AUDIO FILE WF-206902021539
"Start recording. Date is February second, twenty sixty-nine. Current time is three forty in the afternoon...
We did it. After all this time, after all those troubles, we finally did it. A healthy baby in perfect physical condition, coming straight out of a completely artificial process. Out of chemicals, we have managed to create life...
I still remember calling Johnson completely crazy when he made the proposition to the Board. At that time, thinking that we could just create life like that was ludicrous, especially in a situation where the production of sexual hormones had already gone completely down the drain. I was not the only one to think that, but because it was the only real idea anyone had, the Board decided to throw all the resources it had at us to make it happen.
The Chairman had insisted that cloning was out of the question, and no subject was deemed fitting to act as a surrogate mother. In theory, the only process that could have worked was to develop a completely artificial method and to scale it up to replenish our lost manpower. So that's what we tried to do.
And now, I can assure that we succeeded. Ever since we pulled him out of the artificial womb, I have had a strange feeling in my heart. I cannot really describe it. Proud? Maybe. Happy? Probably. Is this something that new parents feel after the birth of a child?
We have yet to find a real name to the boy. For now, he is only known as Code Zero Zero One, and a number would not be an appropriate name for a child. Yet it seems that some have started to get attached to calling him Zero One. It's hard to tell them that they should not get attached, that it is just a test subject and that there will soon be hundreds like him later. But at the same time I do not want to let him go.
The Chairman has assured me that all measures will be taken to take good care of him. He is special, whether the upcoming program succeeds or not. As we scale up the process, the military part of the team has insisted the importance of raising the kids in pairs to ensure the best performance out of the pilots they will become. But Zero One, he is alone. Making a pilot out of him is impossible as of now.
When all the FRANVs were ordered to stand down due to all the... issues, we had to vastly reduce the scope of our defenses and put the old jets back in the air. According to the Board, there should be enough to maintain the current status quo for at least twenty years in an area twice size of New England around the Research Center... Which means that we might very well succeed...
Those children are going to be the salvation of all that remains of civilized humanity. They will need to be in the best conditions to succeed in their task. And if anything needs to be done, I must be the one to lead the effort. I am already responsible for the collapse we lived through, I must be responsible of the reconstruction."
The elevator silently rose up the floors of the main administrative building. The lack of any noise was deafening to the three people standing inside, but their minds were focused on something else. Each had a precise thing to do with only one chance to do it. They might have been used to those kinds of situations through their combat experience, but here it had completely different stakes.
They were far from being the only ones in that situation. The larger group had split up earlier, heading in completely different directions. Synchronization was key, and to ensure all of this, communications had to be maintained at all times.
"Hiro, we are in position near the hangars." Ichigo's voice, coming out of Hiro's communicator, was slow and calm. "Nothing unusual to report on our side."
"Understood," replied the boy, trying hard to sound the same and not give way that his heart was start to pound too fast for comfort. "We are still in the elevator, but we are almost there. Give us a minute and we will start our thing. Stay ready."
"Understood."
As he slid back the device in his pocket, he could not help but take a last look at his two partners in crime in that last endeavor before freedom. Zero Two was standing straight, her back resting against one of the walls of the cabin. Her eyes were closed, focused, her face undisturbed by the pressure. She had tied her hair in a small compact hair bun, not a style she usually had along with her living uniform. But without any time to spare, she had done it early to save time later on.
As for Eighty-Three, he had kept the headphones in his ears the entire time. His leg was slightly twitching and his head was bobbing up and down in rhythm. Like that, it was hard to see what his emotions were, but the likeliness of him being in the same state of stress was very high. He had high stakes of his own as well, and he was the one bearing the responsibility if the plan he had designed did not end up working.
The light tone that accompanied the opening of the lift doors was like a signal to set everything in motion. In a tight formation, they quickly walked down the corridor towards their target, expecting trouble to come from any corner. But things were awfully calm. Too calm. Only their footsteps echoed on the shiny white walls without a single person in sight.
But when the tall dark figure of a security guard appeared out of a doorway, everything went up a gear. The three were far from being authorized to be here, and the armed man knew it. However, he did not have the time to react as a fist immediately hit his exposed face. And the next second, he was on the ground, a knee pressing hard on his neck to prevent him from breathing. Sure, he tried to wrestle himself out of that deadlock, but with the two boys holding his arms and legs, there was not much he could do as oxygen started to run out of his system. And somehow, all this had happened without any loud noise. Or at least no noise loud enough to break through the sound insulation of the few offices located on this floor.
