the remaining 3 Warships, 4 of them have fled…., or have they?
What if they have just been redirected, to get to another location to absolve another mission, most likely their original plan, their second priority, much like I gave two priorities to Ares.
However, if that were the case…., where are they flying to... in our surroundings are only a few Islands they could fly to, Basset or Sealyham to the west…, and to the east we had only 2 other Islands as far as I know...
Samoyede and Akita…., unless…., Armenia…., is that place truly real?
If it is…, what was to find there if that was their original Goal…?
"Questions over Questions which create more Questions…, I would like some Answers for a change." I mumbled as I walked forth, Alpharia following close behind me, to a possibly dangerous place, but perhaps a place to find these answers.
To be continued…
A/N: Another Chapter of this side story is done, all what is left are, three more Chapters, before the next and last Side-Story, Valhalla Rising is being written, then we continue with the next chapter in the main story, most likely 2 chapters, before the 3 last Side-stories will begin, afterwards we go main straight to the end of Book 1.
I hope that some of you still enjoy these stories and I surely would like some more reviews for me to see if people even read these stories at all, as I said something might come well in handy to know beforehand, before the great Climax.
By the way, 2 chapters of the next Side-story have already been written so it won´t last so long until it is done.
Anyways I hope you have fun and stay healthy so far, and as I said, it would be nice to hear from you.
Sincerely, yours truly, the Storyteller and his books.