A tale of Sword and Shield

Chapter 4: A Father´s Battle

14th September 1511, 23:00pm.

Schwarzwald, Capital town of Bordaussie, Beluga´s Pov:

Bordaussie, the Island I lived at, the Island I had my home at…, the Island where my Family has been born, not my ancestors, but my very own family.

It was a rather small island, all things considered, 70 miles from North to South and 150 miles from East to West, if you would trap the outmost outlines into a cube.

It sported several tiny villages, one Main Village at the Center and the Capital town on the southern end of the Island.

You might ask yourself why there were two seats of powers on this island, well to be honest Bordaussie was a rather rural Place with a rural society, and only, in the last 10 years, grew to a rather modern place.

At first the Village of Bordeaux, in which also our Ranch, the Million Ranch lies, used to be the biggest village around, it sported many different Ranches all around it, it had a huge market which was open all year long and mostly visited during the Harvest.

We even had a rural museum which showed various things from the centuries before, old tools and machines for field-working, the clothes and traditional tunics of that time and many other things before the age of robots.

To the South of the Island we had the new Capital Town of Schwarzwald, I said new because it only ever existed since 10 years indeed.

At first it was basically only the harbor district of the Island, but when the usage of Robots really became common sense, even we here, in our remote area, got some of them send to us by the Government of the Republic, at a request of the Mayor, they were ever since used for the heavy labor such as house-building, though at first it got some resistance against it, fearing that they would steal Work-employments.

Bordaussie used to get well along without all that neo-technology, as the old folks called it, and I had to admit I could understand them.

For centuries things had been the same way, and all of a sudden, the people were kind of forced to depend their lives onto machines they never had to use before.

The reluctance that came was self-evident.

But the Harbor personal on the other hand was more than just relieved for these new helping hands, even if they were mechanical, and so it was decided that each Village would at least take property of one Robot for the very hard labor such as house building and the clearing of pieces of the forests around, should a need for new fields arise, as the population gradually increased over time.

Once the Harbor began to really used the robots for de- and re-charging of cargo, as well as for transportation, as it often happened, once the industrial age appears, the Harbor district began to grow with people coming from far away seeking work somewhere, the market began to grow thanks to the new received cargo, which was now, as it was easier on the personal to operate them, increasing in size and quantity.

Over the course of merely 4 years the usual market there had grown to a regular Bazar, it was as close to a shopping-mall than anything else we could get here, a huge circular building was build to contain it all, like two rings in each other, the outer ring sported the Market and shops of the Bazar.

While the inner ring was used for other things, mainly as a Venue for council meetings or as the court of Justice, whenever necessary, at such days the Bazar was closed and the inner Ring of the circular building was used instead, which usually was closed to the public, expect of its toilets of course.

With the new workers and their families, as well as the merchants that came from all across the Republic, many new houses and Store-houses had to be build, small shops and pharmacies, which had their establishment in the town itself, rather than the Bazar, began to grow as the demand for their wares began to increase.

As I was saying, in merely 10 years the once so small harbor had grown to a real town.

Ever since, the government as well as the Mayor´s office was located there, while his regular house stayed in Bordeaux, as his daughter visited the local school, same as my own children.

Mayor Blossom was a kind and understanding man, or at least as such I got to meet him years ago.

As I got aware of it some while ago, it seemed that Betakin and Cherry, the Mayor´s daughter seemed to have entered a relationship not so long ago…, I don´t really know how this will end up, or how it will unfold, especially now, that Betakin was forced to reveal himself to the public as a hybrid.

But from what I heard, Cherry accepted that fact without any reluctance from her side, which made me surely happy for Betakin.

I just hope they are mature enough as to not yet start to fooling around, I would not know how to explain such things to Cherry´s parents, should Betakin get her pregnant early.

Then again, both barely reached the age of adulthood, so I doubt that they will use their time to do something so irresponsible as that…, then again, in our current time, you never know what might happen, so I wouldn´t be surprised if they sleep with one another…, I just hope they use protection for the first couple of years.

Life in Bordaussie used to be so easy, at least easier than in all the decades I lived before.

It also didn´t seemed to bother people much that I basically did not aged, sure some of the kids used to make fun of me, much to the dismay of my Children, who were mocked as well due to that, but otherwise the people just tented to think that I suffered some kind of decease that let my physical appearance age slower than my mind.

At least that's the general lie we had told the normal people, only the Mayor knows about me being a Paladin and also that I lost my immortality 2 years ago.

Whatever I was for them, for my family, I was simply Father and husband.

Then again, that was only so, ever since 15 years.

I never truly considered myself a Hero, nor was I what people would call a real soldier, a warrior.

I was someone you would have called, when you needed a job to be done, which almost no one else could absolve.

They called me once, Beluga the Gale, since I absolved my missions fast and swift and waltzed everything down that chose to stand in my path.

I didn´t really cared who I fought, or what the objective of my missions were, as long as they did not go after my principals, when I did missions.

I tried my best to avoid casualties.

I never harmed innocent people.

Harming Children was a major taboo for me.

I only ever assassinated criminals, for example underground bosses who brought pain and misery over other people…, though I rarely got such missions.

However…., it all changed when I met Merveille, for the first time in my life, I didn´t do things for my own benefit.

Of course, I firstly worked for money, any hunter would have done that at first.

But the more she and I worked together, the more I understood how different she was from my other Clients.

