Chapter 2: Awakening


Arzenal, an island that was currently floating near a large land mass instead of its usual spot in the middle of nowhere, completely surrounded by ocean. Part of the island had crumbled, but the base was still in working condition.

"Where…?"

Inside of Azrenal's living quarters, laying in her room was Ange. Waking up, she groaned and placed a hand on her head as she sat up. Looking around, the Norma was surprised to see herself inside of Arzenal, the last memories she had were her battle with Embryo.

"What the hell happened?" She asked herself. "When did I get back to base?" Ange yawned loudly as she stood up. "How long was I out? I feel like I slept for ages."

Almost immediately after getting up, Ange had left her room. Walking through the hallways, she began processing what she could last remember and where she is now.

"Alright, there's gotta be some reason how I got back to Arzenal." She thought out loud. "This is the Arzenal I know, so I couldn't have lost to that narcissistic freak." Looking down at herself she noticed that instead of her pilot suit, she was wearing a standard Norma uniform. "I'm not in some dress again either."

"Ange!"

The norma was interrupted in her thoughts at the sound of someone calling her name. Turning around, Ange stumbled back upon being glomped by Momoka Oginome, her maid.

"Momoka?" Ange said, blinking.

"Ange, you're awake!" Momoka exclaimed, not letting go of Ange. "You're finally awake!"

"Calm down, Momoka! What's gotten into you? What's going on? When did we get back here?"

"Don't worry! Everyone else will explain everything but they were waiting for you to wake up." Momoka turned around and started running off, dragging Ange along with her. "Come on, come on!"

"H-Hey! Wait!"

Momoka just dragged Ange down the hall as she ran off.

-x-

[Cross Ange OST - Pianto]

"Hilda's Glaive is up and running! And the repairs on the two Arquebus are coming along as well!"

In Arzenal's landing platform, only a total of four Para-mails were present in the hangar. A standardized Glaive that was completely out of commission, a red custom Glaive that appears to have just been fully repaired, and two Arquebus class Para-mails, one red and one blue. Both were still in need of repairing. The Ragna-mail Villkiss was also present.

"Oh, Jill! What do you want to do about the other Glaive?" The mechanic at Arzenal, Zhao Mei asked, gesturing to the broken Para-mail.

"Forget about it. Salia's Arquebus is the next priority."

The woman Zhao Mei was addressing was Alektra Maria von Loewenherz, addressed as Jill by most of the other Norma. A woman who should be dead, and yet she was very much alive as she oversaw the repairs to the Para-mails.

"With the majority of our pilots missing, I need to make sure Salia and Hilda are both ready in case anything happens." Jill stated. "I don't know what's out there but considering Salia's been attacked already, we need to be alert at all times."

"Yes ma'am!" Mei responded.

"Also. Is the Villkiss ready for Ange whenever she wakes up?"

"The Villkiss is in mint condition. I didn't see any damage at all when we hauled it inside. It's as if it was a brand new Para-mail."

Jill sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."

"Momoka! Slow down, you're gonna make me trip and fall!"

Jill and Zhao Mei both looked back as Ange's voice could be heard coming towards the landing platform. Momoka suddenly came in, dragging the girl who just got up with her.

"It felt like you were going to tear my arm off…" Ange groaned, talking to Momoka. "What the hell's going on that you had to-"

Ange looked up and was immediately surprised to see Jill.

"Jill?!" She responded.

"Glad to see you aren't dead." Jill replied.

"Wait, what the hell is going on? Salia said that you died. So how in the world are you standing here?" Ange suddenly realizes something as she looks around. A good majority of the girls were missing. "And… where is everyone?"

"We don't know. Two weeks since I've been here, and Salia and Hilda are the only ones to show up. Aside from you."

"Two weeks?! I've been out cold for two weeks?!"

"Nobody thought you were gonna wake up at first." Momoka said. "But I just knew you weren't dead. So we've been waiting to see when you'd get up so that Jill could fill you in on everything."

"Oh great… How much has happened since my long ass nap?"

"Aside from the fact that over three quarters of our personnel is missing, including the majority of our riders and their Para-mails…" Jill started to answer. "Arzenal's been transported to a different location. I don't know where the hell we are, and we sure as hell aren't alone."

"What?" Ange suddenly tensed up. "Don't tell me-!"

"I couldn't answer that. While it is possible considering the fact that I'm alive, I don't know if Embryo is out there or not. And we're positive that whatever Salia encountered wasn't a Para-mail or a Ragna-mail."

