Chapter 3: Realizing a New World
"Two flaps on the left wing side have blown. The fire doesn't seem to be spreading." An urgent voice came over the comm. of the Gekko-Go bridge.
"Dangit…" Holland mumbled under his breath. The rest of the crew was scrambling to keep up with the chaos. Every one was there except for Jobs and Talho. "Doggie move the ship higher. We don't want them hitting the Science Facility!" Moondoggie complied and pulled back on the controls. The ship pulled up slightly and then evened out. Several red beams shot by, barely scrapping the paint.
"The total comes out to four ships. Their all armed with heavy cannons." Gidget said quickly, her hands moved across the board in mad craze.
"Great that makes about four to two and the Izumo isn't even up yet." Holland let out a short laugh.
"Attack coming in hot from the right side!" Gidget yelled. Holland looked up.
"Doggie!"
"I know!" He quickly held down on the front buttons and then pulled back diagonally. The Gekko-Go did a quick spin. Several beams shot by barely missing.
"Good work Doggie…" Holland said with a nod. Doggie on the other hand was hyperventilating.
"N-no problem." He heaved and put the ship in upright position.
"There's a channel opening to the Izumo." Woz spoke from behind them. The speakers crackled at the new connection.
"This is captain Jurgens. Most of the scientists and engineers are aboard. There is still no sign of Irik Livings yet. I suspect he'll be here soon." Holland waited a few seconds in thought.
"I see, we're coming in fast. I don't think we'll be able to distract them from you for very long. You got to get Irik Livings aboard soon." Holland face turned fierce as he spoke. Back on the Izumo, all chaos was starting to break loose. People were scrambling around to prep the ship for launch just after it landed. Jurgens was standing over a computer talking into the mike. One of his crew members was sitting down while typing away furiously at the controls.
"Ok, we're launching the KLF's. That should give you some cover for now. In the mean time we'll concentrate on finding Irik Livings." With that Jurgens shot off the comm. and let out a deep breath. "They better hurry up…" His words came out mumbled under his breath.
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Renton and Eureka could only stare in horror at the chaos. Konners face lost its sarcasm and finally went serious.
"Konner… I think this might turn out to be a bigger problem then we thought." Irik said and stopped to think about something.
"I don't want to leave the prototypes behind, and this might be our best chance. Can you get aboard the KLF you tested this morning. Go and help the Gekko-Go." Kon looked at Irik slightly surprised at his calm. He nodded and started to run, but then he stopped suddenly.
"What about you guys?" He asked with a look of confusion. Irik glanced at Renton and Eureka. He nodded and turned back to Kon.
"Don't worry, I know what to do. You just have to hurry." With shrug Kon started in a mad dash. Irik on the other hand turned around and started walking towards a door. Renton and Eureka followed him in. They entered into a deep room filled with a series of stairs. It was dimly lit with white lights, and the metal had a soft shade of blue. As that ran down, the lights got brighter. Finally they reached the bottom. Irik pulled open a small box that contained a pad. He punched in a few numbers and the door slid open. They all rushed through into a pitch black room.
"I can't see a thing." Renton's confusion was easily noticed when he spoke.
"Just give it second…" Irik replied, and as he did so the whole room came alive. All the hundreds of lights on the ceiling turned on, revealing the massive size of the facility. There were many plat forms and small stations set up. Thousands of cords led up into a large machine. For a second Renton wasn't sure what it was, until it finally clicked.
"That's an LFO." Eureka spoke first. Irik looked back and nodded.
"Yes, its been in development for almost a year now. Its original idea came from your LFO, the Nirvash. It took several days to interpret what exactly your LFO could do. And that's when we finally noticed that it could take the shape of a high speed plane." Irik started to walk forward. Renton and Eureka quickly looked at each other before following. "The thing is, it didn't matter if we new how your LFO could do it. Not all of the bodies found were able to form this shape. It was only a few weeks after the second summer of love that we found one that had a strange form. We did several studies on it until Dr. Bear came and immediately recognized the design. It hasn't been tested, and we're not sure if it's really ready to operate. I hate to admit that we have already designed some weapons for its specific use in another facility. But we don't have any boards designed for its body. You'll have to probably take on of the board from another test building." Irik was speaking quickly. He had moved over to a computer and started dabbling in random information that Renton couldn't understand. There were a few loud clanking sounds. Renton averted his eyes to see four clamps unlock from the LFO.
"Does the child have a name?" Eureka asked and looked over at Irik. Irik twisted his head in confusion and raised an eyebrow.
"Child, are you referring to the LFO? Hmmm, well, it does have a registered name of
20-bac1. Though we do have a code name for the project. We call it project Final Beginning." He pressed in a few more buttons and then nodded in satisfaction. Eureka on the other hand wasn't too pleased. She decided to keep to herself until the time was right. Irik walked forward to a table with a metallic box on top of it. He opened it and fiddled around with the inside. "Ah, here it is…" He said and pulled out a compact drive. "It doesn't have the Amita-drive, but it should do the trick for now." Walking over to Renton, he put the Amita-drive in his hands. Renton looked at it, and then at Eureka. A curious question suddenly crossed his mind.
"Irik… How old are you?" Renton asked randomly. Irik shared a small glace of surprise, but it quickly faded. 'He looks to be around my age or Eureka's… But still, I've never seen a scientist this young working on a project like this one.' The thought wondered his mind.
"Hmm, I'm fifteen." He said simply and turned around walking towards the LFO. It didn't look like he wanted to press the subject further. So Renton decided to leave it at that.
"Final Beginning… The child needs a name, it wants a proper name." Eureka said beside Renton. He shrugged and shook his head.
"I don't know, why don't you name it?" Renton suddenly sparked the idea to Eureka. She seemed slightly surprised, but then nodded and thought for a second.
"How about… Xellien?" Eureka asked and looked at Renton. He thought about it for a second and smiled.
"I like it." Eureka nodded and they both followed Irik to the LFO. They walked up a few flight of stairs to reach the cockpit. It was at that moment that they realized there were two seats.
"This is designed for two?" Renton said and looked at Irik. Irik nodded and hopped down.
"Yes, again, it's another design that we've incorporated into the Finale Beginning because of the Nirvash." Reaching down Irik grabbed hold of something and twisted it. The cockpit slid open. "It should be able to fit all three of us." He spoke with a nod. Renton got in first, Eureka sat next to him, and then Irik next to her. It wasn't as cramped as Renton thought it would be.
"Well, I'm sure the two of you are familiar with the system." Irik said and looked at the two.
"There are several controls here I don't recognize…" Eureka spoke and examined a few.
"Just don't touch them…" Irik said calmly and clicked a button on the side. The cockpit shut and they were sealed inside. "Everything should be ready… Just insert the compact and we're good to go." Irik laid back, although his face gave way to nothing. You could see something inside his eyes. A desire and anxiousness he didn't feel to exert. Renton paused for a second and then slowly plugged it in. Everything at that moment flared to life. The compact drive gave to a green glow. The control panel lit up, and a few screens turned on. The whole machine seemed to awake from a long sleep. Which Renton thought was probably true.
"Amazing…" Renton said and stroked the control panel. Eureka was smiling as well. There was even a small grin on Irik's face.
"He's happy, happy to be awake." Eureka said and looked at Renton. There was a sparkle in her Violet eyes that drove his energy. He looked forward and gripped the controls. Excitement was building inside of him, he wanted to get this thing off the ground.
"Wait… how are we going to get out of here?" This notice caught his attention. Irik reached forward and pressed a few buttons. The whole place started to shake around them.
"What going on?" Eureka asked and looked around in her confusion. Irik sat back with lazy eyes and waited. A second later the ceiling split. It spread until it was completely open, and then they started to rise. It was only a few more seconds until they were completely out in the open. The sight that caught their eyes was pure destruction. Part of the forest was on fire. Most of the buildings had been obliterated. And there were three black cruisers left flying above them.
"Where are the Gekko-go and the Izumo?" A worried look crossed Renton's face. Irik was looking around as well until he look down at a small panel with a screen. His hands quickly jabbed at a few buttons.
"Behind us." Irik said and Renton nodded. He grabbed at the controls tightly. The LFO turned around steadily. The feeling was unreal; it almost felt like being in the Nirvash again. Once the mech had completely turned around, they spotted the Izumo and Gekko-Go fending off dozens of KLF's.
"The Gekko-Go and Izumo are in perfect range. Why do you suppose the U.F. haven't destroyed them yet?" Eureka asked and pointed at the three black ships. Irik looked up and thought for a second.
"They must want them alive." He said at last and continued looking through the calculations. Eureka felt uneasy at that moment, she felt a hand grip hers. Her eyes turned to Renton who was giving another one of his confident smiles. At that moment she felt a wave of relaxation flush over her. A loud crackle of sound burst inside the cockpit. They all held their ears except for Irik.
"I got the communications working…" He mumbled with annoyance.
"Unidentified LFO, state yourself or we'll have to take you in for I.D. clearance." A professional voice came from the comm..
"Dang it... I can't make contact with the Gekko-Go or Izumo. There's some king of interference from the U.F. ships. Best I can sugge-" The LFO started to run towards the direction of the Gekko-Go. "W-what are you doing?" Irik said trying to hold on. His eyes were wide as he looked at Renton.
"Well, we got to get out of here. I think the Gekko-Go and Izumo are waiting on us. We can't leave them in this situation for forever." A look of serious expression was on Renton's face as he spoke. Irik couldn't argue about that.
"Fine, but how are we going to get on with out them landing? We don't have a wave board or anything?" Renton looked up and scratched his head.
"Hadn't really thought that one through." He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. A beeping sound rang inside the cockpit. Irik turned down to the controls.
"There are three KLF's heading this way. Their moving fast… I-I don't know what to do?" He said and looked up. Renton didn't panic, nor did Eureka. They just kept running through the forest.
"Irik, Irik is that you inside the 20-bac1" Jakes voice came over the comm.. Irik looked up in hope and clicked a few buttons.
"Yes, this is Irik speaking. Well, not exactly. At the moment Renton is piloting the LFO." Irik no longer seemed worried.
"Good, we're patching you through to the Gekko-Go. Its going to take a second sense it's encrypted between us and it alone." The comm. shut off and Irik nodded. His eyes shifted to another screen and he looked up.
"Renton, the KLF's!" He said and pointed up to three objects zooming in quickly. Renton nodded and turned the LFO. It ran forward, there wasn't much to do with out a board. They could either run, or hide. Neither seemed like a good answer. But running actually got them some where.
"Hello, Irik?" A voice that was all to familiar came from the comm.. A smile crossed Eureka's lips as she looked at Renton. He shared a quick glance and continued back to controlling the LFO.
"This is Irik, we're left stranded here with those KLF's. And this LFO has no current design to operate with any board. So all we can do is run here." He spoke firmly into the comm..
"I see, don't worry about the KLF's." Right when Holland said that, an LFO flew in and knocked two down. The third was coming in fast. "On second thought… worry" He said with little contention in his voice. Bullets started to fly from the gun of the KLF. Renton pulled on the controls desperately to avoid them. The rain of bullets only lasted a few seconds as a violet beam of light shot right through it. A soft glow of metal was flying out the back like rain.
"Ok, this is going to be a tricky move. I'm going to have you keep running, we'll try and cover you the best we can. The Gekko-Go is going to do a dip pick up. Do you know that routine?" Ken-Gos voice came in this time. Irik looked at Renton, who in turn only shook his head. Before Irik could speak, Eureka put an arm out to stop him.
"I know it, Renton, the Gekko-Go is going to come into the ground steeply. It's going to extend the catapult for us to jump into. The speed of both of us is going to be overpowering. So it has to be done just right." She looked at Renton with confidence. He let out a deep sigh and nodded. She knew he'd never heard of a move like that. But there was no doubt in her mind that he couldn't do. The Gekko-Go turned around with a deep twist. It dipped towards the ground and charged at them. Renton directed the LFO in the right direction. His breath started to quicken as he move. Eureka reached her hand out and put it on top of his. The stress in his hands slowly released. The catapult from the Gekko-Go slowly extended.
"Here we go." Irik said with uneasy nature. The LFO charged forward, and the timing was just right. Renton pulled up on the controls. The LFO leaped into the air, and the Gekko-Go scooped them up. Everything inside the cockpit shook massively as they
slammed against the catapult. It rolled against the ramp, sparks flew everywhere. The screeching sound of metal on metal burned their ears. It all stopped when they slammed
against the wall and bounced off, landing on the ground and staying still. Everything was silent after that.
"Eureka… are you ok?" He asked and looked at her. She nodded and looked over at Irik. He was holding his arm tightly.
"I think I broke something." His voice was pressured as he talked. Renton reached out to where Irik had pressed the button and opened the cockpit. When he stood up the hanger room was empty.
"I'm sure their coming, lets hurry and get you some help Irik." Renton helped Eureka up and then moved to help Irik. They all stood up and carefully walked off the LFO. It was lying on its side, deep scratches following its path. The sound of a door opening was heard behind them. They turned around to see Holland running down quickly. Once he reached them he stopped immediately.
"R-Renton… E-Eureka?" He said and looked at the two quickly. His eyes were fierce, but his confusion was overwhelming his emotions. It wasn't long until Mischa and Matthieu came running down from the door. They stopped in surprise as well. They all looked at each other, no one speaking a word for a long time… Finally Mischa stepped forward.
"What happened?" She asked and pointed at Irik. Eureka was broken from her trance. Renton and Holland were still staring at each other.
"I…I'm not sure, I think its broken." She said while shaking her head. Mischa nodded and motioned Matthieu to help her. He quickly nodded and took Irik from Renton. Renton shook his head and blinked a few times, as did Holland.
"Sorry." Renton said and rubbed his eyes. The ship shook and they all fell over.
"I'll get Irik back to the Infirmary with Matthieu's help. I suggest you return to command Holland." She said in a strange voice and they left. Renton and Eureka were left alone with Holland.
"I know this isn't the best time, but where have you been all this time?" He said emphasizing on the word time.
"We're not sure…" Renton and looked down at the ground. "It feels like nothings happened at all." Eureka took a step forward.
"What happened to my children?" She asked Holland. He moved his eyes slowly from Renton to her. For a second he just stared and then shook his head.
"Sorry, ummm… Their with Renton's grandfather and safe, from everything that is going on." Eureka let out a breath of air she was holding in. A small smile spread across her face as she nodded.
"My grandpa took them in?" Renton laughed and shook his head. "Only another thing I owe the old geezer." Holland looked between the two and turned around.
"There are a lot of questions I have for the two of you. But now isn't the time." Another attack rocked the ship almost knocking them over. "We can't use you right now. All I can say is go to your rooms and rest. We'll talk later." With that he gave them a calming smile. Then he ran up the stairs and out the room. Eureka and Renton were left alone once again.
"I wish there was something we could do." Eureka spoke softly. Renton nodded, wanting the same thing. For few moments they stood there saying nothing. Constant booms of attacks rang outside the ship. Finally Renton took her hand and started to walk forward. She gingerly held on and followed behind. They walked for a while until they reached her room. Once they stepped inside, they only saw an empty space. Eureka looked into it uncomfortably.
"What's wrong?" Renton asked looking at her carefully. She looked at him and then broke eye contact.
"This room scares me. It doesn't feel right with out…them." Renton felt something inside him twist. He knew she meant the kids. The door shut and Renton pulled her away. They walked down to his room which was left untouched. Moving inside, they both sat down in a corner. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. For a few moments it seemed like it was alright, that they could just fall asleep with out worries. The ship shook a few more times. But it was drowned out by the darkness slowly surrounding them. Suddenly they both fell forward and slammed against the opposite wall. The whole ship was rocking hard.
"Are we falling?" Renton asked in desperation and looked out the window. They both were trying to make out what in the world was going on. Finally their eyes caught the ground falling away from them out the window.
"No, we're going up. I think that was the only way to escape the battle." Eureka said and couldn't right herself from the pressure. Finally it stopped and all force deceased on them. They floated up into the air as gravity let go of its hold on them.
"Space." Renton spoke softly and his eyes were dazed. Eureka pushed off the wall and floated over to the window. Renton carefully followed behind her. They both looked down at the planet. Eureka let out a gasp as she covered her mouth. The planet was nothing like from it was before. Only parts of their old home remained. There were a few large pillars that poked out of the planet. The outer shell of the planet was partly gone. Half still remained, except it was slightly scattered. The largest part of the shell was
cracked, and looked like it would fall apart at any moment. Tears started to swell in Eureka's eyes. Renton saw this and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her head in his chest. They just floated in weightlessness. It felt like nothing could touch them but the pain of the past.