She didn´t do things for herself…, and although she had a good reason, she never ordered me to assassinate Baion, even though this might would have saved us a lot of trouble and pain.

It might would have avoided all the misery that came.

In contrast to all the other Clients I had before, she knew just how strong Baion was, what kind of tools he had at his disposal, to erase all threats to his plans.

So instead of simply trying to kill him off, she tried to stop him and that in a way, which would not put me in dire risk, which was remarkable, considering the situation we had been in.

She tried to eradicate the mistakes she made, by smothering the consequences that arose out of them.

On that day as she confessed to me what she had done…, what she had created for Baion, what calamity she had let loose on our world, l told myself that I will help her, to stop this madness, no matter the cost.

After the nearly 600 years that I lived, ever since I was forced to sacrifice Rebecca´s fading lifeforces for a ritual, which I just understood to have been completely useless and unnecessary, it was the first time that I ever did something so big, out of my own volition, other than the near pointless search of finding a way to erase Lares and Lemures.

Not only were it the information which I had gotten from Merveille, which made me help her, nor was it her knowledge and brilliance, nor the prospect of her finding a way to completely and once and for all shut these two beasts down, for good.

No, it was simply because I believed in Merveille, I believed in her as she believed in me, I believed in her the same way, as I ever believed in Rebecca.

We both knew how dangerous our missions were, that one slip meant that we would die and that the world would be doomed, but even with that knowledge, Merveille never once faltered.

Every single thing she did ever since, had been for the one moment she would see Baion being defeated, his plans failing, even if it meant that she died through him or her children.

When she once told me about her plan of creating new hybrids, to counter the threat of Blank and Nero as well as to assist Red, I was not sure if I should try to help her, of course, all she had done ever since she asked for my help the day we met, had been to stop Baion, but I thought that maybe, creating more Hybrids would just play him right in his hands.

And still, when she explained things to me, she sounded so passionate, so full of believe, she truly believed that these new Hybrids, different from Baion or any previous creation of her, were the key to defeat Baion and save the world.

Nowadays, I know, that if I had denied my help on that day, all three, Betakin, Alpharia, and Cetala would not be here with me now.

I would never have seen them grow up, I would never have experienced the joys of being a father, never have three children looking up to me as a person to respect, to idolize.

If I would have denied to help Merveille give birth to these three, I would never have been able to get over my own grudge, my own traumata, the knowledge that 600 years ago, I just fed my own sister to a beast that never ceased to strife for our worlds destruction.

Although the kids never had to play an active role in the fight against Baion, was I glad that they existed.

Of course I was aware of Merveille´s grieve, ever since the day Baion was defeated and Lares and Lemures vanished…, without someone to fight, the powers, which Merveille literally forced on our children during their birth and later growing, had become completely meaningless…, so we both initially felt, that all we ever did to them was ruin their future life.

A fact which Merveille never ceased to forget.

But nowadays, I know that this thought could not be more wrong, Our children received these powers for a reason and in looking at it, this reason might never have been Baion in the first place.

I remember the word of Agatha Bellkatz Melizee, a friend of my sister, all those years ago.

She once said, that "there exists no coincidences in the world, but only necessities", apparently it was a speech her Grandmother used to say.

I remember that she was what people would call a Prodigy, she had already been a mighty Arch-paladin by the time I was born.

Still, with all the power and prestige she had gained in her life she never once seemed arrogant or mistreating her powers for her own gain.

Whenever I met her, she had this calm and rather mysterious look on her face, an expression of complete control over herself, her powers, her emotions and her life as well as sometimes even her surroundings.

To be honest I am not even sure if she is directly family with Elh, the Melizee Clan on Ragdoll was vast and there existed many side-families aside from the Main Family originating out of the Melizera Clan from Shamballa.

My Family, the Damiens clan, was none of the 3 supreme Clans, Melizee, Armin and Prisalia, it was a rather little clan of Artisans, my father for example had been a craftsman and smith for Guardian-mediums and crystal-catalyst equipment.

After the death of my Sister, we had a hard time surviving the coming years, 3 years was all we got, to be still as together as we could be.

One of the ways in which people hurted us, was by boycotting anything my father crafted anymore, some Customers even canceled their open commissions on which my father currently worked and even the rest of our family kept their distance from us and cut all ties.

The Physical harassment which Mom and Dad received, as well as the mobbing in school, forced us to live a secluded live from then on, not that it held out long, as I was saying, I only had 3 years, three years in which I had no idea, if we even were still a family.

My Father had finally lost his atelier, due to the bills which just piled up, we had nothing to eat anymore, even though some people tried to help us, like Elhize´s parents, but most of them were threatened by the government to let us fall as well.

In the end they were the only ones, who kept helping us, but it was all in vain, as we later got to know.

It happened as I one day came back from home, I found my father and my mother in the living room, both dead, a knife had been pierced through my father´s heart and the couch were dyed in blood.

From the investigation it was found out, that my mother died in the Kitchen, stabbed by my father from behind, before he killed himself, after bringing her to the couch and hugging her while dying.

Long times I thought that, if I hadn´t been in school back then, if I hadn´t forced myself to return there, even with the mobbing I received, heeding my father's words from the day before to never give up, I would have died as well.

So much for his words, my father had given up, but instead of just taking his own life, he also took the one of mother, he murdered her.

Now I was not only a murderer myself but also the son of a murderer, of course I could not pay for anything with our meager savings, nor did anyone even want tainted money from a tainted Man.