"What do you mean?"

"Ange!"

"Ask her yourself."

Jill turned around as both Salia and Hilda suddenly came running in. Ange also ran over to meet the girls, Hilda immediately hugging the blonde.

"Dammit, for a moment I thought that you wouldn't wake up!" Hilda exclaimed. "Don't scare us like that again."

"We're glad to see you're safe." Salia commented.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Ange replied. "Can someone please catch me up to full speed now?! All of this is just making me ask more questions!"

"Believe me, we're just as confused as you are. I'm not even sure where to start…"

[Cross Ange OST - Zestubou to no Souguu]

Before anybody could begin explaining to Ange everything that transpired while she was out for two weeks, the base started rumbling, startling everybody.

"Commander Jill! Something's out there!" the chief communications officer Pamela reported to Jill from the command center.

"I'll be up there in a minute!" Jill replied before turning to the Norma pilots. "You three! Get to your mails right now!"

"Roger!"

Ange, Salia, and Hilda all ran off to their respective Ragna-mail and Para-mails as Jill walked off towards the command center.

"Zhao Mei, which one's ready?" Hilda asked their mechanic, as both her Glaive and Arquebus were docked.

"Take the Glaive." Mei answered. "I'm not through with your Arquebus, yet."

"Alright."

"Salia, yours should be good to go. But try to avoid melee combat! That sword's not looking so good."

"I'll keep that in mind." Salia responded, getting on her Para-mail. "Thank you, Mei."

At the command center, the Norma girls Pamela, Oliver, and Hikaru were keeping an eye on everything around Arzenal, to the best of their ability. The three watched as a large ship had flown past the viewsight of the command the ship flew out of their sight, Jill walked into the command center.

"Pamela, report!" Jill ordered Pamela and the others. "Is it the same things that attacked Salia?"

"We don't know…" Pamela replied. "How big were the things that attacked her again?"

"About the size of a Para-mail, as she put it."

"Commander, what we saw was MUCH bigger than our Para-mails…!" Hikaru replied. "It was heading towards the other islands that are near Arzenal."

On another part of Arzenal, there were several other uninhabited islands up against the island base. The sounds of a large truck's engine was heard as Optimus Prime had been investigating the area upon waking up a while ago.

"It would seem that this island has collided with several others, allowing for a larger, more traversable terrain." The Autobot leader said to himself. "However, despite the size, I have yet to receive a signal from Teletraan One."

Optimus suddenly came to a stop and transformed into robot mode. He attempts once again to contact Teletraan One, and once again ends up unsuccessful.

"Could something be jamming my signal? Hm…?"

Optimus looked up as the sound of a large ship approaching could be heard. As he looked into the sky, he saw a Cybertronian dropship approaching the area where he stood. The Autobot leader looked alarmed as he then noticed the Decepticon insignia on the dropship.

[Transformers G1 OST - Heavy Metal War]

"A Decepticon dropship!" He exclaimed, reaching for his Ion Blaster.

Almost immediately, Optimus rolled out of the way as the dropship suddenly opened fire. The Autobot leader transformed and rolled for cover as the dropship was trying to blast him. The doors on the side of the dropship suddenly opened up, about seven Decepticon soldiers hopping out. As they landed on the ground, the Decepticons pulled out their weapons and started heading for Optimus Prime.

"We hit the jackpot, boys!" One of the grunts shouted. "It's Optimus! Get him!"

The Decepticons opened fire behind the giant rocks Prime was hiding behind. He peeped out from behind the rocks but quickly moved back to dodge gunfire from a Path Blaster. Optimus leaped up to the top of the rocks and managed to kick off the top of it, pushing it down to the Decepticons as he opened fire as well. Two of the soldiers were shot down and eliminated by Optimus. One switched to a melee weapon and rushed at Optimus Prime.

"We've got you outnumbered, Optimus!" The Decepticon soldier exclaimed.

Optimus ducked as the soldier swung his sword. He then drew his sword from his wrist and impaled the Decepticon. As other Decepticons opened fire, Optimus used the impaled Decepticon as a temporary shield. He then shot and killed two more Decepticons. Yanking his sword out of the impaled soldier, he slammed him into the ground, breaking the Decepticon into pieces. The last two Decepticons continued to fire as they backed up under the dropship.

"He's too much for us!" The first surviving Decepticon shouted.