"We're clear?" asked Eighty-Three, quickly scanning all the possible entry points.
"Yeah… I think so."
Hiro was not a hundred percent sure of his words, but it was still better than nothing.
Despite having literally choked someone unconscious, Zero Two was completely unphased and immediately stood back up, ready to move on.
"We do not have much time left. The office is down this hallway."
"Yeah let me just… pick this up really quick."
In a way, it was convenient that this encounter had happened. Like all the other guards, this one had a small pistol hanging from his belt, useful for any kind of policing or self-defense. It might have been small, but a small weapon is better than no weapon at all.
"Ok, let's get going then."
At the end of the corridor was just one last door, larger than all the other ones, with a name written on it with large bold letters. As much as they wanted, they could not take the time to stop and think things through one last time. So, after everyone took in a deep breath, Zero Two swiped her bracelet in front of the detector and the door opened.
Eighty-Three remained out of sight in the corridor as the two stepped in, both turning towards where their target was as they were used to.
"Oh? Zero Two, Zero One Six... Is there something wrong?"
The sound of steps coming in from the part of the room he could not see was his cue. So he dived in, the handgun in hand, knowing that the target was not near any kind of alarm button.
"Put your hands up! Put your hands up!"
The old man they were after jumped back in surprise. It was only after a split second that he completely realized that this sudden intruder was pointing his barrel towards him, forcing him to comply.
"What is the meaning of all of this?"
His reaction was not fueled by fear, but more by an angry annoyance.
"You shut up and keep your hands up there... I'm the one doing the talking here."
Eighty-Three barked his orders with all the hatred he had gathered within himself for all this time. Standing before him was one of the most important members of the Entity, the head of research, the one responsible for everything.
Hiro did not wait for any kind of instruction to take a seat at the Doctor's desk. The furniture felt too large for single man, the lone keyboard and monitor lost in the middle of an otherwise empty table. Thanks to their surprising appearance, the computer they wanted to access was already on, but the report that was currently displayed was the complete opposite of interesting for them. But as he closed the document, Werner tried to protest.
"No, do not touch that! What are you trying to do?"
"We are sorry, Doctor, but we are making things right," coldly replied Zero Two with a piercing look to the Doctor. "You are the head of this facility, you can control everything from your computer, and we have things to do."
"Wha..."
Hearing this left him completely dumbfounded. And as things went along, the fact that he was being held at gun point slowly started to become the least important of his problems.
"Ah shoot! All the system controls are locked behind a security check. We need a password."
Hiro seemed annoyed when his attempt to reach what they were here for was met with a pop up asking for a precise string of characters.
"You heard him?" Eighty-Three started to yell, still holding the barrel straight at the old man. "Give the password now!"
But the Doctor kept silent, looking straight into the pilot's eyes. This reaction quickly destroyed all that remained of Eighty-Three's patience. In one rageful movement, he reached for the top of the slide and pull before letting it go forward with a loud metallic sound.
"If I were you, Doctor, I would comply with what he said."
Zero Two's calm voice was a sharp contrast. With her thoughtful choice of words, she seemed a good alternative to the angry armed man shouting at him.
"Fine... Fine... I'll tell you... Just stop pointing that thing in my direction."
What followed was a long list of letters, numbers and other symbols. It seemed too long and random to have been something a person would have come up with. And with one last input, the window disappeared, letting way for an entire new menu. From here, every key organ of the entire facility could be controlled, and this included the security.
With just a few clicks, the alarms located inside all the hangars were taken offline, granting free range to the other team. With other similar interactions, all the needed orders were given to ground crews and all authorizations were transmitted to air traffic controllers. On paper, everything was in check to allow for a safe take off. Problem was, after that, nothing was sure. Nothing allowed to control the air defenses, nothing allowed to control the radar network, nothing permitted to deny the scramble of interceptors. And nothing allowed aircrafts to completely disappear from all the screens of the Entity.
Which meant that now, they needed a diversion. And to trick the entire Entity long enough for everyone to get away, it had to be one hell of a diversion.
Still pointing the gun in the direction of the Doctor, Eighty-Three slowly walked towards the desk before pulling out of one of his pocket a familiar data drive and handing it over to Hiro.
"Transfer those files in…"
Without asking any questions, the younger pilot complied and plugged in the device into one of the few exposed ports. A pop-up message immediately appeared on the screen, asking for instructions on how to handle all that data. And quickly after selecting the correct option, the progress bar of the download took the place of the message.
"I do not know what you are all trying to achieve, but it is foolish!"
"And it is foolish of you to think that you will talk us out of it."
Zero Two's response was harsh and cold, and Werner was far from enjoying that.
"Why are you talking to me like that, Zero Two? I have always worked hard to give the best to you, and this is how you repay me?"
"We have all our reasons. For my Darling and for me, we are here to prevent the people you work for from killing some of our friends who did no wrong… For Eighty-Three, it's different."
The Doctor turned his head to face the gunman and see his reaction to the remark. But nothing had really changed. There was still this deep anger visible through his eyes and it was not showing any signs of calming down.
"You… You are monster! You have made us, you have lied to us and you have used us to establish your domination! You have the blood of millions on your hand, just because you were too greedy to let go of your power!"
"Me? A monster? I've worked without rest for more than half a century to build a better world for you to live in! Every decision I have taken was in your interest!"
It seemed that Werner was slowly starting to lose it. A growing anger of his own had appeared in his head from such accusations, and the mix with his already confused state of mind were far from helping him stay calm. But before Eighty-Three could yell something back, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"The download has finished. What now?"
Hiro, still sitting in the Doctor's office chair, was concerned. Many things had gone in the right direction for them to reach this step in their plan, and it only natural for him to be worried that it might all crash down on them at any second. Even if he was with Zero Two, they were still going against the Entity itself.
"Keep an eye on him, would you?" simply launched Eighty-Three to the pink-haired woman. When she replied with a head nod, he turned around and kneeled to be as close as Hiro as possible. Slowly, he pulled out a small package out of his pocket and handed it over to the boy. "Everything you need to know is in there. Open it up only when you are in safety with Fifty. Understood?"
"Wait, what? Are you not coming with us?"
"Someone has to stay behind for the diversion to work."
"Diversion? What diversion?"
"Oh don't worry... I have something planned. Now go!"
Hiro watched confusedly as Eighty-Three quickly stood back up and turned around. All the planning they had done beforehand had been based on the fact they all three would leave the Doctor's office. Yet there they were, the pilot of Twenty Bravo raising his arm and taking aim.
"Wait! Wait! Please no!"
But Werner could not plead for his life when the sound of gunfire rang inside the room. His leg exploded into a painful mess of bone and blood, making him fall hard on the ground like a rag doll, screaming and crying.
"That one is for Fifty! Do you think she was able to ask the Klaxosaurs not to destroy her leg?" But for only answer Eighty-Three received screams, the Doctor holding his thigh with hands already covered in blood. "This is what she went through because of you! This is what I had to take care of all by myself! This is why she cannot walk anymore!"
Hiro immediately jumped off his chair with the intent of protesting, but he stopped himself dead in his own tracks when his look came across Zero Two's and she shook her head slightly side to side. It was personal business, and it was better for them to leave him to handle it like he wished to.
So, without being able to take the time to properly say goodbye, both rushed out of the office. The closed door left the Pilot and the Doctor alone, one standing and one bleeding out. With the nearby panel, it was not hard for Eighty-Three to completely lock the panel, preventing any unwanted entry for a short while.
Now, there was just one last thing left for him to do. Anger was still boiling inside of him, but the idea of finally completely accomplishing what he had planned for so long launched a surge of feelings inside of his mind. As he sat behind the desk, there was a mix of excitement and joy of success as he sat down at the desk and started to open particular menus, all the while ignoring the painful moaning of the injured Doctor.
And it did put a smile on his face.
"Did you understand everything, Officer Emidova?"
"Perfectly, Chairman. I will be careful to go through it several times before handing out instructions to my squadron. Now more than ever, all the details are important."
"I was not expecting less from you, Officer. Make sure everything ends in success. End of transmission."
When the masked face of the Chairman disappeared from the screen of her temporary office, Maria let go of a long and deep sigh. The pressure was back on her shoulder with this sudden message directly from the head of the Board that announced the final operation was underway. Now, on her desk, a large pile of warm printing paper covered in secret information was waiting to be read.
It was a clear understatement to say that she was not thrilled to go through all of it, but it was one of the many obligations of the job. Reluctantly, she picked up the first few pages and quickly scanned it with her eyes. As expected, the first few parts were focused on a general description of the context and the expected consequences of both success and failure. Then it came to the information about the "where". Page after page, the papers were covered in precise data about the geography, the climate, the usual and expected flight conditions, the known pattern of their enemies... Even by just going over it lightly, she could easily tell it was the most precise mission preparation file she had been handed over for a long time. And it made one thing clear to her.
It was the operation to not fail.
With her now spiked interest, she reached for another set of papers, this time those dedicated to the objectives of all the squadrons. She immediately turned toward the twentieth part without really noticing the other set of instructions.
"Squadron Twenty," she started to read out loud to herself. "Main objective: escort of ground strike team to objective Alpha... Overwatch until arrival of Squadron Thirteen."
Everything seemed fine enough as she continued to mumble other details concerning approach vectors and required loadouts up until her eyes reached the final line of the section.
"Expected casualty rate… One hundred percent…"
Her fist clenched hard when her brain fully processed the meaning of that number. And it was not like many times before where mission risk had only been described by words such as low or high. But here, it was a clear numerical value that was telling that none of the pilots under her orders would make it out of it alive.
She kept the number in her stare for a long time, as if keeping it in the middle of her field of vision would somehow make it go down. But the ink did not move. Her mind was starting to race, trying to understand what the best course of action for them was. Complain and contest the orders to her higher ups? Refuse to carry them out? Make up her own plan and execute it in secret? Do nothing and hope that they would come back anyway?
But for each of those ideas, a negative consequence immediately sparked up in her head. The operation had already been planned out for weeks, months or even years and her superiors would ignore any request as to not ruin everything. Refusing would lead to certain punishment, as would doing something away from what was instructed. Lastly, the likeliness of a safe return was completely overshadowed by the accuracy of the Entity's strategic algorithms.
A quick glance at the information about other squadrons revealed similar conclusions for all of them. Only a few, assigned to handle tasks on the periphery of the area of operation, had expected rates below the fifty percent limit. Just from that, Maria could make a good guess that her reaction was shared by many other officers. She was in one of many offices, she just had to step outside and knock on one of the similar doors to share hers...
Her reflection was interrupted by a soft ringtone coming out of the roof mounted speakers. Its meaning was well known by all those that work within the facility. Like everyone else, Maria started to wait for Doctor Frank to start whatever speech he wanted to make. But something felt out of balance when, after a few seconds, the voice of the head of the facility had yet to be heard.
Instead, there was some kind humming fading in from the silence. And it did not take long before she realized that it was more reminiscent of a group chant, making their voices go up and down the scale in a simple group melody. Hearing that confused her. That channel was private to himself and rarely used by anyone else. And if her memory was serving her right, the Doctor was not really a man to listen to music on the job. So what in the world was Werner up to?
The sudden burst of drums and guitars made her jump in her own seat. Now something was clearly wrong with the Doctor. Quickly, she rushed outside, looking all around to find any more clues, but apart from other officers that were equally as confused, everything seemed normal.
Oh yeah!
I went down to the crossroads.
Made a deal with the Devil.
Swapped my soul for a guitar.
Became a rock and roll rebel.
He put fire in my fingers!
And whiskey in my blood!
He said "Take these six strings,
And burn Heaven above!"
Are you ready? Are you ready?
You better get ready!
Once we start we never stop!
Get ready to rock!
"What the fuck is going on?"
Her question was only answered by more looks of confusion coming from her fellow officers. As a group of guards ran down the corridor and past her, she tried to get a possible answer from them. But she was ignored.
Got thunder and lightning,
Crashing all around.
The power is frightening,
One hell of a sound.
And Heaven's on fire.
The needle is in the red.
But the flames are getting higher.
We're going over the edge!
Are you ready? Are you ready?
You better get ready!
Once we start we never stop!
Get ready to rock!
Suddenly there was a rumble in her pocket as her communicator received an incoming call from Code One One Zero. She immediately brought it to her ear, but it was a struggle to even hear herself speaking.
"What is it?" she yelled as loudly as possible.
"Do you know what is going on?" asked the pilot on the other side, suffering from the same difficulties to talk.
"I have no idea… Are you all safe?"
"Yeah… At least the six of us. We don't know where Fifty and Eighty-Three are."
"What? Ah dammit! Just stay inside of your barracks. I'm attempting to contact them."
"Understood."
When the communication ended, the music was at its loudest, the main guitar going up and down the scale at high speed in an intense solo. But Maria was trying to ignore it as much as she could while picking a particular contact from a list displayed on her communicator.
But after long beeps, nothing came from the other side of the line. She tried again, but it was unsuccessful this time as well.
"Come on, come on… Answer me Fifty, answer me…" she mumbled to herself on her third attempt.
Once we start we never stop!
Get ready to rock!
Get ready to rock!
More guards rushed passed her, heading in the direction of the nearest elevator. And each time they passed in front of an officer trying to ask them questions, they would just reply with hand signals telling them to stay within their offices and not get out. But the small workspaces did not provide any kind of protection as the music was still being blasted from the speakers.
But after what had felt like the longest five minutes in her life, the guitars, drums and voices started to fade away into a pleasant silence.
But it was not very long until a voice started to speak.
Good morning everyone, Code Zero Eight Three talking to you live from the office of Doctor Frank. I hope you enjoyed this song and I hope that you are indeed ready to rock because I have a lot more coming. So while I finish getting ready, try to get yourself into the mood a bit more. Here is "Fuel".
She immediately started to run towards the nearest elevator. It was bad, very bad. She did not really know what she was supposed to do, but she knew she had to be there.
"So… What exactly do we have in here…"
The list of available documents was completely filling up the monitor of the Doctor's computer, and it made Eighty-Three let go an impressed whistle. He had wished many times to be able to access the complete file database of the Entity without any restriction, but now that he had that power, it was a bit overwhelming.
Everything from medical interventions to mission reports and even logistical interventions were listed in what surely felt like over a century of data. Thankfully, an entire bar of search filters was available, making the first few steps easier. Slightly bobbing his head to the background music, he started tapping on the keyboard the first keywords that came to his mind.
In the background, the heavy riffs continued as he scrolled through documents after documents. In only a few minutes, it was feeling like he had learned a thousand times more than everything he had gathered for days. And it was too good to keep to himself. So, when the second song of the set finished, he turned back around to the microphone and pressed the broadcast button.
"Well now everyone should be in the correct state of mind for what I have to say. I am mainly talking to my fellow pilots here, but everyone else is free to make what they want from that. Do you remember that Klaxosaurs are supposed to be our enemy? Of course you do, it is the entire point of our mission. We have been told it so much over our lifetime that it would be complete madness to deny it. Right? Well here I have in front of me something else. It is a report from experiences on Klaxosaurs from almost a century ago, signed by the hand of Doctor Werner Frank himself. And in it, under a section called Hostility it is possible to read this.
"Inside a secured and isolated test chamber, the captured subject had visual contact with the interior of a second chamber separated by two centimeters of armored glass. When a member of the research team entered without any gear, the subject remained calm and unphased. The experience was repeated ten times daily for a week without any change of results.
"The experience was then repeated with the researcher holding a magma power battery. Before the device was even inside the room, the test subject was already showing signs of hostility and tried to break the glass in attempts to reach the door. This continued during the entire time the battery was inside the room. Test was aborted upon the appearance of cracks on the top layer of the protective glass.
"Repeated tests seem to confirm the hypothesis that Klaxosaurs only show hostility towards entities getting in the way between them and magma. This would call for either a heavy reinforcement of security details in and around power facilities or abandoning the use of magma for power generation."
Eighty-Three remained silent for a few second to let the words he had read sink in. They completely flipped the entire rhetoric of the Entity on its head and exposed the hypocrisy.
"For those that do not understand," he then continued, "it means that instead of letting go of magma as an energy source, the Entity chose to sacrifice millions, if not billions, of lives to hold onto their power with greed. That is the reason we exist. We might have been told that our goal was to save humanity, but in reality it is to make sure that the Entity can go unopposed in their domination."
Again, he left a long pause to let all of his audience grasp the gravity of his words. He could not see them, but there was no doubt that his speech had a heavy impact on everyone.
But when he started to hear banging on the locked door, his focused changed.
"Well well well... Looks like my friends have arrived at my door sooner than I had expected," he continued with a small smile on his face. "So while I welcome them and look up more things to reveal to you, here is some more music. I'm sure you will enjoy it."
After a few clicks, another song started to play from the many speakers of the facility, giving Eighty-Three enough time to stand up and walk up to the door, all the while making sure not to step into the small puddle of blood all around the motion less body of the Doctor. The panel was completely blocked from his side through the electronic lock, meaning that no one could enter without breaking things completely. Which meant that he had all his time before things get really hot.
"I am sorry sir," started the pilot through the door's intercom, "but I do not wish to have visitors at this time."
"Open that door immediately!" was the answer he got as the security guard continued to hit the door with his fist.
"Nope, can't do. I have so much to do I cannot allow anyone in."
"Is Doctor Franck in there?"
"Oh do not worry about him. He might be on his last leg, but he is fine. So, if you do not mind, I have important research to do."
As he walked away, the banging and yelling continued, but he did not care. Instead, he was happily jumping about in rhythm with the music in some sort of cursed dance. His hair was sent flying at each movement of his head, his arms were waving in sync with the drums and his mouth was singing the lyrics along. Despite being the center of one of the Entity's most guarded facilities, with no doubt dozens of armed guards still on their way to block him in, he had never felt so free.
The healthy human mind never woke up in the morning thinking this was its last day on Earth. But for him it was a luxury, not a curse. To know he was close to the end was a kind of freedom. Outgunned, outnumbered, out of his mind on a suicide mission. But the sand and the rocks of the world, stained with a hundred years of warfare...They would remember him. For this. Because out of all his vast array of nightmares, this is the one he had chosen for himself. He was going forward like a breath exhaled from the Earth. With vigor in his heart and one goal in sight.
He would destroy everything.
"Are you Code Zero Five Zero?"
Fifty was a bit confused when she two young pilots running towards her. She had been told by Eighty-Three to wait for him in an isolated part of the Garden, but he was nowhere in sight. Instead, it was this boy and this girl quickly coming in her direction with loud music playing from the speakers.
"Huh... Yes, it is me."
"Ah great," replied the boy, a bit out of breath. "Miku, contact the rest and tell them we have her."
A nod from the red head was all he needed before turning back around to focus back on Fifty and her wheelchair.
"Wait. Who are you? Where is Eighty-Three? What is he doing?"
"Don't worry, he is working with us. You must come with us to the hangars. We do not have much time left."
"What?"
"Look, you are in danger here... We are all in danger here. The Entity already chopped up one of your legs and they might do worse soon. So if you want to keep on living, you must come to the hangars with us!"
Frustration was starting to grow in the boy's voice, and it was making her less and less comfortable. But she had no real choice but to follow them. What else could she do?
"Where are you taking me?" she asked after putting her wheelchair into motion. If they were indeed with Eighty-Three, then she would have any reason to doubt them. But for now, it was better to be skeptical.
"Hangar eighteen. We have the rest of the group waiting there. Hopefully they already have secured a transport by now."
"A transport? I... I don't understand."
This time it was the girl who jumped in.
"We are getting you out of here. We are getting out of here. It's that or we all get executed for being traitors!"
"What? What did I do?"
"You, nothing. But seeing what your friend is doing right now, it is probably better to get you out as fast as possible if you do not want to be a victim of blind retaliation."
The music was still being blasted at full volume, a constant reminder that Eighty-Three was breaking the rules big time. There was nothing really that could be done at that point, and they were probably right on the fact that she would suffer from harsh consequences regardless. But at the moment, it was hard to wrap her head around the idea.
"Miku, we don't have the time to explain! We have to get out of here as fast as possible. Let's go."
The boy did not wait for any kind of answer before starting to run, forcing the two to follow him at this quick pace to not be left behind. Corridor after corridor, it seemed like nothing was happening. It was like they were standing in place, going neither forward nor back, only the music playing as a reminder of the passing of time.
No one really wanted to say anything, either out of focus or out of confusion. Things were going too fast to properly understand everything, even for those that had carefully prepared the plan. And with the rhythm of the music coming from the speakers, things were only seeming faster.
However, when a large number eighteen finally arrived into view, the run finally stopped, leaving everyone to catch their breath. But this break was not long before the door opened, revealing another pilot. She was not looking like she was comfortable with any of this, but she was still acting like she was the leader.
"Great! We are still one minute ahead of schedule. We are boarding right now so hurry up. Sorry, Eighty-Three, I am Ichigo, a pleasure to meet you, but we must get going right now."
After taking the time to introduce herself politely enough considering the situation, she stepped out of the way, letting the three enter the hangar. Even though all hangars had been designed with the hosting of FRANV in mind, not all were used to host the giant machines. And it turned out that the one numbered eighteen had been dedicated to the storage of many transport helicopters. Compared to the large holding space, each one of the vehicles seemed minuscule. But there was no time to appreciate the engineering prowess that was the design of the infrastructure as they were all hurried towards the one helicopter that seemed ready to fly.
In a remote corner, some members of the ground crew were lying on their knees, kept from moving by a tall blond pilot standing a few feet away, holding in his hand one of the small training guns they were all too familiar with. Whether or not it was loaded with any actual cartridges was up for interpretation though. But Fifty only had a small time to share eye contact with him before being pointed towards the rear cargo door of the transport aircraft.
Thankfully, the loading ramps had already been lowered, allowing her to get inside with her wheelchair without much trouble. There was not much inside apart from a pile of bags loosely secured by a set of straps and two pilots sitting on the side benches. They seemed a bit lost in all of this, but they were keeping themselves close to each other. Obviously they started to look at Fifty, trying to discover who exactly was this new comer. But on the sight of the electric wheelchair, they very well understood that she was in a situation somehow like theirs.
Through the opening to the cockpit, there were the last duo of pilot needed to form an entire squadron of the standard four FRANVs. And this time, the title of pilot seemed a lot more fitting. With their own suits on, they were going through the printed checklist. At each step, they would either pull a switch, push on a button or check a monitor, bringing the bi-rotor helicopter ever closer to a state where it could safely fly.
And all of it with the music still blasting from the loudspeakers.
"Futoshi, how much time?" yelled Ichigo from the outside of the vehicle.
"Could you please give us a minute?" answered one of the two in the cockpit, "It might not be that different from what we usually have, but we still have to get used to things."
"Understood, just get us ready to go out of here ASAP."
With just that remark, she stepped down of the ramp and back onto the concrete ground of the hangar, disappearing from Fifty's field of vision. With that, she finally had the opportunity to really think about what was really going on. Why was she here exactly? The few reasons she had been given so far were vague at most and seeing what the means this squadron had managed to get for this escape were making her even more suspicious.
"Do you know what is going to happen?" she asked to the couple next to her. With the same number thirteen on their shoulder patch as all the others, they probably had more answers.
The two shared a look before answering, probably to decide who would be the one to speak. In the end, it was the girl that turned her head back towards Fifty to look her in the eyes.
"Now, I imagine we are waiting for Hiro, Zero Two and your friend Eighty-Three... Although if he is still broadcasting, maybe something different will happen."
"And... you are?"
Now, she was mostly worried about Eighty-Three. He had promised he would meet her at the place he had indicated and he had never failed her when it came to promises. But she had heard his voice on the speakers, she had heard him speaking about information coming directly from the database of the Entity. And if he was still up there, there was no real chance he could get down to the hangars in less than a minute.
"I... I am Code Five Five Six, but people often call me Kokoro. And this..."
"I am Code Three Two Six... But I prefer to be called Mitsuru. We usually would have introduced ourselves as Thirteen Delta, but we wish to leave everything behind us."
"And why are you here? It's just that I don't really know what is going on..."
Again, they shared unsure looks. It made it clear to Fifty that something was up, but it seemed that they were doubting whether to share it or not.
"We... we did something... Something the Entity already punished us for. But we do not fit in their mold anymore now, and we fear the worst could happen."
She remained silent to the implications from Kokoro. And if the words used meant what she thought, then the situation was bad. But did that also mean that she was herself in such a danger? If her own tests finally did not go as planned, maybe she would be in such a situation.
Those questions kept running in her mind up until the sound of people talking came to her from the outside of the helicopter. From where she was, the only thing she could really do to see more of it was to move next to the closest observation window. And what she could see from it was another thing to add on the pile of worrying elements.
There were two new people standing near the entrance, but with their back turned toward the helicopter, the only thing she could really see were their hair. Short and dark for one, long and almost pink for the other. What she could see clearly, however, was the concern on Ichigo's face. At a moment in the plan, something unexpected in a bad way had to happen and it seemed like it was it. From her observation point, Fifty could clearly see her speak as if to bargain something from the two standing in front of her. But it was all in vain as they continuously shook their head in denial.
When it looked like she finally accepted the situation, a small package changed hands. Ichigo was not really sure of how to handle it, but it was not long until she put it in one of her pocket. And after one final check at their communicator, most probably to synchronize timing, the two left by the door. It seemed like things were getting even more into motion as she quickly made her way back to the open bay of the helicopter.
"T minus fifty seconds! We need to get moving!"
A unanimous sound of acknowledgment came from the mouth of all the others. But quickly enough, any sound coming from a human mouth was drowned in the growing noise of the engines starting to rev up. The combustion of refined magma in those turbines was a loud process, but a necessary one to give the aircrafts the long range they were known for. The rotors then started to spin as well, adding themselves to the cacophony drowning the music of the speakers. It was so loud that nobody could really hear the rumbling of the heavy hangar doors sliding out of the way, revealing the bright blue of a sunny day. Never had the skies seemed so much like a gate to freedom. For once, they would fly without restrictions, without the orders of a higher power.
One after the other, all those that remained outside rushed inside the helicopter. The machine then slowly started to roll on the ground, giving the opportunity to the now free ground crew to run to safety out of the hangar. But with the cargo door closing, Fifty realized something after a quick headcount. In total, they were nine inside the helicopter, the two pilots, the two that needed to run away, the four other pilots of Squadron Thirteen and herself. Eighty-Three, however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, stop! Where is Eighty-Three? You are leaving him behind!"
With direct eye contact with Ichigo, Fifty felt her heart break when the squadron leader shook her head from side to side.
"He... He is not coming with us. He must stay behind to distract the Entity..."
"What? No no no, you have to turn back! I can't leave him behind!"
But her continued cries fell on deaf ears. At a relatively slow speed, the helicopter rolled slowly on the ground following the standard taxiway. From the outside, it probably did not look that different from the standard procedure despite the inexperienced crew.
But from the inside, it was completely different. Despite the wheelchair, Fifty still tried to make her way to the cockpit to get them to stop. However, the way was blocked by the blond pilot, still holding his gun. He was clearly not hostile, but he was not going to move either.
"It was his decision to stay behind. If you trust him, you have to let him go."
"We have to get him! We have to take him out of here!"
"No! We have to get out of here before we get shot down. The window he is giving us will not last forever."
With this figurative wall standing in front of her, Fifty could only look all around her. But the only thing she could see were more pilots that were more than serious on running away. And this sight just broke her heart even more. She was hopeless, without any more means to fight back to protect her partner.
With her head down, she did not really feel the helicopter stop on the designated take off area, nor did she see the slick silhouette of the experimental aircraft leaving its own hangar towards the runway. Thanks to Eighty-Three's sacrifice, all the necessary information had already been transmitted to the air traffic controllers, leaving them free to take off without issue. Or at least before people in the control tower realize what was actually going on.
It was then a feeling of lightness that took over her senses as the rotor blades spun quicker and quicker, lifting the dozens of tons of the frame in the air. The pilots were in control despite their lack of experience, and soon they were high enough to start moving away.
"What course?" yelled the boy in the cockpit.
"For now just get us away from here! We don't have time," replied Ichigo with a newly regained sense of authority.
"Understood."
Fifty, however, was still lost. She wanted to cry, she needed to cry. Out of shame, out of fear, out of doubt. But she could not. Something else was filling her mind yet she was unable to tell what it was. Maybe it was her trust of Eighty-Three, that he had planned all of this for her own good.
But when the communicator that was still in her pocket started to rumble, she was quick to reach for it and turn it screen on.
10:09
Tuesday
One message by: Code 083
"GPS tracker of the helicopter is located between the cockpit and the cargo bay, behind the co-pilot, under the med-kit compartment. Smash it and they won't have you on their scopes.
I'm sorry we can't be together. Godspeed, Fifty."
Hello and thanks for reading the ninth chapter of Discoveries.
So now we are really getting into the action. I had these ideas for a long while now, and I am happy I am finally able to put them down on digital paper and post it here. Next chapter is probably going to be a finale of some sort, but I have ideas beyond what has already been planed and I might come back to it a bit later. But for now I let you enjoy things as they are.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter.