Wash your hands!
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Little Wing It
Volume 4
The Disappearance Of Emilia Percival
Chapter 1
One Armed Bandit
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I
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In order to gain a better understanding of this mess, we need to go back a few hours.
After Ursula relayed to me that Kraz requested my appearance, I made my way over to Little Wing's CEO office.
I still didn't have any sign or idea of where Emilia, Yut, or Red might be so I didn't bother making any detours.
"There you are."
Immediately greeting me was Ursula. Kraz was absent, and so was Chelsea, which was a bit of a surprise. There was one other person in the room, though.
"Hello."
"Lumia? What brings you here?"
The Guardian gave me a quick nod, before Ursula started explaining to me what was going on.
"Kraz asked Lumia to join us too. Whatever he wants to talk about, I guess he wants her to hear as well."
"He said it was about Emilia. He didn't give me any other details, though."
What could possibly be about Emilia that concerns Lumia, and by proxy, the Guardians? I get that the two were basically friends now, despite what they might say, but this doesn't sound like something that concerns friendships or whatnot.
And where was Kraz, anyway? He called us here but he's being fashionably late. Just after that thought, though, the office doors slid open.
And in came Kraz, who looked worse off than he normally does.
"Thanks for comin'. Sorry it couldn't wait."
"It's quite alright. I'm more concerned about why we're here."
Lumia stood to attention as she spoke. I nodded in affirmation and Ursula motioned for him to continue.
"I can imagine. So, let's dispense with the pleasantries and cut right to it, shall we?"
Kraz took a deep breath and turned his attention towards me.
"You lot were right. Shizuru Shu is the man in black. He dropped below the radar at the same time people started disappearing. And there are witnesses to back it up."
We already knew that. But Kraz wouldn't urgently call us here to tell us something we already know. He must have seen the look on my face, because he continued his piece without waiting for a response.
"But that's all academic at this point. The real question is, what's he after?"
Immediately coming to mind was the Kasch's Land-Mother, their Codex. A product of the Ancients. Considering that Shizuru is possessed by an Ancient, could that be part of the equation?
"If we combine the eyewitness reports to what we already know, then we have a clear view on his first objective: the knowledge of the Ancients. He's been busy collecting artifacts, like the Codex he stole from the Kasch."
So, I was right. But still, why? Why would an Ancient need knowledge that he probably already knows?
I was still trying to connect the dots in my head when Lumia spoke up.
"You said 'first objective'. Are there more?"
Kraz nodded his head in affirmation, confirming my suspicions about Shizuru's motives.
"Well spotted. Some time ago, a group of these people controlled by Shizuru attacked our colony. Now, why would they do that?"
The day Kraz is referring to was back during Emilia's birthday. A group of Shizuru's puppets invaded Little Wing and caused some mayhem.
Thankfully, Yut and I managed to stop some of them and Ursula took care of the rest. Still, it does seem a bit strange.
Aside from causing some damage and panic, all they managed to accomplish was corner Emilia, and even that was short-lived.
Seeing the looks on our faces, Kraz continued on.
"I couldn't figure it out either. We don't have anything related to the Ancients here, so at first I thought they were after Yut since he's one of the Kasch but..."
Kraz was right, we don't have anything that has to do with the Ancients here so...
Wait.
"But the logs of a few unauthorized personnel data requests proved me wrong. And can you guess which particular record they were trying to access?"
Kraz looked me dead in the eye, and said what I was dreading he would say.
"Emilia Percival."
They were after Mika, which also meant they were after Emilia. So it wasn't just a coincidence she ran into those puppets. They were trying to capture her from the start.
I can't believe I never noticed until now! But then if Shizuru really was after her, then why didn't he take the chance when he beat us back in Mt. Elbars?
He clearly recognized Mika's presence, and with me, Yut, and Red down, there was no stopping him from just taking her then and there. Lumia's good but I doubt she could have done anything.
So, then, why? I don't understand this at all! Is there something Mika's not telling us?
"Kid. You two're always together. I figured you would have noticed someone was after her, but it seems not."
I was brought back to attention by Kraz snapping his fingers in front of me. Seeing that I was surprised by the information as well, Kraz let out a weary sigh.
Ursula chimed in next.
"So, what do we do now? Use her as bait to lure out Shizuru?"
"Too risky. In fact, we should probably change the way we've been doin' things around here."
By changing things, Kraz was obviously talking about keeping Emilia off missions for now. Shizuru may not have bothered taking her before in Moatoob, but we can't count on what I assume to be overconfidence in his part to keep Emilia, and Mika, out of his hands.