"Bring the dropship around." The second ordered. "Shoot him down from inside the dropship-"

The second Decepticon was shot down by Optimus as he finished his order. The dropship turned ninety degrees so that its doors were facing the Autobot leader, a Decepticon Heavy Gunner stepping into the opening.

"Let's see how you like this, Autobot scum!"

The heavy gunner's arm transformed into an X-18 Scrapmaker. The gatling gun like weapon started warming up, prompting Optimus to start running. The Autobot transformed and rolled out just in time as the heavy gunner started firing continuously, the power from the X-18 tearing up the ground behind Optimus. He drove behind cover just as the Decepticon ran out of ammo. Several more soldiers jumped out of the dropship and transformed into jets, flying towards and firing missiles where Optimus was hiding. The Autobot leader sprung up and fired his Ion Blaster, shooting down the missile before they could reach. However, the dropship then fired soon after. Unable to counter the blast or move out of the way, Optimus was blown back by the impact of the dropship's gunfire. Groaning, he got back to his feet as the Decepticon jets were circling around for another attack. The dropship hovered closer to the ground as a couple more Decepticon ground units hopped out, running towards Optimus Prime. The Autobot activated his Flak Shield to defend himself from their attacks.

"I've got to take out that dropship." Optimus said to himself.

Seeing one of the jets coming by again, he got an idea. "Perhaps, this could work."

Making a run for it, Optimus leaped up onto a nearby rock. The Decepticon grunt fired its blasters but missed as the Autobot leader ducked under the blast. Optimus jumped into the air as the jet was turning around, and grabbed hold of the Decepticon.

"What the?!" The grunt exclaimed, trying to shake off Optimus. "Get off of me! Who says you can get a free ride?"

"Sorry, but this flight's got a new captain!" Optimus responded. "And I say that we're changing course!"

The Autobot leader grabs hold of the Decepticon's wings, and starts pulling the jet in the direction of the dropship. Several other jet grunts started following behind Optimus, firing at him and the grunt he was on top of.

"Wait! Hold your fire!" the grunt shouted, barely dodging the blaster fire. "I'm on your-GAH!"

The jet was shot by one of his fellow Decepticons on accident, sending the grunt spiraling out of control in the direction of the dropship. Optimus grabbed the nose and left wing of the jet and turned towards the side of the dropship. The Decepticon Heavy Gunner had reloaded and was aiming for Optimus.

"Looks like this flight's going to make an emergency landing!" Optimus said.

Forcing the jet grunt forward, the Autobot leader looked as if he was going to crash straight into the dropship. The heavy gunner opened fire as Optimus jumped off, leaving the Decepticon jet grunt to be gunned down and explode midair. The explosion blinded the Decepticons standing in the dropship's opening.

"What's going on out there?! Where's Optimus Prime?!"

In the cockpit, the Decepticon Dirge was overseeing the entire battle.

"We don't know!" one of the Decepticons in the dropship reported. "He's not on the ground and we don't see his parts anywhere."

"Do you think the explosion could've eradicated him?" the grunt piloting the dropship asked.

"He must've gotten away when that explosion happened." Dirge responded. "Pull us out of here. We'll tell Starscream that Optimus Prime's-"

"Right in front of you!"

Optimus suddenly slid down into the viewsight of Dirge, standing right on the window of the dropship with his blaster pointed at the Decepticons inside.

"He was hiding on the roof!" Dirge exclaimed.

Optimus fired his blaster, shooting straight through the window and the head of the Decepticon grunt pilot. Dirge ducked as another blast came through, then fired one of his own. Optimus suddenly crashes through the remains of the window and knocks Dirge into the wall. He then picks up the Decepticon seeker and throws him through the window and out of the dropship.

"Now, time to bring this ship down." Optimus said.

Pulling out his axe, Optimus went to work by hacking and slashing the dropship's controls. He disabled the engines and whatever was keeping it airborne, leaving the dropship to start falling out of the air. He fired his blaster behind him into the other parts of the airship and then in front of him, shooting through the nose. The Decepticon dropship began to erupt into flames as the soldiers inside started jumping out. Optimus was able to use what was left of the controls to turn the dropship, making it crash into the fleeing Decepticons as they were in freefall.

Dirge jumped off the exploding nose and waited till he got low to the ground before transforming. Flying away, he was able to see that Optimus Prime had also climbed out of the dropship. The Autobot leader was picking off several of the fleeing Decepticons with his Ion Blaster.

"You got lucky this time, Optimus!" Dirge said as he flew away. "We almost had you!"

Looking down, Optimus saw that the ship would reach the ground any moment now. Putting away his blaster, he transformed and started driving on the exterior. He leaped into the air and transformed again to grab hold of a cliffside on the larger part of Arzenal. As he started to pull himself up, the dropship crashed into the ground and exploded. The explosion killed all of the Decepticons that had not cleared the blast radius, and pushed Optimus back onto Arzenal.

Meanwhile, Dirge had radioed back to the Decepticon's main warship.

"Starscream! It's Dirge." He said. "Optimus Prime took out our dropship and the grunts along with it! I'm heading back for-"

"No one gave you the order to retreat Dirge!" Starscream could be heard shouting over the radio. "Not when we've still got one more possible ace up our sleeve."

"How do you expect me to talk to a bunch of women?!"

"The great plan that I have set in motion shall do all the work for you. Now, get to it! Keep an eye on Optimus and wait for your moment to strike. The Decepticon insignia will do all the work for you!"

"What am I supposed to do if your "great plan" doesn't work out?!"

"I believe that you'll be able to find your own way back to the Nemesis should you mess things up! If you'll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to get back to."

"Wait a minute, Starscream-!"

The radio connection ended. Dirge sighed before turning around and flying back in the direction of Arzenal.

-x-

On the island, Optimus Prime was slowly pulling himself back up. The explosion had rattled him slightly, but he suffered no serious injuries. Fully functioning, Optimus got back on his feet in no time.

"That should take care of the Decepticons." He said, looking down at the wreckage of the dropship. "However, I fear that is only the beginning of my troubles."

Optimus walked forward and transformed. Rolling out, the Autobot leader continued to explore the rest of the island.


Back at Arzenal's base, the explosion from the dropship had caused the entire base to shake as if there was an earthquake happening. In the commander center, Pamela, Oliver, and Hikaru were desperately trying to see what they could find.

"We can't tell what's going on out there!" Pamela exclaimed.

"Keep it together, all of you!" Jill ordered. "What about the riders? Are they alright?"

"All three of them are still good!" Hikaru reported.

Outside of Arzenal's base, the three mail riders had been dispatched. The Villkiss and custom Glaives flew out of the landing platform and were sticking together, mainly to avoid being taken by surprise.

"Ange! Salia! Hilda! What do you see out there?!" Jill asked the pilots.

"I can see an explosion from where we are, at least." Ange reported. "We're heading towards it right now."

"Wait!" Oliver cuts in. "What if there's something else out there?"

"Damn, she has a point." Hilda said. "What if they're after the base?"

"I'd hate to do this, but we need to split up." Salia stated. "Ange, you need to investigate whatever that was by yourself. If that explosion's some kind of trick, then you'd have a better chance at getting away alone than trying to make sure we escape too. Hilda and I will search close to Arzenal base."

"Sounds good." Ange nods in agreement.

As Ange flew away from the two, Salia and hilda converted their Para-mails into Destroyer Mode. The Glaives transformed and landed on the ground in close proximity of the base.

"While we're out here…" Ange started to say over communications. "Can someone please fill me in now? What the hell is going on?"

"Don't expect the full story from us, okay?" Hilda stated.

"We're still getting a grasp on things as we go along." Jill commented. "I've been having Salia and Hilda fill me in as much as they can as well."

"Which Arzenal is this?" Ange asked.

"Excuse me?"

"This can't be the Arzenal that we stayed in. That one's practically destroyed. This Arzenal's in perfect condition, with everything working. Is this the original Arzenal, the one where we finished off Embryo?"

"This has to be the one that sick bastard took you to." Hilda answered. "That's where we were before we were thrown out into this world. We were at that Arzenal somewhere in the middle of time and space."

"Speaking of that bastard… What happened to Embryo?"

Momentarily, everyone flashes back to the beam struggle between the Space Time Convergence Cannons of the Villkiss and the Hysterica, as well as Tusk and Embryo's sword fight.

"Did I destroy the Hysterica, or…" Ange wondered.

"I don't want to be the pessimist in this scenario but…" Jill commented. "Even if you did destroy the Hysterica and kill Embryo, there's a chance that it doesn't even matter now."

"Why would you say that Alektra?!" Salia questioned.

"Think, Salia. What happened to me?"

"Huh?"

"When Ange was kidnapped by Embryo, all of you found me. I was all but dead at the time, and I was with all of you before I died. With that in mind… How am I still here?"

It suddenly clicked with everyone what Jill was trying to say.

"She's right…" Hilda said. "She should be dead too."

"Jill's alive…" Ange replied, slightly gripping the Villkiss' controls a little harder. "Then that must mean that Embryo's…!"

"Embryo's condition and whereabouts are the least of our worries right now." Jill said as a reminder to the Villkiss pilot. "Don't let this stress you out Ange."

Ange managed to keep her emotions under check.

"Salia, let's start with you since you've had the most experience about what this place has to offer."

"Alright." Salia responded, ready to begin her story.

"All I know is that something attacked you on your way back to Arzenal, right?" Hilda asked.

"That's right."


About Six Days Ago

"I don't really know where I woke up. It's like it was in the middle of nowhere."

"Is that really you, Alektra?!"

A ways away from Arzenal base was Salia, piloting her custom Arquebus over a desert area. She managed to get in contact with Arzenal and was immediately surprised when the person that met her was Jill.

"Is this really not some kind of trick…?" Salia continued to say in disbelief. "You died in front of all us after-"

"Salia…" Jill said. "I won't blame you for trusting me."

"N-No, I do trust you! It's just… It's so hard to believe that I'm actually talking to you again. It almost feels unreal."

"We can talk more once you make it back to Arzenal. Surprisingly, the base is in good condition. It's almost like that DRAGON attack never happened."

"How's everyone else?"

"I don't know."

"What?"

"Rosalie, Chris, Ersha, Vivian, Tusk. None of them are at Arzenal, and I don't know where they are. Hilda was found a few days ago, but her Glaive is currently under repairs. Ange was in a coma when we found her. She still won't wake up. We're heavily understaffed. Only Zhao Mei, Pamela, Hikaru, Oliver, and Momoko are the only other ones here."

"With that in mind, you'll all be in danger if something were to happen. I'll get back as soon as possible! How far is Arzenal from… wherever I am?"

"We were able to get a fix on your location. If you turn now at a thirty-two degree angle you'll be flying straight towards Arzenal."

"Roger!"

Turning thirty-two degrees, Salia followed Jill's instruction and headed towards Arzenal. A few moments afterwards, the rider suddenly looked alarmed as she heard something approaching from behind.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm being followed."

Salia was looking back and saw that three jets were flying right behind her, starting to approach her Arquebus.

"I don't know who they are…" Salia said to Jill. "But they're using old fighter jets, like something that you'd see people use before the Light of Mana was invented."

"Are they hostile?"

One of the jets opened fire as soon as Jill said that.

"They are!"

[Transformers Devastation OST - Starscream]

Salia quickly drifted to the side and avoided the blaster fire from the jet. The other two picked up speed and flew on the sides of Salia's Arquebus, the blue jet on her left and the black one on her right. Their front sides were facing the Para-mail. Salia noticed the red insignias on their wings.

"I've never seen that symbol before." She thought to herself. "Who-"

The two jets suddenly transformed into robots, their blasters mounted on their arms. Aiming at her Arquebus, Salia quickly flew upwards to get out of their line of fire. The robots flew after her, firing their weapons at the Arquebus as she dodged. Switching her Arquebus to Destroyer Mode, Salia was preparing to go on the offensive.

"Alektra!" Salia said over radio. "If you or Hilda can pilot a Para-mail, please help!"

"I'll send Hilda out right now!" Jill responded. "Just keep running!"

The Arquebus aimed its sniper rifle and fired as it flew backwards. Having nowhere to land or take cover, Salia continued to fire as she was left out in the open and alone. As the two robots were firing, the last jet flew up behind them and transformed as well, a white and red robot.

"Skywarp, attack that machine from behind!" The last robot ordered the black one. "Thundercracker, give me cover as I head in!" he then ordered the blue one.

Both robots Skywarp and Thundercracker nodded at the wihte and red robot's orders. Salia noticed that they stopped for a moment, but didn't stop running. Suddenly she saw Thundercracker open fire on her while the white and red robot transformed and flew towards her. Salia fired her sniper rifle, the jet dodging each shot. Blaster fire came from behind, surprising Salia as she turned around to find that Skywarp was behind her.

"When did it get behind me?!" She exclaimed.

The Arquebus was struck by Skywarp's blasts, Salia trying to keep herself together. She dashed to the side before switching back to Flight Mode. The Arquebus was hit by Thundercracker, but she managed to hold on long enough to get out of range.

"She's getting away.." Skywarp said. "Starscream, should we go after her."

"Don't let her escape just yet." the white and red robot, Starscream, ordered. "We'll be sure to make them fear us 'Autobots' once we're through."

The three robots transformed and flew after the Arquebus.

"What are those things!?" Salia wondered. "They transform just like Para-mails, but they're far more advanced."

Salia jumped as Skywarp suddenly reappeared in front of her Arquebus. She fired its rifle forward but missed the black jet. Her Para-mail was struck from behind by the other two jets, making Salia shriek as she started to lose control. Transforming into Destroyer Mode, she managed to regain some control and stay airborne as she flew backwards. Starscream rushed at her and transformed.

"What the hell are you!?" Salia exclaimed.

The Arquebus grabbed its sword from its wing. Suddenly, one of Starscream's wings came off as a pole extended out of it. Grabbing it, the wing folded out and became a sword, letting Starscream clash against Salia's Arquebus. The "Autobot" smirked as it easily disarmed Salia's Arquebus and sliced off it's right arm. Salia managed to gain some distance between the two but was surrounded by the others very quickly. The Arquebus was nearly shot down as it was hit by several blasts from Thundercracker and Skywarp. While the Para-mail did crash into the ground, Salia quickly managed to get airborne once again.

Starscream flew towards her again, and sliced off the left leg of her Arquebus. The Para-mail was barely functioning but managed to remain airborne as Salia's foes surrounded her.

"I… can't fight these things on my own…" Salia muttered, realizing that there wasn't any way out of this." she then called out to her foes, trying to see if she can stall for time for Hilda to show up. "What are you!? Why are you doing this?!"

"This is how we operate." Starscream chuckled. "We are the Autobots, a ruthless faction from the planet Cybertron that obliterates anything in our way."

Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp all aimed their arm blasters at the Arquebus. Salia gulped, her entire body shaking of fear as she didn't know anything else she could do to get out of this. The Norma closed her eyes, bracing herself for what could happen next.

"It's over, isn't it…?" She said quietly.

Just as the three were about to fire, blaster fire came from behind Starscream, forcing the "Autobots" to dodge. The blast missed Salia completely.

"What in the?!" Thundercracker exclaimed.

Suddenly a barrage of attacks were coming from in the distance, the three scattering to avoid it. Salia opened her eyes to see the blaster fire around her, none of it even touching the Arquebus.

"I'm alive…?" the Norma said in shock.

"Who dares to launch a surprise attack on me?!" Starscream shouted, receiving no answer.

Seeing as the blaster fire spread further away from her, Salia took the opportunity to turn around and fly away. Thundercracker attempted to shoot her down, but was cut off by blaster fire from an unknown source.

"I can't believe that I made it out of that…" Salia thought, breathing heavily. "What happened? What started shooting at them?"

"Salia!"

The Norma looked ahead to see Hilda's Glaive flying towards her. The Glaive transformed to Destroyer Mode and stopped in front of Salia's Arquebus. The hatches on both Para-mails opened up, Salia revealing her slightly bruised body and bloodied face to Hilda.


Present Time

"I don't know how I managed to survive, honestly." Salia sighed. "It was a miracle that I escaped even if my Para-mail was in pieces."

"I wish I could've gotten there sooner…!" Hilda said.

"Don't be. They would've torn us both to shreds if that's the case…"

"Don't say things like that, dumbass!"

"I'm serious! What attacked me was far more experienced than what we could handle on our own!"

"So what?! Are we better just rolling over and dying!? We're not about to sit around and give up before anything happens! Right Ange?"

"...Ange?" Hilda and Salia noticed that Ange was silent.

"Ange, what's the matter?" Jill asked over the radio.

"What the hell?" Ange said quietly before answering. "I think I found what we're looking for, but… but someone beat us to it."

With Ange, she was staring out at the destroyed dropship below the main island.

"It looks like a giant military transport ship." Ange continued. "If I had to guess, this thing could've probably fit all of our Para-mails inside of it… if it was still working. This ship is completely destroyed. Whoever was inside is probably dead too."

The Villkiss slid down the cliffside and walked towards the debris of the Decepticon dropship. Ange observed all of the broken parts around her. Nothing was moving. Nothing was functioning.

"I'm getting out of the Villkiss." Ange said. "I'm gonna look around on foot and see if I can find anything inside."

"Wait, Ange!" Jill tried to stop her.

"I'll be fine!"

The Villkiss went airborne and flew around, transforming to Flight Mode before flying down and landing in the spot where it took off from. Ange had an assault rifle strapped to her shoulder and a pistol on her side as she hopped off the Villkiss. The Norma girl ran inside of the destroyed dropship to investigate.

Unknown to Ange however, was that there was somebody else entering the dropship from the other side. A man with brown hair was walking into the dropship, also unaware of Ange's presence.

"Should we go after her?" Salia asked. She and Hilda were preparing to turn around and rendezvous with Ange.

"No, stay where you are." Jill ordered. "Salia, get to higher ground and out of sight. The Arquebus isn't fit for direct combat yet. Use your sniper rifle if need be."

"Understood!"

"Hilda, keep searching around. Stay where Salia can see you in case you need her support."

"Got it."

[Cross Ange OST - Pianto]

Hilda went on ahead to search the island in her Glaive. Salia flew up to the shortest mountain in Arzenal, trying her best to gently land her Arquebus. She grunted as the terrain made it so her landing wasn't as gently as she was.

"Salia, are you alright?" Hilda asked.

"I'm fine." Salia grunted. "Everything's still working at least."

Salia positioned herself to where she could keep an eye on things from above Hilda, placing her sniper rifle on the side of the mountain. Hilda was traversing through the mountainside as well, though she ran into several obstacles due to the size of her Glaive.

"Dammit." the redhead said. "I can't get anywhere in this thing!"

Stopping near a flat area on the mountain, Hilda opened up her Glaive's cockpit.

"Be careful." Salia warned, able to still talk to Hilda through the Glaive while the cockpit was open.

"Relax, I'm fine. Just make sure you stay somewhere safe."

"I'm not entirely helpless…"

Hilda remained in earshot of her Glaive as she carefully traversed the mountain.

"Hey…" Salia started to strike up a conversation.

"What's up?" Hilda asked.

"What… happened to you two weeks ago? Alektra says you weren't at Arzenal any longer than I was. You never said what happened to you."

"Ah, it's nothing to brag about. I nearly drowned in my Para-mail about a week ago, but that's it."

"Drowned?"

"I was floating in the middle of the ocean inside of my Arquebus. I don't know what was keeping me afloat, but it broke the moment I moved. After avoiding near death, I flew around and luckily made it to Arzenal."

"I see…"

"I know. It's not as serious as what happened to you."

"You don't have to think about it like that. I promise, I'm alright."

"This isn't the first time we've had near death experiences, I know. But you're acting far too casual when it comes to this! Why?"

"...To tell you the truth… I'm just trying to keep my hopes up."

"Huh?"

"Everytime I think about that incident… I think about how outmatched I was. How outmatched we'll all be if those things come after us." Salia was clenching her fist inside of her Para-mail. "They change form so smoothly, their weapons are more advanced. Even though they were trying to kill me, they were toying with the Arquebus. It wasn't even a challenge. Just thinking about how what's out there can tear us apart easily is demoralizing. I'm just trying to have hope in Arzenal's first squad."

"What'd they call themselves again?"

"Autobots. That's what one of them told me."

"Right. These 'Autobots' or whatever, you have to stop worrying about them. I know what they did to you was scarring. But you've got me, Ange, and the others with you." Hilda smiles confidently. "Arzenal's Para-mail squadrons have made it out of the end of the world! This is nothing! Don't forget that Salia."

Salia blinked in surprise. "Hilda…"

Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of blaster fire from within the mountain range, making the ground around them rumble.

"What the hell?"

Using the Arquebus' sniper rifle, Salia looked in the distance to try and see if she could pinpoint the source of the blaster fire. Hovering over a part of the mountain, she could see the bottom of it breaking apart. Through little openings, she could see repeated blaster fire breaking a hole in the mountain.

"Hilda, get back to your Para-mail!" Salia exclaimed. "Something's trying to come through the-"

The mountain started shaking as an opening was made. Hilda started to lose her footing as part of the mountain underneath her was crumbling. Salia could only watch as Hilda struggled to get back to her Para-mail. Looking back at the opening, Salia went wide eyed.

"Another one…?!"

Emerging from the opening in the mountain was the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime.