Author's Note:
Hey there everyone!It's XD Warden and I'm back! I've managed to get my hands on some new upgrades and I'm now able to post my new chapter early this year. Anyway, here's the first chapter to the final arc of this prelude story.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the OCs and some of the original concepts in it.
Chapter 14 – The Rise of Valhalla Part 1: Infiltration and Sabatoge
Somewhere in the multiverse, we go to a planet filled with rock formations, desert canyons and mountain ranges. It was currently the middle of the day and all was quiet.
(Insert Superior Defender Gundam Force OST – Zakurello Gate)
That was… until a huge white and silver portal appeared in the sky, allowing something huge to exit through.
That something was a huge battleship about 410 meters long and 357.5 meters wide, it had a gray and black color scheme with small hints of red, a wide and slanted nose, two wings located in the middle haul with two cannons each on the wing tips, rocket boosters on the rear and a bridge located on top of the ship just near the rear. This was the super-dimensional battle mothership known as the Grand Birth.
The Grand Birth exited the portal before it closed as it flew through the vast desert canyon terrain.
Inside the Grand Birth's bridge, there were two individuals, one of which was manning the battleship's controls while the other was standing by one of the table consoles.
The first individual manning the controls was a male young man about 21 years old with short slightly messy brown hair, fair skin, slim and strong build and gray eyes. He's clad in a light gray button up shirt under a red and black accented blazer jacket with a light blue and black outlined shield shaped patch located on the left side of the shoulder with a beige colored symbol of a bird shaped similarly to the Condor Nazca Line glyph on it, black pants with a belt, a pair of black socks and a pair of gray leather shoes. This is Kite Lancaster, a space sheriff.
And the other individual standing by one of the consoles and analyzing data on a datapad was a young woman about the same age as Kite with long wavy brown hair, fair skin, slim build, medium bust and gray eyes. She's clad in a baby blue colored button up blouse under a white lab coat with the same patch as Kite's also located on the left shoulder, black skirt over a black pantyhose, a pair of black heeled shoes and a pair of rectangular framed glasses worn over her eyes. This is Evelyn "Evie" Lancaster, a space forensic scientist and Kite's partner and younger twin sister.
What were these twin siblings doing on this seemingly deserted planet of all places and in a huge battleship to boot? Well… they're currently on a mission upon orders given to them by their superiors.
You see… Kite and Evie happen to be members of the Galaxy Federal Police, otherwise known as the Galactic Union Police, an organization that's been around for about between 12,000 and 1,500 years. Their main objective is to enforce peace and justice throughout the galaxy by sending in their enforcers better known as Space Sheriffs to apprehend and quell all who'd threaten galactic peace.
The Lancaster twins continued to fly through the desert terrain in the Grand Birth until they came upon a huge mountain about twice the size of Mount Fuji and almost as high as Mount Everest.
Upon arrival, Kite pressed a few buttons on his control console activating connections to communication "Attention, Temple Fortress Alpha, this is Space Sheriff Sharivan of the Grand Birth, we've come upon request to assist in escorting a transport that's to depart this fortress, sending clearance codes now" said Kite pressing a couple more buttons on his console.
There was a moment of silence before a voice responded "Clearance codes received, please stand by" they said.
"Acknowledged" said Kite as the Lancaster twins waited.
"Hmm~, I'm so excited Kite!" chirped Evie getting Kite's attention "After months of doing galaxy patrols in our home dimension, we finally have permission to travel to other worlds!" she said excitedly.
"I know you're excited Evie, but remember we're here on an escort mission" reminded Kite calmly "We are to escort the Celestial Paladins' transport ship that will be carrying a prisoner to another secure base, so there's no time for sightseeing" he explained "We're representing the Galactic Union Police after all and as part of the Celestial Nexus Patrol Alliance, we must be at our best behavior, Gavan-senpai did warn us that there'll be some among the alliance who're strict after all" he explained.
"I know, I know brother, no need to be all stiff y'know" said Evie nonchalantly earning a grunt from Kite before receiving a transmission from the Grand Birth's comms.
"Temple Fortress Alpha Control to Grand Birth, we are now lowering cloaking device" said the voice from the comms "Please proceed to hanger 7 where you'll meet one of the captains of the base, welcome to Temple Fortress Alpha Sharivan, we've been expecting you" spoke the voice as the mountain shimmered revealing what looked like a huge structure.
The structure was a huge temple that looks similar to a medieval castle that you can find in fantasy but futuristic and it was surrounded by a huge futuristic fortress and it's also surrounded by a number of futuristic looking watchtowers. This temple fortress hybrid is called Caeleste Templum Terrae, one of the many celestial temples built by the Celestial Gods, celestial temples are built to train Celestial Paladins and Celestial Priests: warriors and clerics devoted to the Celestial Gods and are granted the power to protect the lives of the innocent. The former group primarily serve as guardians and/or a personal army for the Celestial Gods, whenever they are needed, they are dispatched to other dimensions as either escorts, infiltrators, sentinels or even as backup for Celestial Champions whenever they're in trouble while the latter not only serve as frontline fighters but also support or even as a backbone for the paladins and are also seekers of knowledge tasked with gathering intel of the Multiverse.
Celestial Temples are built in several hidden locations around the Multiverse and currently, Caeleste Templum Terrae serves as an outpost, designated as Temple Fortress Alpha, one of the few outposts under the Celestial Nexus Patrol Alliance.
Who are the Celestial Nexus Patrol Alliance? They are an interdimensional peacekeeping organization tasked with safeguarding the multiverse from all known evil, both within or outside of their own dimensions and as well as dimensions aware and/or unaware of the multiverse. The alliance organization is composed of various military, police and peacekeeping organizations from other dimensions: some that are independent or under different governments, kingdoms and empires that spans from a vast number of worlds to even the smallest of nations of one world. Among the organizations are the Galactic Union Police, the Nova Corps, Space Patrol Delta, theUnited Nations Space Command (UNSC), The Plumbers and the organization that started it all: the Dimension Guardian Force, an organization formed by the Celestial Council as their multiversal guardians. Originally composed of only celestial champions from various dimensions but now are joined by other heroes from other dimensions as well, specifically those who the guardians encountered, discovered or were even found stranded in other dimensions.
The Grand Birth flew to one of the hangars of the temple fortress designated as Hangar 7 as instructed and it was where it docked and landed.
After landing, the ship's ramp opened, allowing the Lancaster twins to exit. It was there that they were met with three individuals.
The first individual was a tall man in his mid-40s with short brown hair, fair skin, average build, stubble beard and gray eyes. He's clad in a dark gray and cyan skinsuit under futuristic and sleek looking white and silver accented knight's armor composed of a chestplate, shoulder pauldrons, upper arm armor, forearm gauntlets, a white utility belt around his waist with a blue and white outlined waist cape around the back of the waist, a metal t-shaped cylinder attached to the left side of his belt, thigh armor, knee armor, greaves and armored boots. He also has a gauntlet mounted communicator device on his left gauntlet, a blue cape, a short staff magnetically strapped to his back and held on his left hand was a white and silver futuristic knight's helmet resembling a Syntribos Alternate Warmonger helmet from For Honor with a retractable blue vision visor and a pair of wing-like fins on either side of the helmet. There was also a cyan sigil of what looked like an octagram within a heptagram located on the left pectoral of his chestplate and his belt buckle and a similar white sigil located on the back of the cape. This is Richard Griffin, one of the captains of the Celestial Paladins stationed in Temple Fortress Alpha.
The second individual to Richard's left was what looked like a young woman about in her mid-20s with short blonde hair, fair skin, average build, medium bust and blue eyes. She's clad in a dark gray full body skin suit under dark red MJOLNIR GEN 2 Mark VI full body armor that made her look as tall as Richard with hints of yellow, a built-in thruster pack on her back, an arm mounted grapple on her left gauntlet, an M6H2 Magnum Pistol magnetically strapped on her right thigh, an MA5D Assault Rifle magnetically strapped on her back and held on her left hand is a CQB Helmet with a golden visor. This is Chief Petty Officer Daisy-023, a Spartan II Commando of the UNSC.
And the third and last individual standing on Richard's right was a young man about 22 years old with short dark brown hair, slim and average build, fair skin and gray eyes. He's clad in a gray long sleeve shirt under a black sleeveless hooded vest, a silver light armored chestplate, a black and purple accented open trench coat with silver and purple accented shoulder pauldrons and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, black fingerless gloves, a pair of gray pants with a belt, black tanker boots, a wrist communication device on his left wrist, a black shoulder strap around his right shoulder and sheathed on said strap on his back was what looked like a sword. This is Drew Osborn, a Celestial Champion and a member of the Dimension Guardian Force.
Richard smiled as the Lancaster twins approached the three "Welcome to Temple Fortress Alpha" he greeted them "Am I to assume correctly that you're Sharivan from the Galactic Union Police?" he asked the elder twin.
"Indeed, I am" said Kite with a nod as he and Evie stopped in front of the trio and gave them the Galactic Union Police salute "I'm Kite Lancaster, Space Sheriff Sharivan" he said introducing himself.
"Evelyn Lancaster, space forensic scientist and Sharivan's partner and also his younger twin sister" said Evie introducing herself.
"We've come to assist on the escort mission" said Kite.
"At ease you two" gestured Richard, the twins doing so "My name's Richard Griffin, one of the captains of this fortress" he said introducing himself "And these are Chief Petty Officer Spartan Daisy-023" he said introducing Daisy who nodded and then gestured to Drew "And Drew Osborn" he said.
"Yo! Nice to meet you" greeted Drew with a wave.
"These two are part of two other groups who'll also be assisting in transporting the prisoners aside from you two plus one more group" said Richard.
"I see" nodded Kite "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you" he said.
"Excuse me" said Evie slightly raising her hand up getting their attention "Pardon my rudeness and curiosity but I think I just heard you say "prisoners" as in plural to "prisoner"." she said "Does that mean we'll be transporting more than just one prisoner?" she questioned.
"Yep! You heard correctly" nodded Drew surprising the Lancaster twins.
"I was told that we'd be transporting only one prisoner" said Kite.
"Well, there's been a small incident and we now have two prisoners waiting to be transported" explained Drew.
"Follow us and we'll take you two to the brig, we'll explain on the way" said Richard receiving nods from the Lancaster siblings before following them.
We now see the group walking through the halls of the fortress which was wide with white and cyan walls and it was designed similarly to a cross between medieval European and ancient Greek architecture but sleek and futuristic looking.
"Whoa~! This place is just… amazing~!" said Evie loudly while admiring the architecture in awe causing an echo.
"Indeed, I have to agree that the architecture here is fascinating" said Kite giving his opinion on the architecture.
"Hehe… you should see the temple, it's even more breath taking than this!" said Drew.
"Really?!" said Evie in excitement with sparkles in her eyes.
"Eeyep!" said Drew popping the "p" while putting his arms around the back of his head making Evie excited.
Richard chuckled "Well, this fortress has been standing for centuries despite how advanced looking it is, although the temple that the fortress surrounds has been around longer, much before you and I and even our great grandparents were born" he said much to the Lancaster siblings' awe.
The group then exited the hall and along the way, they came by a wide balcony that viewed what looked like training grounds.
In said training grounds were a vast number of soldiers doing training drills. The soldiers were composed of UNSC Marines and Orbital Drop Shocktroopers (ODSTs), Nova Corps Soldiers and Celestial Paladins: these soldiers were clad in the same color schemed armor and skin suit as Richard, only without a cape or waist cape and the sigil that Richard has on his armor was located on their belt buckles and both shoulder pauldrons in a cyan color and the helmets they wore resembled Bellows Sallet Helmets with blue retractable vision visors and smaller wing-like fins on either side of their helmets. There were also a small number of these Paladins with white capes and an antenna on the right side of their helmets.
The Lancaster twins looked at the scene in awe "Whoa… those are a lot of soldiers" said Evie in astonishment.
"Indeed" said Kite in equal astonishment.
Drew smirked at the twins' awe "Cool, right?" he said, receiving a nod from Evie in response.
Kite then took notice of the Paladins training "Is this where you train new Celestial Paladins?" he questioned Richard.
"Well, yes… and no" said Richard "This is where fully trained Celestial Paladins train and hone their skills" he explained.
"Whoa! Really?!" said Evie in awe "So is that what Celestial Paladins usually wear?" she questioned taking notice of their armor before turning to Richard "Because your armor looks… custom made" she commented.
Richard let out an amused chuckle "Not exactly" he said "The armor I'm wearing belong to an elite type of Celestial Paladin class and the armor those Paladins are wearing belong to the footsoldiers of the Celestial Paladins, the Paladin Troopers" he revealed surprising the Lancaster siblings.
"Wait… so the paladins have different classes?!" questioned Evie in surprise.
"Indeed" nodded Richard in confirmation "The armor I'm wearing is what mostly Vanguard Paladins wear" he said "Vanguard Paladins are considered the main attackers of the order" he explained "Then there's the Defender Paladins, the heavy hitters and tanks of the order and also, well... the main defenders, they wear bigger and bulkier armor for more protection, endurance and foothold and finally there's the Interceptor Paladins, they wear lighter armor for mobility and they also wear hoods, they specialize in reconnaissance, stealth operations and espionage and they're also snipers and master archers" he explained.
"Whoa…" said Evie in awe.
"And the Paladin Troopers are the footsoldiers, the grunts of the Celestial Paladins" said Kite.
"Indeed, they are" nodded Richard "What about them? The ones who look similar to the Paladin Troopers, the ones with capes?" Kite questioned.
"Those would be the Paladin Troop Leaders, they're considered the senior officer Paladin Troopers who lead a squad of troopers" explained Richard.
"Are all the squads led by one?" asked Evie.
"More or less" said Richard "There are some cases where Paladin Trooper squads are led by either a Vanguard, Defender or Interceptor Paladin and there are some squads that include one or two of one of the three Paladin classes in them" he explained "Despite being mere grunts, Paladin Troopers are just newly trained Celestial Paladins and they have the chance to move up to either of the three Paladin classes with proper training" he explained further "And once they become either of the three, they have the privilege to lead a platoon as a captain such as myself" added much to the Lancaster twins' awe.
"Do Paladins mostly wield weapons based from what knights usually use such as swords, shields, axes, spears and bow and arrows?" asked Evie.
"Well, we do wield those as what you mentioned but our weapons are on the advanced side of things" said Richard "Our bows and crossbows have no need for arrows for they can fire arrows of energy and our spears and polearms can shoot lasers as well" he explained much to Evie's awe "And our weapons are easy to carry for when not in use, they are in a compact state such as this" said Richard taking the short staff from his back "This is my main weapon, a halberd and it's currently in its' compact state but when I want to use it for battle, I simply press this button" he said before pressing said button on the side and the staff extended and an axe head appeared at the top of the staff along with a spearhead at the top and not only that, the edges of the axe and spear emitted blue energy.
"Whoa…" said Evie in awe and Kite was awed as well and even Drew while Daisy on the other hand remained stoic but was impressed none the less.
"Also, we happen to carry guns as well" he said "They're mostly weapons that resemble select old WWII and Cold War weapons and some modern weapons for sidearms and others" he added.
"Interesting…" said Kite "So, where do you train new paladins?" he questioned.
"New Paladins are trained at the Temple" informed Richard while putting away his weapon "I'll show them to you later, for now, let's continue on to the brig" he said, the Lancaster twins nodded as they along with Daisy and Drew followed the Celestial Paladin Captain to their destination.
The group arrived at a wide metal sliding door with an access panel next to it on the right. Richard went to the access panel and took out what looked like some sort of amulet. Said amulet was round and silver and it was about the size of a normal full-grown adult's palm and there was also a light blue round jewel in the middle of it. He held it over to the scanner of the access panel allowing it to scan the jewel before making a beeping sound as the doors opened.
"Whoa… what's that? Some kind of magic amulet that allows you to open any door?" asked Evie in wonder.
"No, it's just my ID, it allows me access" replied Richard.
"Oh…" said Evie while Kite sweat dropped. Drew meanwhile was snickering while Daisy remained indifferent.
The group entered and up ahead was the brig which was a prison area with a circular design and has two floors with prison cells and a blue transparent energy door that leads to one hallway on the other side of the first floor leading to more prison cells.
In the middle of the area just in front of the hallway was a semi-circular control panel and sitting on a chair behind the control panel was a young man in his early 20s with short neat dirty blonde hair, fair skin, slim and strong build and brown eyes. He's clad in the standard issue Paladin Trooper Armor with a t-shaped cylinder strapped to the left side of his belt, a pistol holstered on the right side of his belt and his helmet was sitting on the control panel to his left.
He was currently reading a book when he heard the door slide open. He looked up from his book and saw who it was. Surprised, he immediatly stood up from his seat and dropped his book "Captain Griffin sir!" he said standing in attetion while doing what looked like the Celestial Paladin salute which was putting his fist across his chest.
"At ease trooper" said Richard, the Paladin Trooper doing so, he then took notice of the other four with the Paladin Captain, specifically the Lancaster siblings "Sir, are they part of the groups who'll assist in escorting the transport that'll take the prisoners to another secure location as well?" he asked.
"Indeed they are, in fact, they're the last group to arrive" confirmed Rhichard with a nod, he then turned to the Lancaster siblings "This is Gideon Rowlands, a student of mine back when he was in training" he introduced to the two.
"A pleasure to meet you, I'm Kite Lancaster of the Galactic Union Police, Space Sheriff Sharivan and this is my partner and sister, space forensic scientist Evelyn Lancaster" said Kite introducing himself and his sister with a salute while his sister greeted Gideon with a simple hello and wave.
"It's also a pleasure to meet you as well!" saluted Gideon "If I could take a guess, you're here to take a look at the prisoners as well correct?" he asked.
"Yes, we are" nodded Kite in confirmation.
Gideon nodded before proceeding to press a few buttons on the control panel and the energy door powered down "Please proceed, just go straight before heading to an intersection and go to the right and continue to go straight until you meet four guards assigned to the prisoners in two individual cells" he told them.
"Thank you Gideon, carry on" said Richard with the young Paladin saluting his captain and the group of five proceeded inside.
"There sure are a lot of prison cells for a brig" said Evie as they passed by some empty cells "Makes me wonder why you have to transport prisoners" she said.
"Yes, I agree" nodded Kite "Why do you have to transport prisoners when you have so much prison cells in the brig?" he questioned.
"Well, in case you didn't know, Temple Fortress Alpha is currently one of the few temples safeguarding some of what's considered the most powerful and most dangerous artifacts that ever existed in the multiverse, that if put in the wrong hands becomes a threat to all of existence" explained Richard.
"Yeah, and if any of the prisoners here manage to escape, they might find themselves in the vault where the artifacts are kept and they could use them to trash the whole place which was why they all had to be transported after the decision was made to keep the artifacts here" said Drew making Evie gulp.
"Yikes! That's gonna be a problem if that ever happens!" commented Evie.
"Indeed, although, unless the prisoner's smart and has thought up of a plan, there's a high chance that they'll just get caught again before they could even reach the location of the artifacts or even escape" said Kite.
"Well, even so, it's better to have the prisoners transported to another location" said Richard "And besides, it's very rare that we manage to catch a single prisoner, let alone two since we have tight security and our special fortress cloaking device ensures we aren't seen or even detected" said Richard.
The group continued on walking through the hall of empty cells until they came upon two guards guarding a prison cell which had a transparent energy barrier. Both guards were Nova Corps Corpsman clad in the standard issue corpsman uniform including the helmet and both wielded Nova Machineguns and arm mounted sidearm blasters on their left forearms. One of them had fair skin and a slim and average build while the other had light gray skin and a slightly wider and average build.
The first Corpsman took notice of the approaching group before nudging his elbow to his fellow Corpsman causing said Corpsman to turn to the former with a frown only to see his partner gesture to the approaching group.
The two Corpsman then faced the group and did the Nova Corps salute which was just about the same as the Celestial Paladin's salute.
"Captain Griffin sir!" greeted the first Corpsman "At ease you two" said Richard as the Corpsman did so "So, these two with the rest of the escort group?" asked the second Corpsman with a Bostonian accent after taking notice of the Lancaster twins.
"Indeed, they are" confirmed the Paladin Captain "These two are representatives of the Galactic Union Police" he added.
The second Corpsman whistled upon hearing that "So, you two part of those guys huh? I heard that they got special enforcers known as Space Sheriffs" he commented "The name's Tazer by the way, Corpsman Tazer Ral, are the both of you Space Sheriffs?" he asked while introducing himself.
"Pleasure to meet you as well and yes, I'm a Space Sheriff, I'm Kite Lancaster, Space Sheriff Sharivan" he introduced himself.
"Sharivan? As in THE Sharivan, one of the three known Space Sheriffs in the Union Police?" asked the first Corpsman in surprise.
"The very same and he happens to be the successor to the previous Sharivan Kai Hyuuga" said Evie "I'm Evelyn Lancaster by the way, I'm Kite's twin sister and no, I'm not a space sheriff, I'm a forensic scientist and as well as Kite's partner on the job" she said introducing herself.
The Corpsman nodded "A pleasure to meet you then, I'm Corpsman Rhoss Drevirn, Tazer and I are part of the escort group representing the Nova Corps, we look forward to working with you" he said introducing himself when Tazer gave him a friendly slap on the back "Hey, c'mon Rhoss, these are our new friends, so there's no need to be all formal with all of them" said Tazer.
"You're one to talk, since you're always talking informaly with just about almost everyone including those you just met" said Rhoss making Tazer chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck "You got me there buddy, hehehe..." he admitted making Rhoss sigh with a shake of his head.
"Anyway, back to the subject at hand" said Kite changing the subject "This is where one of the prisoners we'll be transporting is kept?" he asked referring to the prison cell the Nova Corpsman were guarding.
"Yep! It is" nodded Tazer gesturing to the cell "Take a look at who we're transportin" he said with a grin before stepping aside allowing the twins to see the prisoner.
Sitting inside the prison cell, and in handcuffs was what looked like a humanoid robot with yellow glowing eyes and a metallic three pronged goatee, he wore a brown apron around his waist that carried a ton of tools and two leather holsters on either sides of his waist, both carrying tools as well. He also wore a half chestplate that covered the right side of his torso which was connected to four straps that were held around the left side of his torso, a pair of boots, some kind of metal piece attached to his left upper arm like a shoulder plate and finally on his head was some kind of helmet with two tesla coil-like antennas slanted on either side and a three prong claw-like antenna on the top of the helmet.
Kite raised an eyebrow looking at the prisoner "Who's this? Some kind of... robot?" he questioned.
"I'm not just a robot!" snapped the robot prisoner "The name's Scrozzle and I'm a devoted servant of MasterEvox!" declared Scrozzle.
"Correction, you WERE a devoted servant, and now your boss is toast, you're just a living hunk-a-junk without a master now" said Tazer before letting out a laugh.
"Hey! Shut up! I have feelings too y'know!" said Scrozzle annoyed.
"Aw~, and what's the wittle robot gonna do hmm? Oh wait... you can't! Cause you're locked up! Hahaha!" mocked Tazer making Scrozzle growl in agitation.
"Hey, quit agitating the prisoner Taze" said Rhoss.
"What, are you kiddin? Agitatin's the best part" argued Tazer casually making his partner sigh exasperated.
"So, how did Scrozzle end up here?" questioned Kite.
"Well... believe it or not, according to Scrozzle, he somehow ended up here by accident through a dimension vacuum and managed to sneak aboard one of the patrol vehicles that was passing by his location and upon entering the base, he attempted to steal some of our tech at the engineering and research lab but we managed to catch him" explained Richard.
"And I could've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you pesky Paladins!" said Scrozzle in frustration.
"Better luck next time bucko" snarked Tazer with a chuckle making the robot mumble in annoyance.
"Okay, so if this is one of the prisoners, where's the other one?" asked Evie.
"He's bein guarded by the other two who're also part of the escort group" said Tazer "They're just straight ahead" he said pointing a thumb towards the path just past Scrozzle's cell.
"Alright then, let's go see" said Kite as everyone nodded.
"We'll stay here, we've been assigned to guard this cell after all" said Tazer.
"Alright then, we'll see you when we get back" said Evie as the group left and proceeded to where the other prisoner is.
When they arrived, they were met with a heavily enforced prison cell composed of a metallic sliding double doors with a small window peak and security lasers.
The ones guarding it were two UNSC ODSTs and they were clad in a black uniform composed of a black zipped up uniform jacket, a pair of gloves, black pants with a belt, a pair of boots and black ODST armor composed of a black chestplate, shoulder pauldrons, forearm gauntlets, leg armor and a helmet with polarized black visors.
The first ODST had a slim build and the armor he wore had a blue secondary color scheme and was of the COMM variant, his helmet had a comm antenna and he had a communications pack on his back, on his chestplate was the name "KIRBY" and he had an M6H2 Tactical Magnum Pistol magnetically holstered on his left leg, a Combat Knife sheathed on the left side of his chestplate, an M45D Shotgun magnetically holstered on the right side of his back next to his pack and an MA5D Assault Rifle held on his arms.
And the Second ODST had a wider and muscular build and was a couple inches taller than the first one, the armor he wore had a green secondary color scheme and was of the HVY variant, his helmet had a CNM attached to the left side, an ammunition pack on his back, on his chestplate was the name "SLAMMER" and he had a Combat Knife sheathed on the back of his belt, an ARC-920 Railgun magnetically holstered on the back of his pack on the right side, an M6H2 Tactical Magnum Pistol magnetically holstered on his left leg and a Silenced M20 SMG held on his arms.
The two ODSTs were chatting when they took notice of the approaching group as they stood in attention "Captain Griffin sir! Chief!" they said addressing Richard and as well as Daisy upon seeing her.
"At ease you two" said Daisy, the two doing so. The first ODST took notice of the twins "Are they part of the escort group as well?" he asked.
"Indeed they are soldier" confirmed Richard.
"We're from the Galactic Union Police, I'm Kite Lancaster also known as Space Sheriff Sharivan and this is my partner and sister forensic scientist Evie Lancaster" said Kite introducing himself and his sister, said sister nodding in greeting.
The ODST's helmet visor depolarized revealing the face of a young man in his early 20s with fair skin and dark grey eyes "My name's Corporal Tyler Kirby of the UNSC Helljumpers! A pleasure to meet you!" saluted Tyler in greeting.
"The pleasure's mutual" nodded Kite.
"Sheesh man... you're always so stiff and formal even when around those of our age" spoke the other ODST making Tyler frown.
"Well, you're always so casual and not to mention loud most of the time" retorted Tyler.
"Yo! Not all the time man!" retorted back the taller ODST before turning to the twins, his helmet's visor depolarized revealing a young man also in his early 20s of African-American descent with dark brown skin, a stubble mustache and black eyes "Hey there! The name's Corporal Doran Dunn but I go by the codename Slammer" he said introducing himself with a two finger salute.
"Nice to meet you!" greeted back Evie "Why call yourself Slammer though?" she wondered.
"Heh, good question!" mused Slammer with a grin "Well, that's because when I'm up against enemies upclose, I usually like to send them off to the slammer!" he declared enthusiastically while punching his palm with his fist.
"Oh... I see..." said Evie smiling nervously with a sweatdrop.
"Anyway, we're here to see the prisoner" said Kite "And judging by the tight security, I presume the prisoner's a huge threat?" he questioned.
"You're right on the money at that buddy" nodded Slammer in confirmation before walking towards a control panel and input the number code before the security lasers powered off and the double doors slid open sideways revealing an energy barrier with the prisoner on the other side.
The Lancaster twins gasped upon seeing who was behind the enforced prison cell.
Inside, heavily restrained in a metal chair with metal binds, energy cuffs and a collar was a blue humanoid alien rhinoceros, it had a muscular build, some horns on his knees and forearms, two horns: one on where his nose is and one on his forehead, two tusks in between his cheeks and red glowing eyes. He also had gold armor composed of shoulder armor, back armor resembling a fan and a chestplate with a device that has a lever resembling a large rhino horn.
"What the heck?! Rhino Doubler?!" exclaimed Kite in shock upon seeing him.
"I thought he was destroyed by the previous Gavan many years ago?!" questioned Evie in equal shock.
"Who're you callin Rhino Doubler?" spoke the supposed Rhino Doubler with an Australian accent "The name's Ryjack" he corrected.
"What?" said the Lancaster twins in confusion.
"This isn't actually Rhino Doubler, this is just someone who looks like him and he's from a parallel universe" explained Drew.
"Really?" said Evie in surprise.
"Really" nodded Drew in confirmation.
"According to his records, Ryjack is an intergalactic criminal known for taking out powerful alien beings and taking their weapons as trophies" explained Richard "He's also known for stealing powerful weapons from military bases and spec ops organizations to add to his collection" he added.
"Recently, he learned of the existance of other dimensions and has been on a crusade, taking down powerful warriors from across the multiverse and taking their weapons to add to his arsenal and just a couple weeks ago, he somehow managed to discover Temple Fortress Alpha, sneaked in and attempted to take some of the Celestial Paladins' weapons and technology to add to his collection" explained Daisy-023.
"And I could've gotten away with it, if it weren't for you pesky Paladins and your allies" said Ryjack.
"Heh! Better luck next time then rhino boy!" taunted Slammer smugly making Ryjack grunt in annoyance.
"Ryjack also attempted to enter the celestial temple's vault which would've been a huge problem but luckily, the temple's alarm system was way too advanced for his tech alerting us" said Kirby "Ryjack was a formidable opponent, it took about a few squads of Paladin Troopers, UNSC Marines, Nova Corpsman, five elite Paladins and three Spartans to subdue him" he said.
"I see" nodded Kite "He must be a big threat if it took that much to subdue him" he said.
"Indeed" nodded Richard "Ryjack had this special power allowing him to fire powerful blasts of lightning from his horns and it could even poison his opponents upon getting hit, which was why we had him wear that collar on his neck" he explained as the Lancaster twins saw said collar on Ryjack's neck.
"Did anyone get hit by his horn's blast?" Evie asked in concern.
"Indeed, they did but luckily, we had a special antidote that could cure any type of poison including unknown poisons" said Richard much to the space forensic scientist's relief.
"So... when are we scheduled to transport the prisoners?" questioned Kite.
"In the early afternoon at the latest" said Richard "We're still in the middle of preparation for the transport and plans for the escort positions" he said "In the meantime, you two are free to explore the fortress" he said.
"Alright! Exploring would be nice!" said Evie in excitement.
"Heh... enjoy your sightseeing while it lasts" spoke Ryjack getting the groups' attention "Soon... I'll be out of here in no time flat... and your little temple fortress will be as good as rubble on the ground" he said before letting out a diabolical chuckle before the double doors to his cell slid closed with a loud *SLAM!* followed by the security lasers powering up.
"Yeah, in your dreams buddy" mocked Slammer who had his fist to the control panel revealing that he was the one who closed the double doors on Ryjack.
"Really Slam?" said Kirby with a deadpanned look.
"What? I couldn't help it" said Slammer with a shrug.
"Anyway..." said Richard turning to the Lancaster siblings "Is there anywhere you'd like to go while waiting for the time to transport the prisoners?" he asked.
Suddenly, the sound of someone's stomach grumbling was heard and they turned to the source revealing to be none other than Evie.
"Ehehehe..." chuckled Evie nervously holding her stomach "Perhaps, somewhere where we can get some lunch?" she said with a bashful smile making almost everyone including her brother sweatdrop.
Richard on the other hand chuckled in amusement "Alright then, let's go to the mess hall" he said and with that, the group bid goodbye to the ODSTs and after bidding goodbye to the two Nova Corpsman and Gideon, they left the brig.
Later, we go to Temple Fortress Alpha's mess hall which is a very wide and spacious place about the size of a foodcourt with several tables and chairs and it was where many soldiers sat and they were composed of celestial paladins, Nova corpsman, UNSC marines, ODSTs and even a few Spartans. They were either chatting, hanging out, catching up on old times, reviewing some training, thinking up some schedules and/or plans/strategies for missions while enjoying a nice hot meal and cold drinks.
When the group entered the mess hall, the Lancaster twins looked on in awe, although while Evie showed her awe, Kite was a bit more subtle.
"Whoa..." uttered Evie "This place is huge!" she exclaimed.
"Well, there are a lot of soldiers stationed here so it's a no brainer that they'll need a huge place like this whenever breaks are needed" said Drew before turning to the twins "C'mon then, let's get some grub and find ourselves some seats, in fact my team happens to be here as well, I can introduce them to you if you want" he suggested.
"Sure!" chirped Evie excited to meet new people while Kite looked on amused at his sister before Drew and the Lancaster twins proceeded to get some food.
Richard looked on with a chuckle "Youth these days" he said bemused while Daisy just hummed and followed the three.
After getting some food, the group proceeded to find a table. It was there that Drew found his team at another table nearby.
Seated on the table eating a meal and chatting away were five individuals.
The first individual was a young man about 27 years old with short neck length brown hair, light skin, slim and average build and blue eyes. He's clad in a uniform composed of a black and orange accented jacket long sleeve zipper jacket with a light gray part at the center and a sigil of what looks like a compass with a white circle and a red and black magnetized needle at the strap over the center of the jacket at the right side, black and light gray accented cargo pants with a belt and buckle, a pair of black boots and a wrist device on his left wrist. This is Wade Chapman a Celestial Champion and a member of the Dimension Guardian Force and one of Drew's assigned teammates.
The second individual was another young man about 21 years old with short messy light brown hair, fair skin, lean and average build and dark eyes. He's clad in a dark gray t-shirt under an open dark blue bomber jacket, a pair of black jean pants with a belt, a chain hanging on the left side of his pants, a pair of black and white sneaker shoes and a chain necklace with a pedant around his neck. This is Seitaro Kawakami, a Celestial Champion and a member of the Dimension Guardian Force and another of Drew's assigned teammates.
The third individual sitting next to Seitaro was a blue humanoid being resembling what looked like a Blue Oni with the whole body being blue including blue horns and black eyes and he had blue, black and silver studded torso armor, blue, black and silver accented shoulder armor with spikes and studs on them, blue gauntlet bracers with silver spikes, silver studs on his knuckles, a silver belt with a buckle and blue, black and silver studded leg armor and boots. this is Neotaros AKA Teddy, Seitaro's partner.
The fourth individual was what looked like a female humanoid dinosaur cyborg with gray reptilian skin, blue feathery hair, spikes around the top of her head facing back, a small horn on her nose, spikes on the back of her shoulders and her spine area down to her tail, bronze colored robot leg and foot, cybernetic three fingered hands with claws on them, robotic cheeks and blue cybernetic eyes. She's clad in a bronze colored armor plate composed of torso and waist armor, shoulder pauldrons, brown leather shoe on her left dinosaur foot and a communication device similar to Drew's worn on her left wrist. This is Solon, Drew's wise mentor and friend.
And the fifth and last individual was a young man about 19 years old with short messy red hair, fair skin, lean but well toned build and hazel eyes. He's clad in a white t-shirt under a dark blue hoodie with white sleeves and dark blue cuffs, gray pants and a pair of white and blue trainer shoes. This is Koto Kobayashi, a Celestial Champion, a new member of the Dimension Guardian Force and another of Drew's assigned teammates.
"Hey guys!" called out Drew getting the five's attention.
"Oh! Drew, glad to see that you're back from accompanying Captain Griffin" greeted Solon.
"Where are Len, Liam and Mr. Hiden?" asked Drew noticing that three other members of his assigned team were missing.
"They already finished eating and decided to go exploring a bit" responded Koto recieving an "Oh" from Drew who also nodded in understanding.
"So, I could take a guess that you met the last group who'd be joining us at the escort mission mate?" asked Wade with an Australian accent "How were they?" he asked changing the subject.
"They're good" replied Drew "In fact, they're with me right now actually" he said before turning to the twins "Guys, meet my team... well team for this mission that is" he said before turning back to his team "Everyone, these are Kite and Evie Lancaster, they're from the Galactic Union Police" he introduced as everyone greeted each other.
The groups were later chatting away on the table as the Lancaster twins got to know Drew's team.
"So... what are you exactly if I may ask?" Evie questioned Teddy.
"Teddy's a being known as an Imagin" said Seitaro while taking a spoonful of his curry.
"Imagin?" said the Lancaster twins.
"Yes" nodded Seitaro "Imagins were originally a race of beings from a distant future but lost their physical forms due to an event in the past erasing their own time, they become dependent on the memories of others in order to survive" he explained "So in order to obtain a physical form, they need to temporarily inhabit someone and form a contract with them before gaining a physical form" he explained.
"Oh, so you're saying that... you formed a contract with Seitaro and you took on that form through his memories?" asked Evie turning to Teddy.
"Well, yes and no" said Teddy "While it's true that I formed a contract with Seitaro as his partner, the form I took originally came from the memories of my previous partner Kotaro Nogami who once fought as Kamen Rider Den-O" he explained much to Evie's surprise "What happened to him?" she asked.
"Kotaro Nogami retired long ago due to old age" explained Drew "His mantle as Kamen Rider was left vacant after his passing a few years back until Seitaro was chosen to take up that mantle a couple years ago" he said.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." said Evie sadly.
"It's alright" said Teddy "I'll always remember Kotaro and the time we shared together both in my memories and in my heart" he said.
"And I assure Teddy that I'll be the best partner I can ever be" said Seitaro giving a thumbs up.
"Hai" nodded Teddy "And I'll be supporting you all the way... Aibou" he said.
"Yeah, after all, our little mate's got the worst of luck" said Wade with a chuckle.
"Hey! Shut up! Ruin the moment will ya!" snapped Seitaro receiving a lot of chuckles from just about everyone with Daisy letting out an amused smile.
Deciding to change the subject, Kite turned to Solon "So, if I may ask, are you some kind of... alien cyborg dinosaur by any chance?" he asked.
"Indeed, I am" nodded Solon in confirmation "I'm a Solonosaurus in fact, we're part of the only race of humanoid dinosaurs on our planet to ever exist called Saurians and the only race on the planet to learn how to communicate using the human language" she explained "And as for my cyborg body, well I was badly injured during a great battle a few millennia ago" she explained.
"A few millennia ago?!" exclaimed Evie in surprise.
"Saurians like myself have long lifespans unlike humans about several centuries or so" explained Solon "Although in my case, due to being half machine, I managed to last this long" she said.
"I see" nodded Kite impressed "And what was this great battle if you don't mind my asking?" he asked.
"Well, let's just say that long ago on my home planet we were at war with a nation of humans who arrived on spaceships and settled on our lands" said Solon "We were at constant war with one another until the true enemy revealed themselves" she explained "We set our differences aside and together, we defeated the enemy and soon after, we signed a peace treaty between our nations and we've been living together in peace and harmony ever since" she said.
"Whoa... that's amazing..." said Evie in awe.
"Indeed" nodded Kite in agreement.
The group continued to chat more as they got to know more about each other and apparently, Koto happens to be a recent recruit to the Dimension Guardian Force and this is his first mission outside his home dimension just like the twins much to their surprise.
A thought then came to Evie as she turned to Richard "Excuse me, captain Griffin sir but if you don't mind my asking?" she said getting the celestial paladin captain's attention.
"Ask away" he said.
"Earlier, back at the brig, it was mentioned that Ryjack attempted to sneak into the celestial temple's vault" she said "What's inside the vault that's got his attention?" she questioned.
The group went silent at this as Richard had an unsure look and the Lancaster twins took notice of their friends remaining silent confusing them and even Koto who had a raised eyebrow for this was the first time he heard about this.
"Uh... guys... what's wrong?" asked the Dimension Guardian newbie.
The group still remained silent and Kite broke it "It's alright, you don't have to tell us if it's classified info-" he said only for Richard to raised up his hand stopping him in his tracks "It's alright" he said "It's best that you know since you'll be working alongside other factions of the Celestial Nexus Patrol Alliance and you might be encountering things that could relate to the subject" he said before lowering his hand "As you already know, Temple Fortress Alpha has a cloaking field allowing it to be unseen" he explained "But not only that, there's also a signal jammer preventing outside forces from detecting our base" he explained "And the only way in is by entering this planet via dimension warp gate using secret coordinates distributed to members of the CNPA" he said "And that's exactly how you two got here" he said.
The Lancaster twins nodded in understanding before Kite blinked twice "Wait a minute, if this base is undetectable to enemy forces, how come Ryjack was able to detect this base?" he questioned.
"That's what we've been trying find out, we've been interrogating him but so far we have no luck" said Daisy.
"Ryjack refuses to speak and he refuses to reveal the location of his ship which possibly holds the technology capable of detecting our base's location" said Richard with a frown "But moving back to the subject, the whole reason why Temple Fortress Alpha is well hidden is because it's one of the few outposts safeguarding some of the multiverse's most powerful and dangerous artifacts ever known" he explained.
"The multiverse's..." uttered Kite.
"Most dangerous artifacts?" uttered Evie and Koto.
Richard nodded "Indeed" he said "The multiverse is a very mysterious place and you won't know what could be out there" he said "There are many parallel dimensions out there, some similar to one another and many went through different outcomes and futures, some similar, some different and the CNPA would make some encounters there and we'd come across many artifacts and weapons, some used by good, some used by evil and some that are so very powerful and dangerous that when left alone or left in the wrong hands could become a threat to the existence of the multiverse" he explained.
This made the Lancaster twins and Koto a bit wary.
"So, whenever we'd come across such artifacts, we secure them and bring them back to a hidden Temple Fortress such as this and seal them away within the vault, so that no one can ever use them" said Richard.
Kite nodded in understanding "Glad to know that the CNPA is doing a good job in securing the safety of the Multiverse" he said.
"And we still are" said Richard "You and Evie will be doing that as well if ever you two come across dangerous artifacts in the future, so stay alert in your future missions" he advised.
The Lancaster twins nodded "Right" they said.
"Same goes for you Koto" said Seitaro putting a hand on said young man's shoulder "If you come across any artifact just lying around, secure it and report it to your superiors" he told him.
"Hai!" nodded Koto.
A thought then came to Evie "Captain Griffin sir, if you don't mind... is it alright if we take a look at what's inside that vault?" she asked surprising everyone.
"Evie, you can't just ask permission to enter a secure vault that contains dangerous artifacts that could possibly obliterate the whole multiverse just like that! You need proper clearance for that!" snapped Kite in disbelief.
"Oh... uh... sorry..." said Evie embarrased.
"It's okay, I'll allow you in" said the celestial paladin captain surprising everyone.
"What...? but I..." said Evie in surprise.
"It's alright, I was just merely surprised you'd ask" he said "While it's true that you need clearance to enter the vault there are some special exceptions such as having a high ranking member of the Celestial Paladins accompany you to the vault" he said
"Really?" said Evie in surprise but had a hopeful look behind her wide eyes.
"Really" nodded Richard with a smile "We'll go once we've finished lunch" he said.
"Yes!" exclaimed Evie pumping her fist causing Kite to sigh while everyone else looked on in amusement.
"In that case, can I tag along? I've been curious about what's inside" asked Drew.
"Of course" nodded Richard before turning to everyone else "Anyone else want to tag along?" he asked.
"I'll go" said Daisy "I've been wanting to know what artifacts were stored inside the vault" said the Spartan II Commando.
"I think I'll go as well" spoke up Koto.
"Nah, Teddy and I are good" said Seitaro declining the offer with his Imagin partner nodding in agreement.
"I'll pass" said Wade.
"As much as I want to check out the vault as well, I must decline" said Solon "I'll need to return to the ship for some maintenance after this" she said.
"Alright then" nodded Richard.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the halls of the temple fortress, we see a number of personnel either of the Celestial Paladins, UNSC and Nova Corps walking around going about their usual routines and tasks for the day.
Among the crowd walking around the halls were three male individuals.
The first male was a young man about 26 years old with short jet black hair, fair skin, slim and average build and green eyes. He's clad in a baby blue button up long sleeve shirt with a purple and red striped necktie under a black blazer, black trousers with a belt and a pair of black leather shoes. This is Lennox "Len" Cunningham, a police officer.
The second male was a middle aged man in his mid-40s with short spiky dirty blonde hair, fair skin, average build, a stubble beard and brown eyes. He's clad in a black t-shirt under a tan unzipped hunting jacket, brown cargo pants with a belt, brown boots and a brown cowboy hat. This is Liam Elliot.
And the third male was a young man in his early 40s about 42 years old with short brown hair, fair skin, slim and average build and brown eyes. He's clad in a black men's fold over side zipper jacket over a gray long sleeve button up shirt with a black necktie, blue jean pants with a belt and a pair of black socks and black trainer shoes. This is Masahiko Hiden, CEO of Hiden Intelligence.
These three are all members of the Dimension Guardian Force and the remaining members of the escort team representing the DGF.
The three were chatting away when they passed by two Nova Corpsman, two UNSC ODSTs and a Celestial Paladin Trooper who were none other than Tazer Ral, Rhoss Drevirn, Tyler Kirby, Doran "Slammer" Dunn and Gideon Rowlands.
"Man... glad our shift is over, I'm lookin forward to getting some grub" said Tazer, his helmet off revealing his short black hair and black eyes.
"You and me dude, I've been dying of starvation back there" agreed Slammer, his helmet off revealing his buzzcut style black hair .
"Is food always on your mind Slam?" questioned Tyler, his helmet removed revealing his short dark brown hair.
"What's wrong with that? Can't fight on an empty stomach Kirby and considering that we'll also be part of the escort mission too" reasoned Slammer.
"He has a point there y'know" said Rhoss, his helmet also removed revealing his short neat light brown hair and blue eyes.
Tyler just sighed and shook his head while Gideon just shrugged as the group of five went to the mess hall.
Back with the DGF trio, they continued to walk through the halls when Masahiko bumped passed someone. That someone was what seemed like a man clad in a technician uniform composed of the typical long sleeve shirt and pants with belt, shoes, a toolbox held in his hand and a hat with the sigil of an octagram within a heptagram: one located on the front of the hat and one on the right pectoral of his shirt.
Bumping the man caused something to fall off of the toolbox and hit the floor in which the technician quickly picked up.
"Ah, sumimasen..." apologized Masahiko but he managed to take a glance of what the technician picked up before he put it away and it looked like some sort of gun.
Without turning towards Masahiko's direction, the technician tipped his hat and a slight nod signaling his acceptance of the Hiden CEO's apology before continuing on his way without a word.
Masahiko watched the technician walk away and narrowed his eyes. For some reason, he felt like there was something odd about him.
"Hey Masa, you coming with?" called out Liam who he and Len took notice of their fellow DGF member stop in place.
Without looking, Masahiko replied "You guys go on ahead... there's something I need to check out" he said.
Liam and Len looked at each other with raised eyebrows before turning back to Masahiko "Alright then, meet you back with the others" said Liam before he and Len walked the other way while Masahiko went and followed the technician.
(Insert Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep OST – The Promised Beginning)
Later, we see the Lancaster twins accompanied by Drew, Koto, Daisy and Richard walking down the halls of the temple fortress, the celestial paladin captain leading the way.
They went through an exit where they saw a path that led to a huge majestic looking medieval castle style temple that looked like it came from out of a mix of fantasy and sci-fi. It was surrounded by six towers which had what looked like cannons on them and at the entrance of the temple was the same sigil of the octagram within a heptagram but within a shield located just above the entrance.
The Lancaster twins along with Koto looked on in awe at the sight "Whoa... this is so... breath taking" said Evie.
Richard chuckled "Indeed, Caeleste Templum Terrae is a sight to behold" he said.
"By the way, I kinda only noticed this now but... what's that symbol up there? It looks the same as the ones you guys have on your armor" pointed out Evie referring to the sigil at the temple.
"Oh, that would be the symbol of the Celestial Council, they're the gods who watch over the multiverse and they're the ones in charge of deciding what action we paladins should take during a time of crisis" Richard explained.
"I see..." nodded Kite "So, they're like the higher ups of the Celestial Paladins?" he assumed.
"They're pretty much also the higher ups of the higher ups of the CNPA Kite" clarified Drew much to the twins awe and surprise.
"Whoa..." said Evie.
Richard chuckled in amusement "Alright then, come along now, I'll take you to the vault" he said as he and the rest of the group proceeded inside.
The group walked along the halls of the temple as they passed by several hallways that led to different rooms. Along the way, they passed by some people both male and female garbed in white and cyan priest-like robes that came from straight out fantasy and they bore the same sigil the Celestial Paladins had either on the front or back of their robes or even in other areas of their robes.
"Who're those people we passed by?" asked Koto after taking notice of the robed men and women they passed.
"Those were celestial priests and priestesses" replied Richard much to Koto and the twins' surprise.
"Whoa... I've heard about the celestial paladins and priests but this is the first time seeing the latter!" said Evie in surprise as she watched the priests and priestesses walk away from their view.
"Well, most of the Celestial Priests are trained here in the temple along with new paladin apprentices" explained Richard "And it's also where they study and gather information on encounters we'll face in other dimensions" he added.
"Hmm... impressive" said Kite.
"Do the priests have different classes as well?" asked Evie.
"Indeed they do" nodded Richard "But unlike us paladins, priests have more than three different classes to choose from but only after graduating from their apprenticeship can they choose and unfortunately, I'm not an expert at explaining that, you'll need a priest to explain the different classes" he said as the group continued to walk down the halls.
The group continued to walk until they came passing by a balcony where they stopped to watch a large group of Celestial Paladins in training also known as Squire Paladins practicing different swordswings. They were clad in white and cyan shirts, gray trousers with belts, black fingerless gloves, black training boots and silver training armor composed of shoulder armor, chest armor, elbow armor, bracers and greaves.
Overseeing them was a tall middle aged man with short messy slicked back red hair, fair skin, burly muscular build, a Dutch style beard and dark eyes. he's clad in the same dark gray and cyan skinsuit as Richard but the white and silver Celestial Paladin armor he wore over it is that of the Defender Paladin variant which is composed of heavy and bulky armor which includes torso armor, shoulder pauldrons, forearm gauntlets, thigh armor, knee armor and armored boots, a white utility belt, white and silver faulds, a blue and white outlined cape with a white sigil of the Celestial Council on it and strapped to his back was a t-shaped cylinder similar to Richard's but a bit bigger and longer. This is Godfrey McGrath, another Celestial Paladin captain assigned to the fortress and an instructor to Celestial Paladins in training.
Godfrey was currently training the squire paladins by having them work on their swordswings when he took notice of his little audience. He chuckled before calling out a fellow instructor to take over for him before walking towards the balcony.
"Hey Richard, I see you're taking some guests out on a tour of this place" spoke Godfrey with a gruff and friendly voice while letting out a friendly grin.
"Ideed I am" nodded Richard.
Godfrey eyed the group "Hmm, I see a couple of familiar faces, nice to see you again Daisy, you too Drew" he greeted the Spartan and Celestial Champion "Glad to see you too as well Godfrey" greeted back Drew while Daisy nodded in response.
Godfrey then turned to Koto and the Lancaster twins "And I see some new faces here" he said.
"This is Koto, he's a new addition to the DGF and Kite and Evie here are from the Galactic Union Police" said Drew introducing Koto and the twins as Koto and the twins nodded in greeting.
Godfrey let out a hearty laugh "Glad to have some new blood join the alliance, I'm Godfrey McGrath, I'm one of the Paladin captains assigned to this base and as well as an instructor here" he said introducing himself "I assume this is your first time here?" he asked.
"Yes, it is sir" replied Kite "Captain Griffin's showing us around before starting our mission to escort some prisoners to another location later" he said.
"Oh~? So you're part of the escort group Drew and Daisy's teams are gonna partake in then" said Godfrey before letting out a hearty laugh "Well then, good luck out there transferring the prisoners, you're gonna need it!" he said.
"Thanks for advice captain McGrath sir" said Evie with a smile.
"Haha! It's nothin, see you kids around then" said Godfrey giving a two finger salute before returning to instructing his squires and with that, the group proceeded to move forward towards their destination.
(Switch to Superior Defender Gundam Force OST - Sayla Desuno)
Meanwhile, we enter a classroom where a group of Celestial Priest/Priestess in training called Priest Apprentices were attending a class.
Among the apprentices was one priestess apprentice. She was a young petite teenage woman about 16 years old with long blonde hair with a small portion of it held in a small ponytail by a cyan colored ribbon bow, fair skin, ample bust despite her petite frame and green eyes. She's currently wearing white and gray robes with long sleeves and white shoes. This is Dorothy Rowlands, Gideon's younger sister and an aspiring priestess in training. Currently this is her final year of training before graduating from her status as an apprentice celestial priestess.
Teaching her and her classmates was a young woman in her mid-30s with long blonde hair with the lower part of her hair held in a ponytail, fair skin, an hourglass figure, medium curvy bust and gray eyes. She's clad in white and cyan nun themed robes with a pendant of the celestial council around her neck and a white and cyan nun's veil on her head. This is Amelia Calliwell a Celestial Priestess and Dorothy's homeroom teacher.
"To become a celestial priest, one must devote themselves in the faith and beliefs of the celestial gods, for they grant us the power of their miracles to protect others and as well as support our fellow allies and companions" Amelia discussed while the class listened "Once you graduate ascending to priesthood you'll be able to decide what kind of priest you want to be for a celestial priest has five individual subclasses" she said as the class listened eagerly to learn about the different subclasses they can choose from once they become full fledged priests and priestesses.
"First are the Holy Warriors, specializing in weapon and enhancement combat, capable of using a variety of different weapons from blades to polearms and to even flexible weapons such as whips and the miracles they are granted give them the ability to enforce the power of their weapons and as well as their body endurance enhancing their effectiveness against strong and large foes such as trolls and ogres" explained Amelia as some of the apprentices took notes specifically those interested in this class.
"Next comes the Fighters, specializing in martial arts, fighting their enemies upclose and personal. Most holy fighters would use their legs and bare hands to fight but there are some who'd use daggers, knives or even knuckle dusters and even attach metal greaves on their legs to make their kicking power more effective. The miracles granted to them are the ability to inscribe runes onto their limbs enhancing the power of their strikes on their opponents. This is considered compensation to those who use only their hands and feet to fight against their opponents" some apprentices who prefer fighting upclose grinned at this.
"Third is the Magus class, they are the spellcasters capable of wielding a variety of spells similarly to wizards. The main weapon for this class is either a wand, a sceptor or a staff and the miracles granted to them allow them to imbue some of their spells with holy energy making them effective against enemies who are of the wicked and unholy. This class specializes in long range combat making them an easy target for enemies who attack upclose which is why it's important for those who choose this class to learn a bit of self-defense close combat or wield a secondary weapon that's easy to use when defending against such enemies or you can even learn how to fight using staff martial arts which is highly recommended to staff and scepter users but it still doesn't hurt to carry a backup weapon just in case" explained Amelia as those who were interested in this class took note of that.
"The next class is the one I'm categorized in, the Sage class which is considered the most important class among the five priest subclasses" said Amelia as this got Dorothy's attention "Although similar to Magus, Sages are capable of casting mostly support and healing spells and the staff or scepter is the most efficient tool to use and the miracles granted to this class are the ability to protect allies by creating barriers and the ability to purify tainted and ill ailments. Just like the Magus, Sages are also easy targets so it's also important for sages to learn self-defense or carry a backup weapon in their person or even learn how to fight using their staff or scepter" said Amelia.
Dorothy perked up at this for she's interested in being able to use the ability to heal and protect others once she ascends to priesthood.
"And finally the fifth class, the Mystic which is considered the most versatile class among the five classes" said Amelia as the class listened "The Mystics are considered a hybrid type of class, wielding abilities that of fighters and sages and are masters of the sword. They're the most agile and the miracles granted to them allow them to enhance their speed, reflexes, reaction time, a sixth sense allowing them to sense one's surroundings and others' intentions and also the power of foresight and precognition" explained Amelia as some who were interested in this class took notes.
Among those interested in this priest subclass was another priestess apprentice who sat next to Dorothy. She had long platinum blonde hair held in twintails, fair skin, slim build, medium bust and hazel brown eyes. Just like the rest of her classmates and Dorothy, she was wearing the standard apprentice attire composed of white and gray robes with long sleeves and white shoes. This is Alison Richfield Dorothy's best friend.
"Each subclass is unique but what they all have a lot in common is that their power is bestowed upon us by the celestial gods and it is our faith and devotion to our gods that allow us to utilize these miracles to protect others" explained Amelia "But remember, it is not just our devotion and faith to the gods that give us power, it is our will, determination and trust among ourselves that allow us to persevere and protect those who we love" she said as the whole class took those words to heart.
Just then, the sound of a bell ringing was heard signaling the end of the class "That would be all for today everyone, remember to turn in your assignments by the end of the week" said Amelia "And remember, May the Celestial Powers guide you" she said.
"May the Celestial Powers guide you" repeated the class before proceeding to fix their things and got ready to leave.
The priest apprentices exited the classroom and went to different directions either to go get some lunch, hangout in different locations or do some homework.
Dorothy and Alison were walking side by side as they walked through the halls "Sister Amelia's class today sure was interesting wasn't it Ali?" spoke the former starting some small talk.
"Indeed it was" said Alison in agreement "considering that this is our final year and graduation's just a couple months away, learning about the different priest subclasses will give us a head start to consider which is suited for us" she said "And not to brag but I already know what I'm going for" she said.
"Really?" asked Dorothy.
"Indeed~" said Alison with a confident smirk "I shall be a Mystic Priestess" she declared proudly "Not to brag but my family has long since been familiar with the art of fencing and considering the benefits the Mystic class has together with my family's traditional fencing skills, I'll be a force to be reckoned with, allowing me to purge all that is evil! Ah~ha! Ha! Ha~!" she gloated with a haughty laugh making Dorothy chuckle nervously with an awkward smile.
"What about you Dorothy?" said Alison turning to her best friend "What class will you choose?" she asked.
"Hmm..." hummed Dorothy in thought as she put a finger to her chin "Well, I was thinking of becoming a Sage Priestess" she said "I don't like fighting but... I want to be of help to everyone by protecting them and heal their injuries" she said.
Alison sighed heavily at her best friend "Again with that pacifism of yours, I know you don't like fighting but it doesn't hurt to learn how to defend yourself" she said "It's alright if you don't want to fight but remember what sister Amelia said, you're an easy target to enemies if you don't learn self-defense and there are a lot of enemies who don't listen to reason especially if some of them are either zealots, mindless beast or even insane people" she told her "Heck, there are even sick scum who'd do unspeakable things to you" she added with a shiver, making her best friend shiver as well at the thought.
Dorothy sighed "I know... I just can't stand hurting other people and it makes me feel sorry for them" she said.
Alison scoffed "The only people you should feel sorry for are those who fall victim to those who've done wrong all for their sick and twisted ambitions and desires" she said.
Dorothy sighed "I guess you're right..." she said as the two priestess apprentices continued to walk until they entered another hallway with a number of personnel walking around going on about their day either Squire Paladins, Celestial Paladins, Celestial Priests, Priest Apprentices, etc.
The two turned to their right and continued on their way. Along the way, they walked passed a certain group who were walking the opposite direction as them. For a moment, Dorothy and Alison glanced at the group and the same went for Evie Lancaster and Koto Kobayashi before walking passed each other.
The two priestess apprentices stopped in their tracks to glace a bit more at the group who continued on their way.
"Wonder who those people with Captain Griffin are?" wondered Dorothy.
"Probably members from the Celestial Nexus Patrol Alliance" said Alison with a shrug "Let's go then" she said before continuing on her way. Dorothy took one last glance at the retreating group before following her best friend.
With Captain Griffin's group, Evie continued to glance at the Celestial Priestess apprentices while she continued to walk "Something wrong Evie?" asked Kite.
Evie snapped out of it before turning to her brother "It's nothing" she said. Her brother raised an eyebrow before shrugging it off. Koto continued to stare at the same direction as Evie before deciding to shrug it off for now as the group continued forward.
(End Soundtrack)
Later, the group entered a secluded area of the temple where they came upon a large fortified metal door which was guarded by four Paladin Troopers armed with futuristic looking M14 Rifles with white and cyan color schemes.
"Whoa... that's a big door" said Evie in awe.
"Is this the entrance to the vault?" asked Kite.
"Indeed it is" nodded Richard before he approached one of the paladin trooper guards "Trooper, open the vault" he told him.
The trooper glanced at the group behind Captain Griffin before turning back to the Paladin Captain "Sir, with all due respect, with the recent attempt at the vault being breached, we can't allow anyone inside the vault until further notice" the trooper told him.
"Rest assured, I'll take full responsibility, I'm only going to show them around and I'll be sure to keep an eye on them" he told the trooper in assurance.
The paladin trooper turned to his fellow troopers who just shrugged before sighing "At once captain" he said before going to an access panel where he input a code on it.
The panel then asked for an ID scan as the paladin trooper turned to Richard "Your ID captain" he said.
Richard nodded before handing over his ID amulet and the paladin trooper scanned it on the panel. The panel analyzed it before it said "Access Granted" and a series of clicks and rattles were heard as the fortified doors opened sidewards.
After getting his ID back, Richard thanked the paladin trooper before the latter and his fellow troopers stepped aside allowing the paladin captain and his group to enter the vault.
(Insert Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep OST - Keyblade Graveyard)
Upon entering, the group found themselves walking through what looks like a tunnel that's about big enough to fit a car or a truck and it was lit up by a trail of white lights as the group continued onward.
"Whoa... does this tunnel lead to whatever's inside the vault?" asked Evie her voice echoing as she looked around the tunnel they were walking through.
"Indeed" nodded Richard as he continued to lead the group forward until they came upon another fortified door. He took his amulet ID and scanned it to the access panel on the right side of the door and a series of clicks and loud cranking was heard and the door slowly split into two revealing it to be double doors as it opened sideways.
When it fully opened, the group was met with a sight to behold. It was a great hall filled with hundreds upon thousands of otherworldly relics and artifacts of different shapes and sizes from pieces of modern, advanced and ancient technology to mystical items such as talismans, amulets and chests to weapons either mystical or of advanced technology, some of them were in pedestals and all of them were securely contained within impenetrable energy cases.
Kite, Evie and Koto looked on in awe speechless with the former of the three keeping his composure but was left in awe nonetheless while Daisy and Drew were indifferent for this wasn't the first time they've been here, although Drew let out a smirk upon seeing Koto's awed expression and Richard merely chuckled at the three's awe.
"Whoa... are all of these... the artifacts you mentioned?" asked Evie with stars in her eyes upon seeing the numerous relics she saw.
"Indeed they are..." nodded Richard "These... are many of a few thousands of powerful relics and artifacts that ever existed in the multiverse, some from ancient times, some from modern times, some from advanced civilizations and some from places of both divine and unholy" he said "Most of them were gathered and retrieved from various parallel dimensions by either us paladins, celestial champions or even the celestial gods themselves and are brought here or the other celestial temples chosen to safeguard these relics" he explained.
"Why would you take these artifacts from their respective dimensions and keep them here?" asked Koto curiously looking around eyeing the relics while he and the group walked through the vault.
"For several reasons" said Richard "As I mentioned before, some of these artifacts can be considered dangerous if left unchecked" he said "And some of these artifacts can manipulate one's mind or soul through their dark desires and ambitions corrupting them slowly" he explained "Another reason why we retrieve them is that there are some cases where a relic would survive getting destroyed and is left lying on the ground waiting to be picked up by someone who's unaware of the dangers it possesses" he said grimly.
"Ryjack tried to get inside this vault so that he could take all of these artifacts right?" asked Evie as she and the group continued to walk through the vault eyeing each and every relic they passed "Are they really that powerful?" she questioned.
"Powerful and dangerous" said Daisy "There's no telling what dangers they could hold if not used properly and not only that, rumor has it that some of these relics are considered uncontrollable to any mortal being in existence" she said "Us Spartans had our fair share of stumbling onto ancient relics and unknown technology either of ancient advanced civilizations and even from other dimensions, the latter being a rare occurrence" she explained.
"Yeah, unknown tech or artifacts from other worlds ending up in another world is quite rare and the possibility of ending up in the wrong hands could spell a threat to not only one world but other worlds as well, even the very existence of the multiverse" said Drew as Evie became wary upon hearing that and the same went for Koto who was sweating nervously while Kite narrowed his eyes silently humming.
"Which is why we retrieve them and place them in a safe location hidden from the entirety of the multiverse" said Richard as the group continued to walk, passing by more relics.
Among the relics they passed were eight items inside four separate energy cases.
Inside the first case was what looked like a watch that was about the size of one's palm, it had a bronze color scheme with a black dial ring and a black top button, at the center of the watch was what looked like a face of some mask facing sideways while at the top area was a sigil of katakana kanji symbols for the word "Kamen" styled in a unique design while below were digital watch numbers labeled as "0000". This was the Barlckxs Ridewatch. Placed next to it being the second item was a buckle-like device that resembled the Mirai Driver, only the part resembling the digital watch was white with the same "Kamen" sigil at the bottom, the part shaped like a trapizoid being a greenish color, a silver button, a screen with lines for digital clock numbers to light up and four corners at the watch being red, blue, orange and green. This was the Ziku Driver.
Inside the second case was a black and yellow buckle-like device with hints of red and a cover with a purple and black frame, transparent center with red crack-like designs, an upside down trapezoid piece with a silver frame and white center and a red crank at the top left corner of the cover. This was the Eden Driver. Placed next to it was what looked like a device resembling a progrise or zetsumerise key but with a jagged wing-like part at the left side with a red button at the top, a transparent purple color scheme with transparent purple and metallic magenta colored cover with a design of a person with his hand raised in front of him. This was the Eden Zetsumerise Key.
Inside the third case was a black and silver buckle-like device with a black and yellow knife at the left side, a pentagon shaped slot with a silver ring above it at the center and at the left side was a black and red detachable slot-like component with a similar silver ring above attached to the left side. This was the Sengoku Driver and the component attached to the right side of it was called the Genesis Core. Placed next to it were two items that looked similar to each other, both resembled locks with silver bodies and black shackles. One of the locks had a black button that resembled a switch and it had a cover shaped like some kind of red melon with a label that said "L.S.-MESSIAH" while the other lock had a black button smaller than the other lock with a cover shaped like a red colored orange with a green leaf at the top and black vine-like designs and it was labeled as "L.S.-07". These were the Zakuro and Blood Orange Lockseeds respectively.
And finally placed inside the fourth and last case was what looked like a big thick metallic mechanical book of some kind with a silver body and a red cover with silver arrow-like designs at the top corners of the cover, red designs on other parts of the cover and at the center was a picture of what seems to be a tower of some kind and a sword stuck to the ground next to it. this was the Omni Force Wonder Ride Book.
The group continued to look around the vault examining each and every relic they came upon, each looking either intriguing, unique, mysterious or even creepy looking.
Evie then took notice of one of the energy cases and inside it was what looked like a pentagon shaped high-tech looking chest with two transparent lids on it. She approached it and when she took a look, she took a step back slightly startled before frowning in disgust.
Inside the chest, it was filled to the brim with clusters of living slime-like organisms with a number of mumps on them and they glowed a luminescent pink with some dark violet vein-like structures on them.
"Ugh... what in the name... are these things?" questioned Evie in disgust and that got everyone's attention as they gathered around her and immediately, Koto got grossed out as his face turned slightly green while Kite frowned in equal disgust while the rest were unfazed.
"Those... would be Sporix" said Drew.
"Huh?" said Evie turning to Drew with a raised eyebrow "What are Sporix?" she asked.
"Remember the enemy Solon and her people fought against together with the human nation back on her home planet long ago?" asked Drew receiving a nod from the space forensic scientist "Well… you're looking at them now" he revealed shocking Evie with wide eyes.
"What?!" exclaimed Evie turning turning back to the chest of Sporix in shock "These things are the enemy Solon talked about?!" she said in disbelief "How can that be?! They're so… so…" she said trying to find the right word.
"Small?" said Kite finishing Evie's sentence "Well, looks can be deceiving and whatever these things did, they must've been enough for Solon's people and the human nation to put their differences aside and unite against these things" he said receiving a nod of understanding from his twin sister.
"Indeed they are" nodded Drew looking at the crate "From what I heard, originally, they were kept secured inside a vault somewhere in Solon's home planet until someone attempted to steal it so that they could use it for some diabolical schemes, luckily it was stopped" he explained "So it was agreed that the Sporix would be handed over to the CNPA and transferred here where no one will know where it is" he said.
"I see" nodded Evie looking at the sporix as they were moving inside the chest making her shiver "Still... I find these things gross upclose" she said.
"Yeah, you get used to it" said Drew.
"Easier said than done" said Koto still grossed out by the appearance of the Sporix.
The group then proceeded to move forward as Richard continued to show them artifact after artifact. They walked deeper into the vault until they came upon a heavily reinforced door.
Richard stopped in front of the door before turning to everyone else "This... is where the most dangerous artifacts are being kept" he told them.
"The most dangerous ones..." repeated Koto and Evie.
"Are there a lot of them?" asked Kite.
"Not a lot" said Richard shaking his head "There were indeed hundreds of thousands of artifacts and relics that were categorized as an extreme threat level, so they were divided into small amounts of three to seven and were placed in separate temples such as this one" he said as he turned back to the door "Temple Fortress Alpha is housing three of these artifacts" he said before going to the door's access panel "And I'll show them to you but please... keep this between us" he said as Koto and the Lancaster twins nodded in understanding before Richard input a code onto the panel and scanned his ID amulet and a series of buzzes and clicks and as well as hums were heard before the door opened.
Richard was the first to enter the inside before the rest followed. Everyone with the exception of Daisy and Richard looked on in awe at the artifacts in front of them.
The first artifact that stood on the left side of the room was what looked like a bizarre looking statue of some sort. It had an intricate design of some sort but what details it had were a pair of crossed arms, an eye in the part where a head was supposed to be, tentacle-like protrusions on the sides of the statue and below the arms at the center of the statue was a blue crystal with a square shaped glyph with an intricate design.
The second artifact which was placed on a pedestal to the right was what looked like a black stamp with an intricate design similar to the statue with a hook at the top and the bottom being silver with the same glyph at said bottom where the stamp is and it was glowing a red pulsing light.
And the third and last artifact which was also on a pedastal at the center was what looked like a book. It was black and gray and thick backed with several pages and it had runes inscribed on each corner, it also had a lock with a key chained to it and the most intriguing detail about it was that it had a bronze colored symbol of the necronomicon at the center of the cover.
The group separated and examined each artifact. Kite and Daisy examined the statue, Koto and Drew the Stamp and Evie had her attention mostly at the book. Richard on the other hand stood by ready to answer some questions they might have.
"Hmm... what is this statue?" asked Kite "It looks kind of..."
"Strange" said Daisy finishing Kite's sentence for him.
"Strange is kind of putting it lightly, I was gonna go for unsettling" said Kite.
"Well... to put it mildly, the statue is actually a sarcophagus, in other words a coffin" answered Richard shocking everyone minus Drew for some reason.
"A coffin?" said Koto with wide eyes turning to the statue "What could be inside that coffin?" he questioned.
"That would be a demon" answered Drew getting everyone's attention as they turned to the Dimension Guardian in shock, although Evie was still glued to the book, she listened and she too was shocked.
"Wait... there's a demon inside this thing?" asked Kite in shock and surprise but kept his composure.
"Apparently, yes" nodded Drew.
"It seems you know about this thing" commented Richard "I heard some things about it" said Drew "From what I heard, the name of the demon sealed inside the coffin is called Giff" he said "And this thing..." he said turning to the stamp which continued to glow a red light at the bottom fading in and out "Is called the Giff Stamp and it allows one to form contracts with a demon" he explained.
Koto looked at the stamp warily "Did you say... form... a contract with a demon?" he questioned sweating nervously.
"How does that work?" asked Kite.
"I don't know the specific details but..." trailed off Drew staring at the stamp "If you get yourself stamped with that, your inner demon will be unleashed" he said.
"Inner demon?" questioned Daisy with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, speaking in a figurative sense, everyone has an inner demon lurking inside them, specifically their deepest darkest desires, some that even the most kind hearted and innocent of people are unaware or ignorant of" Drew explained "And the stamp right here can release that inner demon allowing it to take physical form and maybe even cause havoc" he said.
"I see" nodded Kite and Daisy nodded as well in understanding, Koto gulped upon hearing that as he glanced at the stamp and the coffin warily. Evie on the other hand just listened as she shivered at the thought of her inner demon being unleashed onto the world and cause chaos.
Richard just hummed impressed that Drew knew such information about the coffin and stamp.
"Uh... Senpai, if I may ask... are the coffin and stamp connected somehow?" asked Koto.
"Yes" nodded Drew "All I know is that the stamp is one of the key components needed to reviving Giff from his slumber" he said.
"Oh... I see" nodded Koto deciding to leave it at that for now.
Kite then turned to his sister who kept her gaze at the book as she hummed in wonder "Evie, is there something about that book that somehow peaked your curiousity?" the space sheriff asked his space forensic scientist sister as everyone else turned to her.
"I'm just wondering..." she said as she diverted her gaze on the book and turned to the celestial paladin captain "What kind of book is this?" she asked.
Richard turned to the book and stared at it for awhile before taking a deep breath "That... is the Magnus Liber Mortuorum" he said "Also known... as the Grand Book of the Dead" he told them.
"Grand book of the dead?" repeated everyone but Daisy who just stayed silent.
"Yes" nodded Richard as he approached the book "This artifact is considered the most dangerous one of all and it is also categorized as a forbidden artifact" he said.
"Forbidden?" said Koto and Evie.
Richard nodded "This book... has the ability to bring back anyone from the dead" he explained.
"It can bring back anyone?" said Kite with a raised eyebrow.
"Anyone..." nodded Richard "From your dearest of friends and loved ones... to your most despised of enemies..." he said "And it's not limited to just sentient life, it can bring back any creature whether if it's man, machine, alien or demi-human" he said "And the only good thing about it... is that you can do it... without the need for finding a medium... or a sacrifice" he explained.
"Wait... so... you can bring back anyone from the dead without the need for some memento that belonged to whoever you'll bring back?" asked Drew in confusion.
"Yes" replied Richard.
"Or without offering some sacrifice in exchange for resurrecting someone?" asked Kite "Or even a vessel for the spirit to inhabit?" added Evie.
"Yes" nodded Richard "This book... is a one of a kind" he said looking at it.
"How's it even possible for a book like that to exist? Being able to revive anyone from the dead out of thin air and all?" questioned Koto slightly perplexed.
"Well, your answer is as good as mine, even the higher ups aren't being told of such classified information with the exception of a few" said Richard with a shrug.
"Do the Celestial Gods know?" asked Evie.
"Yes… considering that they were the ones who obtained this book in the first place and entrusted its secret to a few trusted" said Richard.
There was a long moment of silence allowing everyone to process this set of information before it was broken by Richard "Well… I believe we've been here long enough don't you think?" he said.
"Yeah… I think you're right" said Kite deciding to leave it at that while looking at the time on his watch "There's about thirty minutes left until it's time to transport the prisoners to another location" he said.
"Then let's be on our way then" said Daisy and everyone nodded in agreement before exiting the chamber which housed the three dangerous artifacts before Richard closed it off. The group then exited the vault and were on their way.
Little did they know, something big was about to happen.
(End Soundtrack)
Meanwhile, we go to Temple Fortress Alpha Control which is the temple fortress' main hub of security and communication. It was a room filled with control consoles and monitor screens plus, four windows showing the outside of the base. Those in the room were in charge or monitoring the happenings of the fortress, both in and out and even off-planet and maintains security at the base and they're also in charge of who goes in and out of the fortress.
Currently, there were about four control officers manning the control consoles, they were monitoring security and as well as schedules for the day when they heard the door to the room slide open.
One of the officers turned to who entered and saw that it was a man clad in technician uniform.
The officer raised an eyebrow and turned to his fellow officers "Uh, did someone call for maintenance?" he asked.
The other officers looked at each other and shook their heads "I didn't call for any maintenance" said one of the three.
"Niether did I" said the other while the fourth officer just simply shook his head.
The first officer turned back to the technician "Sorry, but unless requested, you're not authorized to enter here" he told him but the technician stayed silent.
The control officer raised an eyebrow before taking notice of something "Wait a minute... I've never seen you around here before" he said before he stood up from his seat and walked towards the technician "What's your ID code?" he questioned approaching him.
The technician continued to stay silent before he reached for something on his toolbox.
Just when he was inches away from the technician, the officer stopped in his tracks and froze in shock upon seeing the technician pull out what looked like a futuristic looking Walther P38 Pistol with a black color scheme and neon violet lights at him.
"What the-?!"
*BZEW! BZEW! BZEW!*
Before the officer could even process what was happening, the technician shot him dead with his gun, the officer falling limp on the floor.
The remaining officers looked on in shock at what happened to their fellow officer. They had no time to react though as the technician quickly dispatched the remaining three, shooting them with violet lasers from his gun, each one shot dead upon hitting the floor.
After taking care of the obstacles, the technician approached one of the control consoles and pressed a few buttons and switches, searching through the computer until he found what he was looking for, it was access to the temple fortress' signal jammer.
The technician smirked before inputting a few codes here and there until a notification appeared depicting that the signal jammer was disabled.
The technician rolled up his wrist revealing a wrist mounted communication device as he activated it "Kapitän, zis iz Schatten, I have dizabled ze signal jammer of ze base, I'll dizable ze cloaking shield shortly and ze attack can commence" spoke the technician into the communicator with a German accent.
"Vell done comrade, ve avait ze signal" replied a voice from the communicator.
"Ja Kapitän" spoke Schatten before he hung up and proceeded to deactivate the cloaking device that hides the fortress. He then heard a groan and turned to the source and saw that one of the officers was still alive and was attempting to escape.
The officer was struggling to crawl in an attempt to escape when a foot stepped on his back pinning him to the ground causing him to yelp in pain.
"Huh... How careless ov me... I mizzed vone" said Schatten nonchalantly while pointing his gun at the officer much to the latter's horror.
"Oi! Chotto matte!" exclaimed a voice.
"Vhat?" said Schatten taken off-guard when he turned to his left only to receive a punch to the right side of his face. This caused him to stagger back and hit the console behind him.
Schatten groaned and shook his head getting out of his daze and saw his attacker and it was none other than Masahiko Hiden in a combat ready stance while the injured officer managed to escape and went behind him.
"I knew there was something off about you the moment I saw that gun of yours" he said with narrowed eyes.
Schatten scowled at that "Vell, I guess zhat means I ave to be more careful, ja?" he said as he pointed his gun at Masahiko only for the Dimension Guardian to quickly lunge and smacked his opponent's arm which held the gun causing him to misfire before wrestling each other until the latter disarmed the former.
The two went on a full on fist to fist fight exchanging blows with one another. Masahiko threw a few punches at Schatten only to be blocked by him, Schatten threw his own punch only for Masahiko to dodge and retaliated with a spin kick hitting him on the stomach causing him to stagger back and hit the console behind him stunning him in the process while his hat fell to the floor.
Schatten groaned before he reached for something in his person only for Masahiko to grab him by the hems of his shirt and was slammed against the wall "You're not one of the maintenance staff are you? What are you planning?!" demanded the CEO of Hiden intelligence.
Schatten merely chuckled confusing him "It'z already too late..." he told him while glancing to the side. Masahiko raised an eyebrow in confusion before following Schatten's gaze and saw that the console that the former staggered into started to short circuit before it exploded, destroying it.
"Oh no!" exclaimed the surviving Control Officer who went to the damaged console. He approached one of the other remaining functioning consoles and checked for any problems "No,no,no,no,no!" exclaimed the officer in panic "What's wrong?" asked Masahiko while keeping Schatten restrained.
"The base's signal jammer's been deactivated and the same goes for the cloaking shield! Temple Fortress Alpha's been exposed!" exclaimed the officer.
"Nani?!" exclaimed Masahiko in shock with wide eyes "Can you put it back online?" he questioned the officer.
"I'm trying to gain access but I can't! The system's been compromised for some reason" said the officer much to Masahiko's shock.
This distraction allowed Schatten to break free from Masahiko's grip and send a kick to the stomach, causing him to stagger. The technician imposter pulled out some kind of detonator and activated it. Suddenly, a huge tremor occurred along with the sound of an explosion followed.
Moments prior...
Outside, everything in Temple Fortress Alpha was going on like normal when all of a sudden, a huge chain of explosions occurred around the fortress area shaking the whole base.
In Hangar 7 where the Grand Birth was docked, we see another ship docked next to said mothership. It was a Defender-class Light Corvette called the Gaisoul Voyager. It had a purple and silver color scheme and a gray sigil of a tyrannosaurus head with a black thunderbolt-like sigil on it located on the top right of the ship's wings.
Inside the ship, we see Solon accompanied by a group of humanoids.
The humanoids had black bodies and were clad in armor composed of a silver light chestplate with brown leather straps, two circular pieces on either side of the chestplate with black and white checkered rings, silver shoulder armor with a black and white checkered outline and brown straps, brown belt with square shaped white and black checkered and gold outlined buckle, brown and gold outlined boots, brown and outlined gloves, white and black checkered and gold outlined heater shield mounted on their backs, silver morion style helmets with a gold top and black and white checkered rings on either side, silver masks with an intricate design and finally, the same tyrannosaurus sigil in the middle of their chestplates but with the tyrannosaurus head being silver, a red eye and the thunderbolt sigil being gold. These humanoids were called Hengemen.
Solon was doing maintenance on the ship's functions together with the Hengemen when they all felt the whole place shake along with the sound of muffled explosions.
"Oh dear... that doesn't sound good at all" she said warily.
At the mess hall, the whole place shook as the explosions were heard.
"What the?! What was that?!" exclaimed Tazer standing up from his seat after hearing the explosion as he along with Rhoss, Tyler, Slammer and Gideon looked around and the same went for Wade, Seitaro and Teddy from their table and everyone else present in the mess hall started to murmur at the loud sound.
"Crikey! That sounded like an explosion!" exclaimed Wade in alarm.
"But from where?" questioned Seitaro.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." uttered out Gideon.
Somewhere in the halls, Liam and Len felt the slight tremor and heard the explosion. The two became alert upon hearing the latter.
"We gotta get back to the others!" said Liam.
"What about Masa?" asked Len.
"He'll catch up with us soon" assured Liam "Let's go!" and with that, the two Dimension Guardians ran off to regroup with their team.
Inside the temple, at the training grounds, Captain Godfrey's training session with his squires was abruptly halted when the explosion occurred causing a slight tremor.
"What was that?" wondered Godfrey looking around the place in high alert with narrowed eyes.
At the same time, in several halls of the temple, several paladin squires and priest apprentices looked on warily about the sudden tremor and explosion.
"By the Celestial Gods..." uttered out Amelia maintaining her balance from the tremor.
"Sister Amelia, are we under attack?" asked an apprentice priestess in worry.
"I don't know" said Amelia shaking her head in uncertainty "Let's just pray that nothing terrible will happen" she said holding her hands in prayer.
"Hear me o merciful gods of the celestials... please bless us with your divine protection..." uttered out Dorothy in prayer as she was with Alison were in another hall and the former was worried for what might happen.
With Captain Richard, the Lancaster twins, Drew, Koto and Daisy, the group were walking down another hallway when they felt the tremor and also heard the loud explosion.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Koto in alarm.
"Not a good sign, that I could tell much" said Drew while the twins looked at each other in concern.
The sound of the explosion along with the tremors reached the brig as well as those who were guarding Scrozzle and Ryjack were alarmed.
"What in the name? Was that an explosion?!" spoke a UNSC Marine who along with another marine was guarding Ryjack.
"I don't like the sound of that" said A Nova Corpsman guarding Scrozzle along with another one.
While Scrozzle was confused by whatever's happening, Ryjack on the other hand just sat silently while letting out an unseen smirk "Looks like the party's abou ta started" he muttered out as if he anticipated what just happened.
Back at Temple Fortress Alpha control, the control officer hastily tapped on the console to check for damage report.
"No..." uttered out the officer rapidly pressing every button on the console "The base's auto defense systems have been hit! Same goes for the weapons depot where all our heavy weaponry's being stored!" he said "And the long range dimensional communications array has been destroyed!" he added.
Masahiko heard the damage report and just stood there in shock. That shock was stopped when he heard a yell and turned just in time to dodge a knife swing from Schatten. He dodged another knife swing again and caught Schatten's next one and disarmed him of his weapon before sending a hard kick to the stomach making him fall to the floor.
Schatten groaned before Masahiko grabbed him by the hems of his shirt and lifted him up slightly.
"Who the hell are you?!" demanded the Hiden CEO with an angered expression.
"I am vone ov many, chosen to return from beyond" spoke Schatten cryptically "Slay a hundred men... a hundred shall rise from the grave... heil Valhalla" and with that, he bit down hard on his teeth activating something that caused an electric spark frying his brain killing him in the process.
Masahiko looked on in shock upon seeing the man kill himself before releasing the now dead body and continued to stare.
Meanwhile the control officer removed what looked like some flashdrive from the damaged console and examined it. The flashdrive had a black insignia of a Celtic cross known as a Wheel Cross "This must've contained a virus that compromised my access to the shield and jammer" uttered the officer upon examination.
(Insert Star Wars - Clone Army Theme)
Suddenly, an alarm on one of the remaining consoles was heard as the officer quickly went to work.
"What's wrong?" asked Masahiko diverting his attention to the officer.
"It looks like something's coming from outerspace" said the officer as he viewed a screen of the outer surface of the planet and three dimensional portals appeared and what came out was a fleet of spaceships resembling WW2 German Kriegsmarine ships only futuristic and about the size of the UNSC ships composed of three destroyers, two battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers and one battleship and they all had the same insignia of the wheel cross on them.
"Oh gods..." uttered out the officer in shock "It looks like a... an invasion fleet of unknown origin!" he said
"An invasion fleet...?!" exclaimed Masahiko in shock.
Inside the bridge of the flagship of the fleet we see a group of soldiers clad in black and purple uniforms that resemble the Nazi Kriegsmarine's uniforms and black fatigue hats manning the ship's controls while standing in the middle was the captain of the ship clad in a Kriegsmarine captain's uniform in gray, black and purple and a gray coat and a gray colored peaked cap with a black brim.
The captain was currently gazing at the planet that housed the now exposed Temple Fortress Alpha before putting two fingers to his right ear revealing a communication earpiece "Mein Führer" spoke the captain into his earpiece "Ze location of our objective haz been found" he reported.
"Excellent Kapitän, prepare ze main ground forces and commence ze attack" ordered a voice from his earpiece.
"Jawhol!" replied the captain before hanging up "To all ships, prepare ground forces and commence ze attack on Temple Fortress Alpha! Heil Valhalla!" he commanded through the comms.
"HEIL VALHALLA!" replied several voices from the comm channel as the space fleet approached the planet while a large group of dropships were deployed from each and every ship present as they headed for the planet where the now exposed and vulnerable Temple Fortress Alpha and its' inhabitants awaited an invasion that they weren't prepared to face... and it could possibly result... in their apparent doom...
"Oh dear, it seems that the people of Temple Fortress Alpha has found themselves in quite the pickle don't you think?" said the voice of Nexus Lupin "I wonder what they'll do once the invasion fleet arrives? Will they survive?" he wondered.
"All of you lot will have to find out next time on the epic conclusion of this story~" he said with a chuckle.
"See you all next time... Adieu~"
Author's Notes:
Inspired by XP4Universe and Fir100
That's it for this chapter. In here,we're introduced to a bunch of new characters along with a couple of familiar faces such as Daisy-023 from Halo Legends, Teddy from Kamen Rider Den-O, Scrozzle and Ryjack from Power Rangers Beast Morphers and Solon from Power Rangers Dino Fury. Now to some of you familiar with Super Sentai and Power Rangers, I bet you're wondering about Solon's backstory in here. Well, that's something you'll have to find out in the future.
Also, I bet you saw some familiar stuff in this chapter including a certain "Coffin" and I bet you're also wondering about the book that could bring back the dead. Well, It's gonna be an important element to my story series and the backstory behind this book will be revealed some time in the future, so look forward to it so stay tuned.
Also... welcome... to the year 2023.
This is XD Warden warping out.