The problem is, though, if Emilia's not with us, then Mika isn't too. She's our only source of information about what we're really facing. And there's also Emilia's reaction to this that's to worry about.
Since I'm her partner, and therefore, outside of Kraz and Ursula, the one with the most say about what to do with her, Kraz turned to me to get my opinion.
"We're taking her off active duty. What say you, kid?"
"... yeah. There's no other choice."
Even then, it's too much of a risk to keep bringing her out into the open.
I'd have to break it to her slowly. Who knows how that mess of emotions is gonna react? The last thing we need is for her to have been eavesdropping and suddenly barge in...
"Take me off? Wh-what? Why?"
Shit.
The office's doors finished sliding open, and Emilia was there staring at us disbelievingly.
Kraz was the one to react first, which was probably the worst thing that could have happened at that moment.
"E-Emilia! What are you doing here?!"
Emilia recoiled in surprise, looking like she would start crying at any moment. She then hurriedly blinked away her forming tears and angrily glared at Kraz.
"No, it's fine! I was just leaving! No one wants me around anyway, so just like that, I'm out!"
I wanted to snap back at her. I wanted to tell her she was overreacting. To tell her to calm down and let us explain what we meant.
But seeing her look so hurt...
I.. I couldn't bring myself to. But I had to say something...
"Wait, Emilia, you're taking this the wrong way!"
Emilia turned to me instantly before I even finished my sentence, and her expression turned even worse.
"You shut up! After everything we've been through! I thought you were my friend! I thought all of you were my friends! Ha! How wrong I was!"
She didn't give me a chance to answer, as she just turned around and ran away as fast as she could. I immediately attempted to give chase but the moment I was able to exit the office, she was already out of view.
Until I spotted a flash of pink right at the transporter.
"Emilia, wait!"
I called out as I ran, but Emilia just turned her head around and gave me one last glare before being warped away into our ship.
By the time, I was able to reach the transporter, it was already denying me access to our ship, which meant that it had already taken off.
There was also no log as to where the ship was headed, leaving me with no clue where she might have went.
"Damn it. You idiot!"
At the time, I didn't know if I was referring to Emilia or myself.
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II
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"Say, how do you feel about a dagger? Nah, doesn't suit you. Hmm..."
Red mused out as she browsed through the shop's stock.
Having no leads whatsoever on the idiotstick's current whereabouts, we've decided to do a little bit of scouting on our own. We being Yut and I, along with a reluctant Red.
Reluctant, meaning against the idea of setting out with me still having a broken arm. Gotta say, I never pegged her as the fussy type.
In the end, we were able to reach a compromise. We go and buy some equipment that I'd be able to use with one arm, and she'll come along with us. It's a bit of a shock to see her acting like this, especially when compared to her usual behavior.
As for Lumia, she unfortunately had to report back to Guardians HQ, but she wished us good luck and promised to help if she's able to.
We could have used her help, sure, but since Red was coming along, we should be fine.
Still, even with the three of us, trying to find the idiot would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If only that moron just stopped for a second and listened to us, none of this mess might have come about.
"Hey. Hey! You there? Ugh, c'mon, work with me here!"
I was abruptly brought out of my thoughts by Red's complaints, looking genuinely annoyed. Huh, first time for everything, I suppose.
In any case, I gave her a completely apologetic shrug.
"Sorry. You were saying?"
"... whatever. Here, take this handgun. I know you're missing one."
Red grumbled as she handed me an expensive-looking handgun. It had a sleek shape and honestly looked pretty cool.
Since I gave my old handgun to Emilia, I made do with a machine gun I bought, but I'm still much more used with the traditional handgun. I just never had the opportunity to buy one that I liked and could afford.
This one, named Viper, looked like an excellent gun however. There's just one problem...
"I don't think I have enough to buy this..."
"Don't worry about it. Pay me back later. Or not. I don't care."
"Huh. Thanks."
How oddly generous. This whole situation is bringing out a side of Red I've never seen before. That on its own deserves some kind of payment.
Kidding aside though, this really is a pricey weapon. I may have been slightly exaggerating about how little I have but it'd still drain a considerable amount out of my savings. I'll definitely pay her back.
"Alright. I'll take you out on another date."
"Sure, sure... Gwuh?!"
Flustered Red. That's another one I haven't encountered before. Amazing, this has been a day of discovery, among other things.
Still, for her to be caught off guard as easy as that, she seems to be really on edge.
"Sigh. At least wait until we find your partner before making jokes like that."
"I'm not joking. I'm paying you back for the gun."
"Hmph. Not joking, huh..."
I might have been kidding around with the whole date thing, but I really do intend to settle that debt. Not just for the gun, but also for the effort she's going through for my sake.
"Tell you what. A little friendly advice. Try taking your partner out first before going around dating people."
Emilia? Well, that was random. I mean, I did promise her before but...
This is all getting a bit confusing.
Before I could ask Red to clarify further, she was already looking over some more weapons. Specifically, the Technics category.
"Techs? Any reason in particular?"
"I figured you'd need all the help you can get."
Thanks a lot.
I was still confused about what she had in mind until she brought me something that instantly shed some light on my thoughts.
Tech-Mags. The only weapon type that didn't need any hands to operate. Using one, I'd still be able to use a weapon with my non-injured arm and use techs at the same time.
That said though, I have no experience with using techs so I probably won't be able to rely on it but it's still nice to have the option.
"This one looks like a little dragon. Alright, I'll pay for this one too."
"Well, if that's what you want..."
That seems about it. We didn't bother buying a shield, since I wouldn't be able to use it yet, anyway.
After the transaction was completed, we met up back with Yut, who we left at the cafe along with some pudding while we went shopping.
"Hey. There seem to be more plates than I remember ordering."
"Hm? Oh! You were taking too long, so I asked for more! The kind lady over there was very helpful!"
Oh dear me. This kid's gonna eat up all of our money just on deserts alone. I don't know whether to be impressed or worried.
After that was taken care off, the three of us made our way to the public transport. Since Emilia took our ship, we had no way else to leave the colony.
"By the way, how about taking a mission while we search?"
Red suggested as we were deciding on which planet to go.
"A mission?"
"So we don't just wander around aimlessly. I know looking for Blondie's important but it couldn't hurt, right?"
She had a point. Rather than just turning every rock we come across, it'd be better to have something to accomplish while we do so.
That way, if we fail to find Emilia, our trip wouldn't be a complete waste. And it gives us a valid reason for taking off should Kraz and/or Ursula find out.
The only problem would be that I'm supposed to be letting my arm heal, but I'm sure we can take care of that problem when it arrives.
So now, the only thing left to decide on is which mission we should take.
"Let's see... A radical Communion faction, seeking the Holy Light for themselves, has occupied an old temple. Quell the fanatics. How's that sound?"
"Neudaiz, huh? Hmm... alright. What do you think, Yut?"
"Do we get to fight strong people while we look for Emilia? Okay!"
"Then that's settled."
After we registered the mission as taken, we got on the transport to Neudaiz, which was the planet where we first met Lumia.
Come to think of it, through meeting Emilia, I've come to all three planets in the Gurhal System quite regularly. That got me into thinking that Emilia could be in any three planets right now.
That is, unless she's just staying in the ship in the middle of space. She'll run out of fuel and food in that case and I don't believe she's stupid enough to do just that.
Of course, when it comes to her making stupid and impulsive decisions, I've learned not to underestimate her.
But in spite of that, she's proven to be reliable when it really matters. And also not to mention, meeting her is the reason I'm able to travel to all these places, meet many different people, and have this strange family that I have now.
"Hey. You have this wistful look on you right now. Thinking of boltie?"
"Yeah. I just realized I should start treating her better."
"Is that so..."
I know I'm not one to talk about relationships with people but looking back on the past couple of weeks, I might not have been the best partner to Emilia.
The folks at Little Wing usually tell me that me becoming her partner has been the best thing that's happened to her. I don't know the details but it's clear her early days were rough.
She's far from the best person, and so am I, but she deserves to be happy too, I believe. I know she's been the one who was most insecure within our little group.
Perhaps that's why she reacted the way she did. We were the first thing she could call family, and her misunderstanding about the situation must have triggered that insecurity tenfold.
"Hmmm. How about this. Instead of taking me out, take Emilia out. Do that and I'll consider that your payment for the stuff I bought."
"Huh? What brought this on?"
"Ehh, nothing much. Just do it, alright?"
"Well, if that's what you want..."
Red keeps being weirder by the minute, but if that's she wants, then who am I to argue? It's just a little surprising, her being considerate to Emilia.
In any case, it certainly would make my job easier if Red and Emilia can coexist peacefully.
"Don't worry, Red! We'll eat pudding instead!"
"Leave me out of your pudding ravaging, creamface."
"Right. Let her drink her milkshake in peace."
"This is how you repay me, coffee boy? I oughta just make you cough up the money instead!"
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III
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"I don't smell Mika or Emilia around here. I don't think they're near."
Well, it figures she'd avoid public places.
We arrived in Neudaiz after some time. It's times like these that I feel spoiled by the convenience of having a personal ship.
After confirming with Yut that Emilia isn't within the immediate area, we tried asking around if they'd seen anything, but we didn't have any luck with that.
Looks like the chances of Emilia being on Neudaiz isn't great...
Still, we've got a mission to finish so we decided to head on over to the abandoned temple's coordinates.
"How about it, Yut? Any trace of Emilia?"
"I still can't smell her! She probably didn't come through here either!"
Drat. Well, I'm still holding out a little hope. In the event we don't find any trace of her at all, then at least we've successfully ruled out Neudaiz, or at least this part of it.
I'm determined to pull out every silver lining I can in this trip. With no leads at all, it's all I can do.
"So, Red. You seem awfully quiet today."
"Do I? Well, without Boltie around, it's quite dull, isn't it?"
I'd have to agree. It's not that we're completely silent. It's just that without Emilia, there's not much complaining going around.
And in Red's case, Emilia seems to be the one she has the most fun messing with.
"Oh, that reminds me. You mentioned Boltie was being targeted by Shizuru, right?"
"Yeah. We still don't know why exactly he's after her. Could be because he knows Mika resides within her. No idea why that specifically makes her a target, though."
I don't want to doubt Mika, who's been nothing but helpful to us, but I have a suspicion that she hasn't told us everything we need to know regarding Shizuru's plan.
"Shizuru... he's the man in black, isn't he? And he wants to take Emilia too?"
Oh, right. We haven't said anything to Yut yet besides Emilia running away. That's what you get for running around the place so much.
Yut's expression darkened when I answered his question. Looks like that loss at Mt. Elbars is still fresh in his memory.
"First the Land-Mother, and now Emilia? I can't forgive this! Kara! There are enemies where we're going, right? We need to become stronger!"
"Yeah, we do. But try to control yourself a little, yeah? Emilia told me about what happened at the VR tests."
"Err, okay. But what about you? Can you fight with one arm?"
"I'll manage. And don't change the topic. Stick with us and don't go wild."
"I-I won't! Emilia said she wouldn't buy me more pudding if I did!"
Somehow, I still don't believe you.
And what's this? She's resorting to bribery now? Huh. It must have been harder on her than I thought.
"I know what you're thinking. And trust me, this kid here drove Boltie absolutely nuts."
"I regret what I did and I won't do it again!"
"I don't believe you."
I've had a glimpse of Yut going wild before. Imagining it on full throttle... the thought sends shivers down my spine.
"Oh, and speaking of... I don't think she's in this part of Neudaiz. We're almost at the temple and there's still no sign of her. Or even our ship."
"I see. Well, let's just finish the mission and we'll check if there's something new back in Clad 6."
After several more minutes, we finally arrived at the abandoned temple. It was bigger than I thought, but we should be able to get the job done.
Standing guard on the entrance were two armed soldiers, wielding what seemed to be Tech rods.
"Alright. Let's get this over and done with."
I let Red and Yut go first, seeing as I'm mostly going to play support for now. I summoned my new gun, Viper, but the two already took care of the guards pretty handily.
We had the element of surprise but still, if this is all this radical faction can offer then we may be finished here sooner than I thought.
"You there! What do you think you're doing?!"
Ah, reinforcements. Well, it makes sense. In any case, they're not making it past Yut and Red. I should still help out, though.
I open-fired at the charging armed soldiers, feeling the power behind each shot. This gun is looking to be very worth the price we paid for it.
"Looks like we made the right decision on that gun, one-arm!"
"Don't call me that! That's the last name I'd want to catch on!"
"Take out One-arm first, men! He has a powerful weapon!"
"Damn it, Red!"
Stupid name aside, if they think my gun is the biggest threat on our side, then they've already lost.
They didn't make it any closer when the powerful weapons known as our team's two Hunters started taking them out in record time.
Huh. Come to think of it, our party's got a weird composition. Two Hunters and two Vanguards. And when our guest member Lumia joins, we have a Force. That still leaves us without a Ranger.
Although, I usually fill that role with my guns, and Emilia's pretty much a Force when she's not using her saber and my old handgun. Maybe it's only weird on paper.
"Hey, One-arm, let's go, this area's clear."
"Quit it with the One-arm!"
We made our way deeper into the temple, and took care of more radicals. They didn't pose much of a challenge, though, which upset a certain jungle boy quite a bit.
"We're not getting any proper training out of this! You said we'd face strong enemies!"
"I said we'd face enemies, I never said they were strong. Keep in mind, our real priority here is checking if Emilia's been here or not."
"But she's not! I haven't smelled any of her trace at all!"
"Then let's finish this quickly and get back. We'll take a different mission."
He still didn't seem completely satisfied but he'd have to do for now.
"Hey, heads up, robots like the ones from Inhelt."
Red pointed to some radicals activating robots similar to the spider-bots we encountered before. The ones that charge straight at you and explode when dealt enough damage.
Yut instantly brightened up upon seeing the hideous things and readied his trusty spear.
"Ugh, I hate these things. I'm sticking at the back for this."
"Isn't that what you've been doing already? Whatever. Let's roll, puddingface!"
"Did you say pudding?!"
I ignored Yut's question which may or may not have been serious, and summoned my new Tech-Mag, Dori.
I had reservations at first, but it seemed pretty intuitive to use, almost as if it's instinct. Well, let's give it a go.
"[Zonde]!"
I used the tech Emilia uses the most, which meant that it was the one I'm most familiar with.
I held out my arm and photon energy gathered around me and concentrated into a ball of electricity in front of Dori. It then fired as a bolt of lightning, smaller and weaker than the ones Emilia uses, but it still did the trick.
The tech hit one of the spider-bots that Red was fighting and electrocuted it pretty harshly. Seems like these ones are Earth-type. Lucky.
Unfortunately for Red, she was fighting it in close range. She managed to avoid the explosion, but looked pretty miffed about it.
"Hey, watch it!"
"Sorry, I'm learning as I go!"
Which was true. These Tech-Mags make it easy for people like with me and Red with low aptitudes for Technics to use them, at the cost of lower power and efficiency.
Well, that's fine. This was intended to be a support weapon, after all.
I readied Viper again and fired a flurry of shots at the dreaded things, with my Tech-Mag providing a steady supply of weaker Zonde bolts.
Soon enough, all of the bots have exploded, much to the annoyance of Red and Yut, but mostly Red.
"Well, look at you, warming up to your new toys."
"Yeah, they're really great. Thanks again for these."
"Guys! One of the soldiers is trying to escape!"
Yut pointed to a radical that was running away. Seems like he was the one that activated the bots and now he's making a run for it. Sensible, with them being destroyed rather easily. But not sensible enough.
I quickly aimed and shot at his leg with a stun bullet, causing him to fall down. We made our way over to him and I had Yut raise him up.
"Hey, have you seen a blonde girl around here? Pink jacket?"
"N-no... Who are you?! Why are you attacking us?!"
Guess she really hasn't been here. It's not that I don't trust Yut but it wouldn't hurt to double or triple check.
"Sorry, pal, it's nothing personal."
"Tell your friends that the One-Armed Bandit is coming!"
"Oh will you stop?"
I hit the side of the soldier's head with the butt of my gun, knocking him out cold. Yut then unceremoniously dropped him on the ground.
The poor guy.
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IV
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"This place is bigger than I thought. When you said temple, I didn't think it'd be like this."
Red idly commented as we finished knocking out another group of radical faction soldiers.
I took a look around the place, and I found myself agreeing with her. This place is definitely not your average temple. Makes you wonder why it was abandoned in the first place.
When you think temple, you'd imagine wooden structuring, tiled roofs, typical Neudaizian architecture.
But this place was a mix of that and sleek, high tech interior decorating. And it was huge, almost like a maze.
And it doesn't help that the radicals don't seem to run out. They just keep coming and coming, and although they aren't much of a threat, it's still pretty exhausting.
"Say, don't you think Kraz might be looking for us?"
"I don't think so. If he really wanted to talk to us, he can just call us through comms."
Besides, Kraz is probably too busy trying to find anything that'll help us find Emilia that it's possible he hasn't even noticed us leave.
I've recently come to learn that despite his gruff exterior, he really cares about Emilia. I wouldn't call him a big softie, but the concern is there.
"Hey... what's that? Looks like more enemies!"
Oh for the love of... these guys just seem to come out of the clockwork, don't they?
We got ready to fight once again, but as the enemies got closer, we noticed something different about them.
First off, they were tall. Not quite as tall as the robots from Mt. Elbars, but these were twice Red's height.
"You didn't need to say it!"
"Oh did I say that out loud? Sorry."
Second, they didn't seem to be piloted armor. They were robots in their own right, but their movements can trick you into thinking otherwise.
Sinow Hidoki. I've read about these before. Deadly, twin dagger-wielding droids that are as fast as they are powerful. And there were three of them.
I tightened my grip on Viper. Looks like this is gonna be a step up from the radicals we were beating up.
"Split up!"
I issued the order and jumped away from the others, drawing one of the Sinows to me. We'd definitely be overpowered in close quarters if we fight in groups, so separate one-on-ones it is.
I trust Red and Yut's combat abilities enough but the problem here is that not only is my opponent physically stronger than me, I've got access to one less limb compared to it.
Well, I don't have to win. I just have to hold out until the others can help me.
I fired off a combo of bullets and Zondes at it, but it easily evaded or blocked them, and leapt straight at me.
Alright then, ranged isn't gonna cut it. I switched Viper for my saber and rolled out of the way. Immediately I had to try and parry several quick dagger swings.
"[Zonde]!"
I had my Tech-Mag fire a lightning bolt at the droid as I started to get overwhelmed, forcing it to dodge and retreat back a small distance.
I took the chance and went on the attack with my saber, but the Sinow's superior agility made it difficult to connect even once.
"Hey, I might need a little assist here!"
"Little busy, this thing is tougher than it looks!"
I didn't get the chance to take a look at their current status, but I've heard some of her attacks hit so she must be at least having better luck than me. Not that that surprises me.
Yut, on the other hand, basically ignored me and continued dancing with the robot. That kid has issues but he's definitely talented in the fighting department.
Though, that still leaves me with a bit of a predicament.
I can't damage my opponent whatsoever, and sooner or later, it's gonna wise up to my strategy of Zonde keep-away... I have to slow it down.
That's it!
I lured the Sinow into attacking me head on again, and as I steadily lost the ability to deflect its rapid attacks, I started gathering photon energy through my Tech-Mag.
But instead of the yellow energy that signifies Electric techs, blue energy swirled around me.
"[Zalure]!"
The icy aura quickly transferred to and enveloped the Sinow Hidoki's form, freezing it in some places and causing it to slow down quite a bit.
The Zalure is an Ice-type Technic that uses frost to lower an enemy's defense, evasion, and most importantly, speed. That makes it the perfect tech to use against an opponent like this. Good thing I chose this particular tech to install in Dori, along with Zonde.
With the advantage firmly in my grasp, I went on the offensive again. But this time, it wasn't me being overwhelmed. The droid tried to block and evade, but due to Zalure, I was just a little bit faster. And with its lowered defenses, I steadily inflicted heavy damage on its armor.
It tried jumping away as soon as it got too damaged to continue fighting, but I quickly switched to Viper and pelted it with bullets, blowing off huge chunks of its body and ultimately finishing it off.
"[Zonde]!"
I then turned around and fired off a bolt that hit the back of the droid Red was fighting, stunning it long enough for her to quickly dismantle it with her double saber.
She looked at me with an unimpressed expression as she dismissed her weapon.
"I had that handled."
"I'm sure. But let's not waste time."
Just as I turned to check how Yut was doing, a badly mangled Sinow Hidoki landed beside me, full of holes and most certainly not functioning.
"That it? I can handle more!"
We really need to get this kid a hobby.
"Th-those monsters! Retreat!"
A group of radicals shouted out from somewhere, along with the sound of footsteps disappearing.
Now that's just rude.
Well, whatever. No way to go but forward. We must be getting close to the end now.
"Hey! Get back here!"
"No, you get back here! No running off!"
"I-I wasn't going to!"
Yes, you were.
But at the very least, we were able to stop him. Those radicals might not be the most dangerous enemies out there, but that's beside the point.
It's about ingraining good habits. Geez, I sound like a teacher.
And besides, these people may have some sort of trap waiting for us. I've no doubt that word of our presence is already circulating around this place, with the sheer amount of radicals we've defeated over the past half-hour or so.
We continued on, and we arrived at what appeared to be a long corridor, with walkways at the top filled with radicals equipped with staffs.
See? A trap.
"They're here! Fire!"
The radicals all chanted simultaneously, and fired off several Barta techs at us.
"Huh. Isn't it a bit weird how they said 'Fire!' and then they blast us with ice?"
"Worry about that later and get out of the way!"
Red reprimanded as she deflected the Bartas with her double saber, with Yut doing the same with his spear.
I resorted to just avoiding them entirely. I didn't have a shield or a weapon capable of blocking, and the Bartas weren't that fast anyway.
"[Foie]!"
"Ah, there we go. Much more fitting."
"What are you mumbling about? Hurry up and take them out!"
"What's with you? Why don't you do it yourself then?"
Ah, wait, she doesn't have a ranged weapon, does she?
Red must have noticed I realized this, as she gave me a rather irritated look. After a few more seconds of avoiding fire and ice, it seemed like she finally had enough.
The gun-less redhead started making her way up to the radicals firing at us through a series of leaps. She even did a few wall-jumps here and there.
What a show-off.
"You cowards! Come down here and fight properly!"
"Hey, here's an idea, Yut, use your bow."
"Ah, right! Gotcha!"
Yut made a face of enlightenment as he switched his spear for his rarely-seen bow.
Wait. I was just messing around, but did he seriously not think of that?
Eh, nevermind. I summoned Viper and started firing at the radicals, taking them out one by one.
Soon enough, they were all knocked unconscious. Thankfully, none of them fell down.
Red came back down as I dismissed my weapon and seemed a little displeased.
"Couldn't you have done that from the start?"
"I could... but where's the fun in that?"
"Fun, right. Sigh. We really need to get Boltie back, you're being very strange since she ran off."
I have no idea what she's talking about.
"Th-they're here! The One-Armed Bandit's coming! Prepare the Adahna Degahna!"
"Ugh. How did that even catch on this fast?!"
Red snickered at me, probably satisfied that I got my comeuppance for annoying her. Well, annoying her is her comeuppance for propagating that name so...
What goes around comes around, I guess. It's a vicious cycle.
"Well, looks like the next room's the last. Let's get this over with."
ooo000ooo
V
ooo000ooo
"Huh, this room's certainly huge. Dead end too."
Past the trapped corridor lay a room that was larger than any of the others we've come across to. Almost seemed like a... testing ground of some sort.
Nevermind that, though. If this was really the end, then it's safe to bet that the ringleaders would be around here somewhere.
That is, if they haven't escaped already. But I doubt that. We've given them almost no time to plan a getaway, and Yut can probably smell them if they tried. Probably.
And besides, the mission details said clear out the temple. Does it really matter how we do it? With our personal reasons for being here now well and truly for naught, we just want to finish up and return to Clad 6.
"Hmm... it's a bit quiet. Didn't those radicals say something about an Adagana, or something?"
No, I'm pretty sure it was Anada Degadana. I seem to recall hearing two words.
Yut looked confused as Red raised an eyebrow at me. What, was that not it?
Suddenly, our silent but meaningful conversation was interrupted when the ceiling started opening up with a loud whirr.
"Wait, is that...? Look out!"
Inside the new hole in the ceiling was a large brown robot, completely dwarfing. And it abruptly dropped down to where we were standing.
The huge metallic behemoth, the Adanada Dega, towered over us as it activated its weapons.
"Aha! This should be a challenge!"
Well, Yut was proven right moments later when a swarm of missiles was released from the robot and came straight towards us.
I quickly summoned Viper and Dori, firing at the ones I could with bullets and Zondes. The missiles weren't that strong, but catch them all at once and it probably will leave a mark.
I managed to destroy most of them before they could hit us, with Red managing to somehow slice at them and leap away before she could be caught in the explosion.
Yut, not so much.
"Gah!"
"Yut, be careful! We don't have a healer!"
Thankfully, the missiles didn't seem to do lethal damage to him, and he probably managed to make them explode prematurely.
Still, without Emilia's Resta, or even Lumia's Deband to beef up our defenses, we'll have to play cautiously.
"It's charging at us! It's got rocket boosters on its back so don't underestimate its speed and power!"
"Don't meet it head on, jungle boy!"
"I wasn't going to! I'm not an idiot!"
I don't know, with Emilia unavailable, someone's gonna have to fill in.
That aside, the Agada Negada may have had momentum, but it certainly didn't have good turning capabilities. It was fast, but once we got out of the way, we were pretty much in the clear for the moment.
With its back turned, Yut took the opening and thrust with his spear.
"Gh! The armor's tough! I can't pierce through!"
Unfortunately, he bounced off. Red tried next but all she managed to do was make a few sparks fly from the plating.
Looks like we might need some buffs for this one. Good thing we have the perfect combination for it!
"Red, cast Shifta on us!"
"Got it. [Shifta]!"
Red summoned her own Tech-Mag, and the now familiar rush of heat enveloped our bodies, along with the mild red aura that signified our attacks being boosted.
And now for the other side...
"[Zalure]!"
I pointed my Tech-Mag at the giant and fired off a blue ball of concentrated photon energy. It hit its mark and immediately covered it with a thin layer of frost and a dim blue outline.
As if to say we've taken our turn, one of the Gada Ganada's arms opened up to reveal a positively large gun barrel. Which then started rotating.
"Ah."
"What do you mean 'ah', that's a freakin' machinegun! Run like hell!"
"But isn't that cool?"
"Cool... Geez, when did I become the sensible one?"
Geez, when did you become the sensible one?
That little banter was cut short when the barrel finished warming up and fired a gigantic scatter shot at us continuously, the spray of bullets reaching us almost immediately.
Shit, I really wish I still had my shield right about now.
Red switched to her twin sabers and performed a combination of evading and blocking. Yut looked like he got hit several times, groaning every now and then but he tried his best at blocking with a spear and dodging.
As for me...
"Ah, god damn it!"
I switched to my saber, but what the hell can I do? Even with backup Zondes, I still got pelted quite a bit.
Thank the Holy Light for Shield-Weaves. The bullets didn't manage to draw blood but they're sure as hell gonna leave bruises all over.
Luckily, most of the bullets went past us and into the day far wall. A common consequence for using scatter shots.
"Hey, One-arm! Doin' alright there?!"
"New plan, get in close! Don't let it use that again!"
Without a healer, we can't risk taking such an attack again. Red and Yut heeded my order and went in close, attacking on different sides. I switched to Viper, which was significantly more powerful than my current saber, and fired off several shots.
Our attacks did more than clang uselessly this time, but still, even with a Shifta-Zalure combo, they didn't do as much damage as I thought they would.
Strange, almost as if...
"Red! Our Shifta's been dispelled!"
"What? How?"
"The bullets! They must have infused them with whatever tech lowers attack!"
It was the only attack that managed to hit us after we've casted our buffs, so that was probably how it did it.
Unfortunately for us, the Denagada Naganada figured that was a good time to end our discussion and produced a massive whip from its other arm.
Succeeding in creating distance once more through the whip, it fired off another salvo of missiles at us, following up with preparing another scatter shot.
Great it's even doing combos now.
"[Flaming Roar]!"
A massive torrent of flames enveloped the giant robot, stopping its attempt to spray is again.
Good one, Yut!
"What's the plan now, then?"
"Recast Shifta now, and stick close to the Adanada Degada!"
"Is that even its name?!"
"Naganana Deganana!"
"You didn't even try anymore!"
Regardless of her complaints, Red put us under Shifta again and retried her assault on the thing. Yut also seemed to have finished his cooldown went back in.
It tried the whip again, but it failed to catch anyone off guard anymore. I pitched in with a round of bullets, not doing that much damage until one of them hit it on the head, causing the lumbering robot to recoil back.
"The head has weaker armor! Aim there!"
I started charging up for a powerful blast, but the robot covered its newly found weakspot with its arms. Also of note was that its chest started steadily glowing brighter and brighter, almost mimicking my charging.
That means we need to finish it off now.
"Hah!"
Yut leapt up and thrust at the head with a lot of force, almost tilting the thing sideways. The attack blew up several components of the mechanical giant, causing it to lose power in the arm it was using as cover.
It pointed its other arm and started charging for yet another round of bullets, but Red stopped that cold with a cross slash using her twin sabers.
The barrel held on, but the interference caused it to cease function, giving me a wide open look at its vulnerable head.
A few moments later, its head was blasted off. It lost the power it was gathering immediately, causing several mini explosions, before finally crashing down with a resounding thud.
"You radicals just got one-armed!"
"And you just had to run it, didn'tcha?"
Someday, I'm gonna pay back Kraz for coming up with that stupid nickname.
"Th-the Adahna Degahna! They destroyed it! Th-they're not human!"
Ah, so that's how you say it.
And technically, they're one-third right. Red's human, but I'm a beast. And Yut's half-half beast and newman.
Well, they've got every right to be afraid, I suppose. We just destroyed what was probably their secret weapon. Albeit with some difficulty, I'll give them that.
"You! Have you seen Emilia?!"
"I-I don't know who that is!"
Yut was interrogating a terrified radical soldier, who would have been confused if he wasn't so busy shaking.
"Emilia's a girl! I think... She has yellow hair! Have you seen her? We really need to find her!"
"We haven't! Please don't hurt us!"
"Hey, calm down there, Yut. Let's go, we're already done here. Isn't that right, Mr. radical faction soldier, sir?"
I turned to the soldier with the most non-threatening expression I could make. It had the opposite effect.
"Wh-what do you want?! D-don't kill us, I beg you!"
"What do I want, huh... Well, she's not here so we need something else..."
"He's the One-Armed Bandit~! Here to beat you up, destroy your things, and ruin your radical day! Isn't he fantastic? Also, take us to your leader."
Yut then dropped him like he did the last guy, and he then nodded rapidly before scuttling off to what I presume to be their leader's location.
Well, that works but...
"Damn it, Red."
Red only sniggered in response.