I quickly lost the house, the very place I used to live was taken from me and I was thrown into the street, Elhize´s parents wanted to take me in, but I was kidnapped, blindfolded and brought away somewhere.

Back then I really thought to die, but instead I was thrown off the cart midway, in the middle of nowhere, unable to find my way back home, since that day, I developed ill feelings towards my life, towards this island and its Government, I thought I couldn´t be able to live in peace, I trusted no one anymore.

After those 3 years of living without my Sister and after the death of my Parents, the curse of the Rite of forfeit finally kicked in, I lost the ability to age and I understood, that I would be stuck within the body of an 18 year old Man for the rest of my life, eternally with the memories of loss and betrayal, so I tried to find a way to kill myself, myself and Lares and Lemures as well.

As I was unable to do so, nor to help Elhize 300 years later, I knew I had no longer any reason to stay on this island, so I took the leap as well and made my way off into the unknown.

Ever since these days all these centuries ago, I felt misery and the wish to end my suffering, but then I found what I had searched for, Redemption.

I felt myself truly alive again, the moment as I held Alpharia in my arms the first time, and then Betakin and Cetala.

Whenever I look at them three, I see so much of Merveille in them, as well as of myself.

Though they had a part of the B-serum, as well as the M-serum within them, resulting in one each of them being born as Caninu, were they still my Children, born from my seed, their life given by the love I developed for Merveille and my deepest believe in her.

I never thought…, that after Rebecca died and after Father lost his will to live and his sanity and murdered Mother and himself, I would ever trust another person that much, but Merveille showed me, that sometimes trust was all a person needed, in order to do something great, in order to do the right thing at the right time.

The trust I had in Merveille, was beyond everything I ever experienced; she earned the same through her actions which followed her words.

It was that trust that I believed in, which made it even possible for me to utilize a fully untested Mecha, which she had just designed a month before, which had neither been calibrated nor tested for eventual bugs and other failures or mistakes in its programming.

Salamander Gx, or how I liked to call him, Nephilim, was the prototype for a battle Mecha of the Newest Generation, with inbuilt Cockpit, far bigger than my old Salamander and in every way upgraded.

And it was that very trust I put in this machine, designed by the woman I loved, which just might help me to bring my Children out of this madness, safe and sound.

Flashback, 2 Hours ago, on board of the White Whale:

"Sir, I cannot authorize this to you, nor do I think that this is a good idea at all." Professor Feravente explained in a desperate tone, as she followed me through the corridor to the hangars.

"I appreciate your concern, Professor, but I did not ask for your opinion on this matter…, I am well aware of the potential risk, thank you very much." I replied as I walked on, fixing the last pieces of my E.P.C.A., a different version of armor but essentially of the same nature, as those my children and the Libra twins possessed.

"If you know about the risks then why are you taking them…., this is untested technology we are talking here…., w-wha-what if there is a mistake with the software…, or its calibration…., one single mistake could result in your death." She rambled on.

"You think I am not aware of this, surely you must jest because I know another way to die, and that would be by doing nothing and let the enemy win." I explained to her.

"I know but surely there is another way, since it is not yet calibrated on you, we still are able to find another Pilot to operate it, it does not have to be you." The Professor stated not letting go of her complaint.

"Aurelia, for the last time, I know the risks and possible consequences if something were to go wrong, but I surely will not let someone else use an untested piece of technology, such as this Mecha, with a lot of weaponry in it, when I am supposed to send him straight into a battle.

Especially now that the Kurvaz has been infiltrated, who tells me they aren´t already under us.

I am the only one who knows how the old Salamander was operated and as much as I know Merveille, this here is not much different than that.

I know it is dangerous, but I trust Merveille…, how about you, do you trust in her?" I asked.

"Naturally, most of what we achieved has been thanks to Lady Million." The Professor stated immediately and in her eyes, I could see truth and believe.

"And that is exactly why I am against this, for the greatest asset she has given us, was you…, if you were to lose your life then what would we be supposed to do, all our leaders expect of you are currently missing, command-center is not reacting to our calls, we have no idea what truly Is going on there.

When you now go to this battlefield as well, it means that we might lose another superior, we can´t have that, without you, S.I.T.K.A. too will be in shambles." Aurelia stated and I knew I had to somehow convince her.

"Aurelia…., I know you disapprove of my methods right now and I surely would do so myself, but right now, precisely because of what you have said, I have to make sure that the few people we can trust stay safe and united.

My Children are down there fighting for their very lives.

The Enemy is technologically far superior than us, as well in man- and fire-power." I explained.

"Then why…?" She asked in sheer desperation.

"How do you think I would be able to give any more orders to you up here, while I know that they could die down there at any moment, how do you expect me to live on, knowing that I send my own children to their death, while sitting here on my ass doing nothing but commanding people around?

A true leader is one who stands with his man at the front, who takes the same risk they are taking, how else would he ever gain the truest respect from them?

What kind of General would I be if I let my people die an unnecessary gruesome death…, what kind of father would I be?

The EMP from before killed their Mecha´s electronic systems, though if it had only being that, we would still be lucky, I doubt that Merveille never considered the possibility of that happening, but no, they have been bombarded and ripped apart, my Children barely managed to escape them before they were destroyed.

Right now, they are without much safety and open on a large battlefield…, if I am not going there to help them, they will be overrun, sooner or later.

The death of my Children and those who trust me, is something I do not wish to shoulder on my back.

What would you do, if it would be Orphelia, who would fight down there, would you let yourself be stopped by anyone?" I asked her as my last resort, after she was ready to argue again, it was a nasty tactic, but one I was willing to use, if it meant that I will get this through her head.

"Dammit you are good, although this was a nasty thing to say, I understand your reasoning, for using that despicable tactic…., sigh , alright, alright, I guess I can´t reason you not to follow through with that plan of yours and I, personally, would be devastated as well if the Children were to be hurt, more than they already are…, You heard him, guys, open the haul, our General joins the battle!" I heard her shouting orders to some of the workers and soldiers.

"Come back in one piece…, and bring your children and your comrades along, don´t you dare dying out there, you got it…., I don´t want to be the one, that has to tell Lady Million that her family lost their lives, while risking them on their own volition, to save those of other people" She stated as her glance pierced mine.

"I surely aren´t intending to die here!" I replied loudly as the cockpit closed.

"Neither are them." I continued as I was connected to Nephilim´s sensors, making me see what they saw.

"Initiate launch, good luck and Goodspeed General Beluga." Professor Feravente stated as she saluted infront of her team, who did the same, in here eyes I could see a few droplets of tears.

Aurelia Feravente was not only just a co-worker of Merveille or to me, As much as I was told she used to go to the same school and class as Merveille and both concurred with their brains more than once building up a relationship of friendship, rivalry and trust, she was as close to a real best friend as anyone can be to Merve, next to Opera, which was still more like a comrade and Sister-in-arms, than a true best Friend.

Especially since Merveille hadn´t forgotten what kind of role Opera played 2 years ago, she did not openly resented her for anything…, but she was surely not as holy, as to simply forgive and forget anything either.

"Thanks a bunch, I will be back and I will bring them with me, I promise…, and after that, we go and fetch Merveille and the others from Ragdoll, you will see." I stated and I saw her nodding, tears now freely running down her face.

"We surely will, you better keep that promise."

Flashback end:

Those were the words I spoke back then, and it are the words I wish to believe.

Upon meeting and fighting alongside my Children I understood something fundamentally, they are strong, stronger than Merveille and I have ever anticipated them to become.

Alpharia´s will to become strong, to put her fear behind her and to let her inner courage comes out, Betakin´s will to defend anyone, no matter who it is, with the power given to him, as well as Cetala´s brilliance and wisdom, to solve difficult and dangerous situations, they surely will become a good asset for any future team they would be assigned to.

Of course, haven´t I forgotten the Libra Twins, the two of them had a rough start into the life of a Hybrid and although they are our most recent additions to the team, are they quite talented themselves, of course the Lycanians didn´t went easier on them than on my Children.

The fact, that they have survived so far, just proves how resilient and strong they have become.

After the Battles on our end had died down, it was time for the next mission.

Saving anyone who was still hiding in town, arresting all the Lycanians we can find, as well as to extinguish all the fires that might have occurred due to Cetala´s Maneuver.

I was just done talking with her and she and Alpharia sounded good, despite what had going on at their end of the town.

"Alright Betakin, I was just talking to Cetala, she will meet you and the Twins at the central plaza…, Dalia, Frey and I will remain on this side, trying to smother the inferno, and all other problems that occur in this area, as well as capturing all the surviving Lycanians.

By all means be careful, now that they are grounded, we cannot tell how they will react, though I am certain they won´t let themselves be arrested without trying to resist and putting up a fight, whether a good, or a pointless one.

The E.H.C.A. is only so much durable, and it has been maltreated quite a lot earlier, as your Mechas had been bombarded, though I must say, they surely are a perfect addition for those who know how to use them, thanks to the Defense spells woven within their fabric.

Then again, it will be unwise to challenge our luck and only depend on that, from here on out we ought to be careful and safe our magic for the time we need it most, we are not yet out of Danger, the White Whale has orders to hunt the fleeing airships and take them down, some reinforcement was sent but they might take a while to arrive, in the meantime we need to get ourselves a clear picture of what happened and what is still most likely to happen from here on out." I explained and they all nodded.

"Betakin, Yin and Yang, as decided you will go and join Alpharia and Cetala.

Dahlia, Frey, you guys are coming with me!" I ordered and they saluted.

"Be careful Kids, this town might still be dangerous, who knows what for things they had on board, which might now run loose." I stated and as if on demand, a shriek of piercing volume maltreated our ears.

Even inside of Nephilim it was able to make my blood freeze.

It seemed to be coming from beyond the rubble of the second Airship, the one that went down on our end.

"Yeah, kinda like that…., anyways, you guys better go now, we will take care of this, we will keep your backs safe." I explained and the Kids nodded.

The Center of the town was not so far away, about 5 blocks maybe, around 500 meters, but in times, when the whole Town becomes a battlefield, those few meters can prove to be as deadly as to walk through a mine-field.

"By all means be careful, if something seems like a trap, it surely is going to be one in no time, keep that in mind…, also…, I am Proud of you, all of you Kids!" I stated aloud as they were about to make their way over to my Daughters.

I showed them a thumb-up same as Dahlia and Frey did with their four arms.

I saw them saluting and I felt droplets of tears forming in my mind.

"Betakin, Yin Yang, I am so proud of you, of course also of Alpharia and Cetala, you all did your best and you succeeded in rescuing a lot of lives these past few days, I am sure we also will make it through this night, even as grim as I looks….

That's all what I had to tell you, so make your way and as I said before and surely over and over again, be careful." I told them and they nodded, before they turned around and hurried away.

"Dahlia, Frey, keep your eyes and ears open, we don´t know what this was, but it surely ain´t something pretty." I explained as the Kids were on their way to join my Daughters.

"Roger Sir, may I remark, it is very reassuring to have you here." Frey answered and I nodded.

"Thanks for the flattery Frey, but yes, glad to have you two as well, I can´t really wish for a better company right now…, though I hoped that Maya Rosevelt would have been here by now, she would be a nice asset if we are receiving assault from the distance, but apparently she hasn´t even been able to contact us by now, god knows where she is stranded at the moment." I explained.

"Yeah with her sniper skills she would have been able to get these birds down from the sky far earlier." Dahlia explained and I nodded.

May Rosevelt, adoptive-daughter of Arthur Rosevelt, she was what people might call a tomboy, even though she knew how to utilize her female assets as well.

Beyond espionage and martial arts was she also a professional Sniper, who formerly worked for the SRSS (Shepherd Republic Secret Service) before she was transferred here to undertake investigation, to look at what S.I.T.K.A. truly is.

Somehow, after getting to know that both Merveille and myself often worked together with Red, she decided that our organization might not be something harmful, and as far as it goes, we do not intend to harm anyone or anything, unless necessary.

However, with the current corruption going on, who knows what truly went under the cover of secrecy.

I can say with right, that I know most of the people in S.I.T.K.A, but most isn´t all after all, there are always people I don´t know and those are the few who can operate in my blind spot, that´s why I need loyal people who cover these few blind-spots, to make sure everything is being monitored.

Until the moment I left the White Whale, I couldn´t find any evidence, that a corruption was going on in our establishment…, but you never know.

"Sir, I´m getting readings from beyond the wreck, some are from machines, others seem biological…, but the strange thing is, that I only have one object on my radar." Dahlia explained and I checked my own.

"Yours ain´t malfunctioning, I get the same readings, we better prepare for combat immediately, who knows what else these bastards have cooked up in their poisonous kitchen." I stated as my eyes began to focus on my surroundings, taking everything in.

Betakin and the Twins were already a good distance away, my radar picked no other life-signs up around here, the area was clear for battle, a battle which inevitably will come.

I barely was able to think this thought trough as another shriek broke the silence which ruled this place.

Although it was late in the evening already, the fires around us and the Full Moon shone bright enough, as though it was broad daylight.

And yet I had this ominous feeling, a chill which crept up my spine with ice-cold claws, piercing into my flesh and bones.

"Something´s not right here...?" Dahlia stated, although more in question.

"There is no sound aside from the raging Inferno infront of us, no people trying to flee, innocent or not, no birds, not even insects, as though all life has left this place." I replied.

"Yes…, and that does not please me one bit." I heard Frey muttering, his mine on the monitor showed me an expression of stress and fear, but considering what we already witnessed earlier, fear was not even the worst of feelings we currently could have.

"Whatever we are about to face, in any case we need to keep it occupied, we shall not let them catch up with the Kids, if we can avoid it.

Who knows what for things they might going to face right now, I don´t even want to think about it, for if I do, I might abandon my post here, and that is something I cannot do, right, especially not now?" I stated.

"Yeah for sure, we would be in quite a predicament if you were gone, then again if you would do so, we would understand, you are their father after all, you have all the right to rush to their aid when they are in danger.

I as someone without kids, or any other loved one, who is not here with me, cannot do such a thing, my post is here, and my duty is to keep everyone safe and to throw the enemy back out from the island, preferably into a cell, if that would even be enough to hold them…., which I highly doubt by the way…, guess to the plasma sea it is." Frey explained and I raised an eyebrow.

"Who is not here with you…, did I miss something?" I asked, truly curious, even though I knew now wasn´t the time to discuss such.

But still, the way he said that…, Frey McLaren (45), I.D.A. Academy Recruit, meanwhile Special Officer of S.I.T.K.A., I know he was an orphan, and that his adoptive-parents had died a couple of years ago, nor did he have any siblings, he also was single as far as I know…, could it be…, I always thought they were just friends and partners at work…, but maybe there has always been something more between them.

"Although we´ve been partners for such a long time, haven´t we ever talked about a relationship, marriage, or even kids…, funny, in hindsight I wish we had." Frey explained, his eyes drifting to Dahlia with a warm smile, while the same blushed.

Dahlia Lancaster (40), also an I.D.A. Academy Recruit, was assigned as Frey´s Junior-partner already back then and after we offered Frey a job, due to his splendid record and abilities, he bargained with us and so got her in as well, much to her surprise.

Then again, her abilities simply completed his, all of his weaknesses, by her being with him, were canceled out.

I remember, back then he too said something about being unable to imagine himself with any other partner…, maybe he had been in love with her since back then already.

"I thought you disliked that theme?" Dahlia asked, a little shocked as it seemed.

"How could I…, if the world were to end one day, do you honestly think I would still want to be single…, that would be way too lonely, even for me.

If the world is going down, I want to spent the end of my days with a woman in my arms…, not necessarily with kids, although, not now at least…, let´s be honest, who would want to set kids in a chaos torn world at the brink of a world war…, but if ever peaceful times should return, I wouldn´t mind to have one or two Frey-Juniors." Frey explained with a chuckle and I nodded.

"And who would I want more, than a woman who understands me better than anyone else, even if we are polar opposites can´t I really say, that I wish to find any other woman, than the one who kept my back safe since 15 years." Frey kept going while Dahlia kept getting redder and redder.

"Well, I wouldn´t mind to let you pamper and spoil me a little while longer, who knows what tomorrow brings." She stated in her usual manner after shaking her head to clear her thoughts, although the words she said could be simply translated with `I love you too´, she was too stubborn to say such out loud…, but I clearly think that Frey got the gist of what his partner tried to say.

If they were partners at work for so many years, why not do so privately as well, they basically were inseparable anyways, they often used to hang 24/7 at each other, even sharing a room together, although divided in two by a curtain.

I really would wish it for them and although it was truly the worst timing for such a confession of love, can´t I really blame them, such evil and malice we have already faced and surely were just about to face from anew, even I would once more renew my vows to Merveille…, if she would be here, that is.

"That's why we ought to survive, so we can find her and bring her and everyone back home." I mumbled to myself…, after all, I already made up my mind about what to do when I meet Merveille again.

"Somethings coming." Dahlia suddenly stated, I checked my radar to see that she was right, the signal has set itself in motion and it came rapidly closer.

"Guns at the ready guys, it is preparing itself for an attack!" I stated aloud as I initiated my lethal weapon mode.

Whatever this thing was, it was huge, the signal on the radar was too big as to be from a normal man-sized being, but too little as to consist of several independent entities.

"Sir, I got readings of one more…, its coming from behind and fast!" Frey stated aloud.

"A Pincer Attack, I should have expected that, dammit!" I shouted as I looked at the Radar, indeed, all of a sudden a second Signature had appeared and this one practically ran up to us, while the first one accelerated now as well.

Whatever or whoever they were, they were well versed in strategy and tactics, our entire focus laid upon the one on the Radar, as if these bastards knew how our Radars work, or how far at least…, they purposefully left one to be picked up, so that our entire focus would lie upon him, while the other one crept up on us and got ready, just far enough not to be picked up.

Our Radar only worked for approximately 150 meters, everything in 200 meters of radius wasn´t picked up anymore.

"Incoming!" I heard Frey shouting and a second later, something huge and massive came pouncing out of the flames in front of us, as though it could not feel them.

Now I also heard the tremor of the second beast upon the floor, or better said my Mecha vibrated violently.

"Grrrroooooaaaarrrrr!" The shriek we heard earlier sounded now far deeper and louder than before, more like a low growl, and I had to admit that it sounded further away before, so I decided to remain calm instead of instantly be ready for any attack.

It was my fault and responsibility; I did not expect them to be able to change their voices to make the enemy think they were further away than they actually were.

"BRACE YOURSELF!" I shouted and not a second too late as a huge dark Shadow came bursting out of the flames.

They looked reptilian, almost like dragons, though they seemed to have no wings…., or were they just folded?

Dragons yes maybe, but then again, they looked more like robots, than any living creature I have seen so far, their armor was definitely metal plating.

"HERE COMES THE SECOND ONE!" Frey shouted and a tremore went through the ground as the second beast landed on the ground behind us.

Dahlia and Frey instantly turned towards it, standing with me back to back.

They had effectively cornered us.

"No more readings, these seem to be the only ones." I replied as I quickly checked my radar.

"None on our scan as well, then again, we can´t be too careless now, we have already been bested once, who knows how many more of them wander around, outside the range of the radar.

For now, it sure is a blessing that there aren´t more of them, those two seem to be plenty to deal with, I am certain these things were a burden to tame and keep quiet in there, such a shame that they weren´t crushed by the impact of the fallen airship.

In looking at how unscathed they escaped, these things must be quite resilient, the places where we can effectively hit them with our guns are too sparse and too good defended by their armor, as if we could get a good shot at it." Frey explained while these things began to circle around us like predators, which they surely were, machines designed to hunt and kill.

"Indeed, but I bet they have some kind of weakness, in the worst case better try to hit their eyes, if they are blinded it might give us an opportunity to fight back and find those other weaknesses." I replied and they nodded.

"What are they waiting for…, they are strong, they could have already crushed us multiple times." I heard Dahlia saying.

"Indeed, maybe there is still someone giving the orders, who sees us through their eyes somehow…, if so, that one must feel glee in watching people shaking in terror, therefore we shall not give him that kind of satisfaction." I replied.

"Roger sir!" They stated aloud.

"Sir, I have readings of increasing levels of Plasma particles in the surrounding, they seem to ready themselves for an attack." Dahlia explained as I saw the same, the lights within these beings became brighter, as if they just recharged themselves.

"FIRE AT WILL!" I shouted as I opened fire on these things whatever they seemed to be.

"ROGER!" They shouted as they did the same.

However, what seems easy, is not always necessary helping.

"Dammit, there is no coming through their armor, we are just wasting bullets here!" Frey exclaimed in frustration.

Not even their eyes were able to be pierced, if it even were their eyes to begin with.

To be honest their head looked like nothing but a long, slim rectangular shaped box with wires and cogs attached to it, divided in two as upper and lower jaw, which was adorned by sharp fangs, the only thing that looked biological.

The head was adorned with a strange curved bar of lights on both sides.

I thought it was their optical sensors, their eyes so to say, but now, I wasn´t so sure anymore.

Still what concerned me most was the obvious laser within its mouth, it was huge, the whole beings were huge, at least twice as big as Nephilim, and That one was already bigger than the Salamander.

"The Energy is rising on!" Dahlia´s words cut me off my trail of thoughts.

"Try shooting the laser!" I shouted as I aimed for the same, but just as if this thing could understand me, it closed the damn mouth, while my bullets bounced of its metallic armor.

"Dammit, why is nothing working!" I shouted in frustration.

"Not sure why, but we just got to try and attack them head on, we don´t know how potent their laser weapon is, but if they cannot fire it at us, then there is no point." Frey answered and I nodded in agreement, that surely was the best course of action, if a fight on distance was not productive in anyways.

With Yoshura and its four arms, the two of them surely had the advantage, but on that account, Nephilim was faster than him.

"Close combat it is, I guess." I stated as I engaged the enemy, which, I, for simplicity, just designated as Dragon 1 and 2.

Dragon 1, his jaw still closed, his power rising, used, his arms and sharp claws as well as his tail to beat me back and hold me at bay.

"Oh no, you don´t!" I shouted, as he went to assault Dahlia and Frey, after the two took Dragon 2 in a Headlock.

"Suddenly I heard some strange noise and I knew now the time had come.

"Dahlia, Frey watch out, I think they soon will shoot their lasers!" I stated as I tried to take Dragon 1 in a Headlock as well, maybe I could make him shoot his laser in the air, or even better, at each other.

Such was the plan, but of course, executing the same was anything but easy, especially when your opponent is twice as big as you, and physically at least 5 times stronger.

"Frey, Dahlia, try to turn his mouth towards me." I stated.

"Easier said than done sir, this thing is freaking tough." I heard them saying in unison.

"I sure know that but we have to, otherwise who knows where those lasers could go!" I replied in an urgent voice.

I could feel how the head began to heat up rapidly, even here behind the walls of Nephilim, whose electronical systems began to get disturbed by the interference from the accumulated plasma that was already leaking out.

"Alright, if that is a no, then you need to keep its mouth closed, maybe they are no longer able to hold the plasma back if it is accumulated like this.

Who knows, maybe they blast off their own heads, that sure would be a favorable outcome." I stated as trying to pull or push their heads in a certain direction, proved to be a near impossible task.

But keeping their mouth shut, that surely was in the small range of possibilities.

"By all respect, sir, but you do realize that those are all plans in which one of us surely might be hit by that laser, in some way.

I hope that´s covered in our insurances." Frey asked and I nodded.

"It sure is a dangerous undertaking, but if you got any better idea, I am all ears." I stated and I knew he had nothing to answer on that.

"Actually, I do have a plan!" He stated to my very surprise.

"Well, what are you waiting for, spit it out!" I replied.

"I´ve been noticing that their wings are folded over their back, instead of using them, then I was thinking…, if they want to shoot lasers at us, why don´t they simply fly over our heads and reach, wouldn´t that be more effective…,so I began to wreck my head about this and came out with two possible solutions.

Either they are too heavy…, or they use their wings as an additional layer of protection for something, something of value I would say." Frey explained and I could see how Dahlia looked at him the same way I did, completely perplex.

It sure wasn´t that Frey was stupid, that sure ain´t the case, but he tended to solve things with his fists rather than with words, this is where Dahlia came in, she was most of the time the voice of reason for Frey…, so the times he actually did thought about things carefully, especially admits a battle they were stuck in, was a quite rare occasion.

In that regard, he and Red weren´t so different from each other.

But I could understand him, I too wanted things to end here as fast as possible, without any casualties, especially since we still had a lot to do here, after all we still had to find any survivors before the surviving Lycanians did.

"That might actually be a possibility, but what could they possibly defend on their backs?" I wondered.

"No idea, but if they defend it like this, it surely cannot be unimportant "Dahlia exclaimed and I nodded.

"I think so too, alright then focus on their backs, lets crack these things open." I exclaimed as I promptly let go of its head and moved over to its back instead, of course the head instantly followed me ready to fire its laser at me.

Only to recognize what I was about to do.

Of course, intelligent as it was, I give that to him, it tried to throw me off, but I clawed myself practically at its wings.

That proved to be the worst scenario for it, as it had no other possibility to throw me off it, expect it would unfold its wings, exposing whatever was underneath.

Of course, it instantly tried to pull its wings closer to its body, but somewhere was the end, if he gets past the breaking point of its mechanical joints, it surely could kiss his wings goodbye later on.

The more I had now the opportunity to play Captain Can-opener.

I used my strongest cannons to shoot the joints of the wings to debris.

The hisses and the shrieks Dragon 1 let out, went straight to my marrow, the blood in my veins seemed to freeze, but I still didn´t let go.

"Here goes wing number one!" I stated as I throw the first wing off.

"Oh, quite feisty aren´t we!?" I shouted as this thing trashed around like mad, even going as far as to run right into walls of destroyed houses to throw me off and burry me under the rubble.

It was as though I played rodeo with this thing.

"Now, show me what you got underneath!" I shouted as I ripped the remaining wing off its back.

"What are these things for?" I asked myself as I saw a lot of wires and pipes as well as some kind of vials or something similar, it was filled with blue to purplish energy.

"Is that a…?" I wondered.

"Yes indeed, this seems to be a Plasma condenser, so that´s what it tried to hide, its power source for the Laser and possibly also for its entire system." Dahlia explained and I nodded.

"Seems so, well time to get rid of this threat." I stated as I proceeded to blast the energy source away with bullets.

"Sir, watch out!" I heard Frey shouting and not a damn second too late as I saw how Dragon Two came running at me full speed and jumped to either catch me, or to simply throw me off.

"Argh, stand still you stupid thing!" I heard Dahlia shouting as she proceeded to blast the energy source of Dragon 2.

The fact that I was now literally off the back of Dragon 1 was a major disadvantage, as it now had the opportunity again to blast someone with its laser, which it had reloaded, I didn´t even recognized that it has let its energy out, maybe it redirected and used it to power itself up, instead of the laser, maybe during his trashing around, to get me off its back.

"Dammit!" I stated in frustration.

"Aaargh!" I heard Dahlia and Frey shouting, in frustration as well.

"Dang I think we made it angry." Frey mumbled as he faced Dragon 2 which was still moving.

"I guess they have two ways to power themselves up, this thing must just have been to power the laser!" I suddenly heard another voice in our Connection.

"Aloyse!" I heard them two shouting in unison, with a quite relieved tone.

"Hey guys, sorry that I wasn´t able to contact you guys, but I was able to still see everything you guys saw, good job, now all what is left is a battle of strength, but with Yoshura you shouldn´t have that much of a problem.

This thing is called, a Mecha-Wyvern, its strong points are indeed its Laser and its exceptional physical strength, the claws are able to slice through the thickest tank metal, so be careful with them, otherwise should Yoshura surely beat it.

But you need to be thoughtful, once it has you in its claws it can either slice or bite you through in an instant and don´t forget, the one who our General fought against still has his energy source intact, it still can fire its laser at you." Aloyse Everdare, Dahlia and Frey´s Operator, explained.

"Now how do you know all this?" I asked unsure.

"Funny thing, we had some kind of hacker invasion in our system, but instead of stealing any information, they uploaded some kind of Database to our system, apparently we received a database about the enemies known weapons, for example, those beast last night which can only move in the dark of the night and in the shadows, are so-called Ghouls and their power-levels reign from 1 to 9 with 9 being the strongest level possible, mostly known as the Dragonkin." Aloyse replied.

"And you just simply accepted and opened a program sent from an unknown source?" I asked him, what were they thinking?

"Well, to be honest it was not as if the source was unknown, They sent a message with it.

Here is what it says:

`To the crew of the White Whale, with best regards of Shangri-La and her Majesty King Maranell, we send to you a Database of the enemies weapons, as thanks for your General Beluga Damiens honorable help in the battle against the Lycanians back on Airedale, a couple of days ago, may this database safe many lives if you ever step into a predicament involving our all enemies.

With best Regards, Lady Sherezade Burmilla, Advisor of Prince Red Savarin Wolvenra and second in command of the Scarlet Wolf. ´

That´s what the email said and since you told us about what happened on Airedale, we deemed it to be safe to be opened and investigated upon…, in hindsight this decision proved to be more than just a bit right.

Anyways you better take out that Laser shooting Wyvern as soon as possible, otherwise you guys will have quite bad cards." Aloyse explained and we nodded.

"Luckily that thing is weakened by now, as its wings have been blasted off, it at least can no longer go airborne." I thought as I dodged one of the Laser beams Dragon 1 shot at us, before defending Dahlia and Frey with a shield-spell.

Instead, the same blasted an entire villa away in an instant.

Fighting myself and defending someone else, to be honest it has been quite a while that I last had to do such, I was more the brawler than a true defender, but here I had to suck it up and play a more supportive role, like keeping one of the enemies at bay, while Dahlia and Frey used the full extend of Yoshura´s physical body as an advantage to beat Dragon 2 into total submission.

Though this was surely no task for any other men or robot, I was certain that Yoshura could do it, it was strong, very strong and ferocious in the hands of those two.

"We still got a lot to do." I mumbled as I stood against Dragon 1, who readied its laser once more.

"Come at me, you giant metallic turkey." I muttered under my breath, as I sat myself in motion, as soon as the wyvern did the same, his mouth wide open, fangs showing, ready to bit a huge chunk off of me.

"But I won´t let you do so, nor will I let you escape, you, Wyvern…, you are mine to destroy." I stated aloud, as I jumped at it with a long jump and my guns and missiles at the ready.

To be continued…

A/N: Hello and thanks for reading the newest chapter.

To be honest it gets kinda hard to write good chapters for the great climax of my story, as I begin to re-read previous chapters, there are always new things I wish to enter or to cut out, so the ideas of how these chapters will unfold are ever-changing, but we slowly come closer to the end of book 1 and I promise you, it will be an epic end.

As most of you hopefully know, have I already written the first 4 chapters of the second book and ended it so far in a cliffhanger, but I hope to at least get to the next 2 chapters of the main story of Book 1 done by this year, yes you might say this is nothing this is so less than what we know of you.

Sure it might be, but with the current covid-19 crisis still going on, and winter being upon us, I, as a delivery guy in a Petfood store, have enough of work on my plate and I do still find some time to write on my story, not always but every so often.

Also, please remind yourself that these chapters are at least 10k+ of words large, I know writers struggling just to fill 5k words in a Chapter, the latest almost reach 20k or even go over it, it surely ain´t that easy to write as much without getting bored myself with it.

I try my best to write an interesting story and yes I know it might be too much for many of you, but I still appreciate the fact that you have read as far as you did.

Though I still would like to have a lot more feedback for these Side stories, so that I know if I should insert them to the end of the next book as well.

In that regard I wish you all a positive end of the year with the remaining 3 and a half months, stay healthy and stay tuned for more.

Sincerely yours truly, the Storyteller and his books.