Chapter 8: Capture

05:47 – 14 A.E.

Kraken Class Cargo Ship "Bontenmaru"

"So far... so good."

Marcus had positioned himself roughly in the furthest corner from the door of the cabin they had sequestered themselves away in. It was feared that the doors inside the ship would be as sophisticated as the one they saw the strangers open back at the reactor, but these were surprisingly mundane – opening them required no more than the turning of knobs, instead of those fancy-looking frames, much to their collective relief.

This place looked like it hasn't been used for a while, which made it good enough as a place to hide out for the duration of the trip. They came across it during their cautious trip through this part of the ship, a couple of floors above the cargo hold they entered it through - just past those weird gravity-altering ropes.

Dom stood by the door, loosely gripping his lancer in a way to present its butt to anyone who might come in – to take them out fast without making a mess of everything. Baird on the other hand sat at the solitary table, examining the walls and floor from where he sat with a meticulous frown. Cole on the other hand tried to busy himself in this numbing silence by looking through the cabinet drawers next to the bed. All empty, but that did not do shit to stop him.

That and the bed without a mattress was how they safely came to the conclusion that this place was their best bet.

"If only there was a locking mechanism for this door." Dom commented while paying rapt attention to whatever might be going on outside. Appropriate for the lateness of the hour, most of the crew did not seem to be active... or the crew on board was smaller in number than it'd otherwise be.

"Or maybe there is." Baird answered, "Only we can't use it. And we shouldn't try to."

Dom shrugged, "I know. Do nothing that might draw attention."

Marcus did not say anything. Only a low rumble escaped his throat as he submerged himself into his own thoughts.

"What are you thinking about, Marcus?"

The Santiago knew him almost too well at times. "Just thinking about where we're going: Direction, speed of this ship, and the time it took to get here. Something doesn't add up."

"Yeah?"

Marcus retrieved an old map of the region from his pocket and folded it out, "What I'm saying is: There is no island within that distance capable of housing a city-state."

"Unless it can travel a whole lot faster than it showed." Baird put words to his thoughts about the subject, "For all we know, the actual island could be a whole lot further away."

"Maybe."

"Anyway, seriously, look at this thing. The inside's pretty plain-looking and all. Narrow hallways and steep stairs like one would expect from a ship. But it flies, its engines purrs softer than a kitten, and don't get me started on this perfectly smooth sailing."

No arguing with that. The ship was obviously in motion, yet Cole had yet to even feel nauseous. Normally he'd be tagging the walls with puke by now. He could not handle most types of transportation. Ravens especially disagreed with him.

"I'm telling you, aside from subs, this is the closest thing to a spacecraft."

"You will probably end up marrying a bot." Cole laughed.

"Hey, women – not the hard-ass bitches – likes practical guys. I am that kind of guy."

"Your attitude needs some work though." Dom drawled.

"Huh? Picking a fight with me, asshole?"

"Cool it." Marcus warned almost dangerously, transfixing them with his icy blue glare. No one moved, except...

"Whoops!"

All three closed their eyes for a split moment in a wave of sudden resignation before they collectively turned to Cole, who had just pressed his finger against a dot on the wall above the bed, only to see it widen into a window of sorts that displayed a slightly turbulent ocean in the late hours of night.

Marcus' voice came out low and hard, "Gus, turn that off."

"Wait, does that show what's outside?" Baird wondered as he went past Cole to examine the picture.

He pushed himself back on his feet, irritation evident. "I don't give a flying shit what it shows – turn it off!"

A few minutes ago. 05:30; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era

Kraken Class Cargo Ship "Bontenmaru" - Captain's Cabin

A low and tired groan emanated from Naomasa as she chewed through a meal she had quickly prepared after coming down to the cabin usually reserved for the ship's captain. Nothing overly complicated; some fried rice with carrots and daikon.

Next to the bowl and glass of water lay a talisman of compressed sleep – which squeezes a full nights' worth of sleep into a short nap. A real blessing in busy times, especially as she had no plans to skip school or any other duties any more than she was forced to.

She finished chowing down the rest of the meal, and sat back to relax and digest for a bit before she would apply the talisman. But not being the most easily relaxed person of her class, she brought up a sign frame complete with a detailed image of the Bontenmaru's frame, and checked its power-usage.

Before they left Vectes, they transferred most of the ether the reactor had absorbed from the air so far onto the ship. No more than nine hundred Haiki, but it was a start.

This line of thought made the woman pause to think of the plan she had been formulating back home lately. Considering the world they had ended up in, she thought it would be best if they underwent some exercises tailored specifically for situations when energy runs low for one reason or another – when cutting power to a sufficient number of non-critical systems could mean the difference between life and death.

Guess that's what I'll bring up next meeting... as if I don't have enough work to do.

Almost absently, she cycled through the overview of minor systems and whatever else is draining power at the moment – committing each to memory – deck after deck.

The list of compartments drained away till it was all but time to apply the talisman, at which she motioned to close the frame and go to sleep when she finally came across something. Nothing big... it was minute, easily ignorable. What made her notice was that a tiny stream of energy was being fed into one of the cabins not in use by the crew.

Naomasa summoned the crews' roster, both permanent and temporary – displaying which cabins everyone were assigned to, along with their locations. None of which are in the cabin she is currently looking at.

But the investigation ground to a halt as she released an exasperated sigh, "Honestly, am I even this bored?" Someone had probably been in there, and forgot to turn whatever device still ran in there when they left. Nothing to get ones panties in a bunch over.

Then the feed stopped. Whatever ran in there had been turned off.

It made the young woman freeze into place, if only momentarily. Her stunned expression instantly replaced by a stern frown.. Okay, either we got ghosts on board – not for the first time, mind. Or we got people that aren't supposed to be here.

Alarmed, Naomasa almost immediately opened a divine transmission to the bridge, "Captain."

A woman a bit older than her greeted with a salute, "Lady Naomasa, thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I would've. But something came to my attention." the 6th Special Agent said flatly, "There is a possibility we got stowaways on board. Erect barrier blessings in the corridors around Cabin sixteen on B-deck."

The captain hesitated for a single second as she took it in, and turned to repeat the order to her bridge officers. Once it had been given, energy flared into B-deck as the barriers popped into place. They were little more than firewalls, but would serve just fine as blockages against whatever vermin might be on board. "Shall I ready the guards?"

Naomasa tiredly rubbed her temples. "Yes, but don't send them in. We'll deal with this cautiously when we arrive – there's no telling what we got here."

"Understood."

"I'll notify 'Asakusa' of the situation before I go to sleep. Don't let anything happen while I'm out." she said, and merely waited for the captain to nod before she closed the transmission, and opened another one - 'Asakusa''s image materializing without a moment of wait.

"Is there something you need, Lady Naomasa? Over."

"Jud... we got a situation here..."

05:58 – 14 A.E.

Kraken Class Cargo Ship "Bontenmaru"

"Did anyone else hear that?" Dom asked, as several dull hums started up in perfect unison outside the cabin, and ended as quickly as they came.

Marcus cursed softly, "Yep, we all did."

"Think they're onto us?"

"Won't know till we check it out."

Dom tilted his head in acknowledgment, and stretched his arm out to twist the knob. Cole took position on the other side, Gnasher in hand. They wordlessly exchanged a nod before he jerked the door open.

Cole cocked his shotgun as he checked for any possible hostiles beyond it; "Clear."

Following said confirmation, Dom stepped out and pointed his Lancer down the corridor, but lowered it at what he found, "Guys. We got trouble."

Marcus left through the door before Cole could to join Dom as he stared down the corridor at a large digital frame that stretched from wall to wall, and floor to ceiling. A glowing red square framed by a series of black and gray geometric figures. Something was also written on it, but it was clearly of a foreign language. "The hell is that?"

"Only one way to find out." Dom grit his teeth and approached it.

"Hey, Dom.."

"I can handle it." he firmly insisted. He felt more at ease taking risks if it meant that Marcus would not die before him if something went belly-up. Once there, he nudged the butt of his rifle against it, and met resistance upon impact. "It's... a barrier of some kind."

Baird went besides him and took the examination a bit further as he placed a gloved hand against it. It was like touching glass. "Doesn't this look like those other frames?" he questioned, "

"Can we break through it?" Marcus asked.

"I've got no idea."

"Step back." Dom told them as he raised his Lancer and revved its chainsaw into action. Its raucous roar filling the corridor as he prepared to lean the weapon against this strange barrier, "Let's see if it can handle this."

Baird and Marcus took a cautious step back before the Santiago made contact. The frame fizzled strongly in waves as the weapon's metal teeth tried to dig into it, though without much to show for it. The Santiago broadened his stance and leaned in further, only to almost jump as the mechanism in his saw began to sputter.

"Forget it." Marcus hollered over the noise, "Stop before you send those teeth flying."

Dom cursed and withdrew. He stared intently at where the chainsaw bayonet met the barrier, but there was no sign of damage. "... Fuck."

Baird looked the same area over and shook his head in irritation, "So we're locked in tight then."

"And there's another barrier right over there." Cole gestured behind them. "However they found us, we sure as hell can't move."

"We're screwed."

"So what are we going to do now?"

Marcus seemed to be chewing on exactly that, "We are too exposed out here in this narrow space. Let's go back to the cabin... and wait. That is about all we can do right now."

06:02; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era

Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" – "Murayama" Honda Household

Masazumi woke up with a start as the air above her head rang with the opening of a divine transmission. The torii which framed the image lit up the darkened room like a sun, and the Honda who had up till then been sleeping quietly in her bed.

It was with an agonizing groan that the young woman turned to face the frame, eyes glazed over by the sheer grogginess she experienced that instant. She blinked repeatedly to clear it out, but with a huge lack of success. All she could see was the frame itself, and the woman dressed in a maid uniform – her guess was one of the fleet captains.

"Who... 'Musashi', is it?"

"It is, milady. Over."

She gasped lowly in acknowledgment, "I see. What is it?"

"We received a message from the Bontenmaru. Over."

"Ugh... Any reason why it couldn't wait till a more prudent hour?"

"Lady Naomasa believes there might be stowaways on board of unknown origin. Over."

"Stowaways?" Masazumi muttered, "... Of unknown origin?"

"Jud. Presently, Lady Naomasa has had a section of the ship sealed off. We shall initiate a thorough scan once the ship docks with the Asakusa. Over."

"Did you notify the Chancellor?"

"Jud. But Lady Horizon says he is currently... indisposed. Over."

He did something stupid again... didn't he? I can already tell. "Okay. Thank you, forward to me the time of their arrival and stand by. I'll take this up with the Chancellor's board."

'Musashi' nodded succinctly, and told her when the Bontenmaru would arrive before she promptly left the Vice-President in peace – allowing the darkness to once again embrace her.

Masazumi scratched her head. Nothing came to mind for a moment before she finally dragged herself out of bed. Fortunately there are some students that are more readily available at this hour than the others.

08:36 – 14 A.E.

Vectes – Pelruan

Anya couldn't sleep at all. Normally at times such as this, she would be in the CIC to maintain contact with Delta. Now there was no HQ to do that from, and she had no choice but to wait for the report. She couldn't contact them at all on her own accord, as it could endanger them at a very bad time.

Just to make sure, she had ventured up to the reactor, and was at the very least relieved by the absence of bodies and signs of fighting.

Once back in Pelruan, she ventured to the harbor and looked outward to the sea - ignoring the fishermen who had woken up early for the time being. Gettner and Michelle on the other hand managed to sleep just fine. She also thought Bernie had gone to sleep too, but was soon proven wrong:

"Hey, haven't you slept at all? It's no use standing around like that." the old sniper addressed her in a chastising manner. In her immediate wake followed a pretty big dog with wiry gray fur who sniffed about with utmost curiosity – ears up high and alert.

"Sorry, but I don't really feel like it." Anya said as she watched the animal, "What's with the dog?"

"Visited some local dog owners, and one of their dogs took a real shine to me. This beaut's Mac. Trained to track both rabbits and stranded. Just my kind of pooch." Bernie settled herself into a low crouch and petted the hairy canine, causing him to yip in approval. "Seriously though, you got to get some rest. How long till the first ravens arrive?"

"A couple of more hours."

"That really ain't far from now."

"You're right... I'm just so..." Anya stiffened as a wave of static invaded her ear, which she immediately pressed a finger against. The call was garbled, so much figurative grain that it was hard to make out any words, but the tone was unmistakably Marcus'. "Come again? Is that you Marcus?!"

Only scattered words made it through. The rest were too garbled to make sense of, and the signal grew steadily weaker.

"Please repeat. You're breaking up!"

08:41 – 14 A.E.

Kraken Class Cargo Ship "Bontenmaru"

"Anya? … Anya?! Shit." Marcus cursed bitterly, and switched the channel. "Command. This is Delta. Come in! I repeat..."

"They're jamming us." Baird stopped him verbally, "Deliberate or not – we're on our own now."

"Any idea how these folks are doing it?" Cole asked.

"No idea. All I can think of is; either this whole ship's like a Faraday cage, or there is nothing here to bounce the signals off of – which means most of the information are lost on transit."

"Oh... this is just perfect."

"If we could just go outside..." Dom muttered, still keeping watch on the hallway outside without diverting his gaze.

"Ain't no getting out till those barriers go away, baby. When the hell are they going to come at us anyway?"

Marcus sat down on the bed – and ignored the subsequent creaking sound coming from it under his weight. They had debated on trying to break through the barriers with grenades, but in the end; none of them dared to waste the precious ordnance as there was no guarantee that it was going to work. The real question is though, what will the response be when these folks finally decide to act against them directly? "I've got a feeling they won't, not until we arrive. You should be more worried about what method they might resort to."

"Oh yeah?" Baird let out a laugh, a pretty hollow one. "For example?"

"You said it yourself; this is like a spacecraft. Think of it."

"Guys..." Dom rolled his eyes nervously, "Don't give them any ideas – in case they're watching us."

"Doubt that's the case. For all we know, all that set them off was the use of that thing." Marcus indicated the dot on the wall behind him. Not knowing that it was more his fault for turning it off, in what was the shittiest timing in the world.

"Yeah, yeah..." Cole groaned, "I screwed up, didn't I? But now that we're trapped, let's take another look. It shows the outside, am I right?"

"I don't know..." Marcus cast a dubious glance at the dot, but went ahead and pressed it. "But might as well."

The image that greeted them was still the sight of the ocean far below them. It was a whole lot brighter too, as one could expect of the morning hours. In silence, all but Dom watched it as small islands that dotted the otherwise watery landscape constantly shifted and vanished into the horizon. It was clear this time as they more closely examined the moving picture that this is indeed a window to the outside – probably for the comfort of whoever used to have this room, or maybe every room got it.

For now, it would help to pass the time.

11:03; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era

Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Yamato" - "Asakusa" 3rd Dock

Neshinbara stood fully erect as he overlooked the dock, and the airspace beyond as the Bontenmaru emerged from the clouds, which seemed as though they danced poetically around the ship. An interesting contrast to their current situation.

"All hands." he called out with great flair – a motion repeated by the formal-looking mouse hovering at his shoulder. Listening to his words was a gathering of a hundred boys and girls under arms. Mostly riflemen from the Gunnery Club, while the rest carried defensive blessings to form walls if necessary.

Before him hovered a map of the area with dots displaying every squad under his command. On either side of that was open divine transmissions to those of his class present, plus Naomasa.

"Be ready for thorough scan of the Bontenmaru once it arrives, 'Asakusa'. Upon confirmation of intruders' presence, we flush the curs out to capture them."

A chorus answered him – punctuated by the prompt "Jud" from the commanding doll of the Asakusa. Across the docks, clamps opened up to accept the Cargo ship as it got closer.

"How are we going to flush them out?" Naomasa inquired.

Neshinbara adjusted his glasses, "We give them a way out of course. There is a set of stairs close to the target area that will allow them to reach the top deck." He had studied the layout of the Bontenmaru only briefly, and already had a plan in order. His hands flew over the haptic keyboard of his and sent the information to Naomasa for execution, "Remove one barrier, and add ones at the locations I've specified."

"Jud. Looks good."

"One thing is to open a trail, but to make them seize the bait is another." Nate commented like he recited it from a book.

But the secretary already had something in mind for that too; "You'll be surprised how much incentive a moving wall can provide, right Ukii?"

The half-dragon chuckled as his image appeared alongside the others. "Of course."

"Once the intruders are on the roof, we corner them. In normal battlefield conditions, you need three to capture one enemy due to the danger involved, but here we have the means to intimidate them into surrender. Naomasa, you will play a big part in that."

"I got it."

"Everyone else, provide assistance if needed."

"Judgment!"

11:20 – 14 A.E.

Kraken Class Cargo Ship "Bontenmaru"

Marcus and the others had been staring at the 'window' for a long time. By using whatever pokes up from the ocean as landmarks, combined with the rate at which said landmarks vanished into the distance, it was safe to assume that the ship was slowing down – all the more confirmed as the hums beyond the cabin dulled.

"Stand to – Delta." Marcus hissed at them, "Fair guess.. we're either there or we're a traffic jam. Expect shit to go down really fast."

"We're still so high in the air... so why the..." Baird leaned closer to examine it, only to pull back as something massive slid into sight as this craft slowed even further. Metallic thumbs reverberated through the hell immediately after as the ship finally was brought to a complete halt. "The hell?"

"Did we just dock?" Dom questioned.

"Can't be.. we're still-"

They all flinched as a deafening screech of static from their earpieces proceeded to scream into their ears, followed by a strange transparent wall that emerged, and harmlessly passed on through. Dom only needed one look outside the cabin to confirm that this was going on ship-wide. "We just got scanned, didn't we? I remember this kind of shit in old sci-fi."

"Individuals with no proper identification detected. Intruder alert. Over." a flat feminine voice echoed through the ship along with a blaring alarm.

"You happy?" Baird cried out through the noise as he pulled his earpiece off and stuffed it in his pocket – a motion echoed by all of them for now, in case another infernal screech decides to knock them off their feet.

"Yeah, ecstatic!" Dom remarked sarcastically before a flash of light from down the hallway drew his attention – the barrier had faded away. One look the other way confirmed that both had vanished. "Barriers' gone. Should we leg it?"

"Wait." Marcus joined him. As did the rest of Delta.

Cole pushed out first with a great application of general caution, peering in either direction for any sign of a threat. "Nothing to- oh, what the fuck!"

Dom saw exactly the same thing as a creature of great stature covered in armor plates appeared from around the distant corner, fire belching from its elbows. It damn near filled the whole space.

Both discharged their weapons in unison at the unknown, only to see their released ammunition bounce clean off its armor in a rapid series of sparks. Its only reaction was to bring those big angular arms up to protect its face.. then took a threatening step towards them.

"Okay... Small arms... definitely not effective." Baird observed.

Their leader growled, "Forget what I said. Get out. Treat it like it's a berserker. Then run like hell!"

It was hard to eject themselves into the narrow hallway all at once, but understanding the urgency; it only took a couple of seconds before they all managed to get on their way in a single file line – Cole leading up front, followed by Dom himself, Marcus and finally a very pissed off Baird.

A boom sounded off behind as another gust of fire exploded from the dragon-like creature's arms when it lowered itself, and charged after them at a speed one wouldn't think it was capable of in such confined space.

Numerous barriers greeted them along the way, narrowing their path to a degree more than worthy of suspicion. But with a creature they had never before seen breathing down their necks, all that was in their collective mind was to tactically retreat with all speed and hope to get out of this mess – or at least find a better place to fight.

After a seemingly endless series of stairs, they were finally greeted by a welcoming gust of fresh air, and a burst of sunlight that momentarily blinded them. Marcus' gaze fell on the distant sky, and the distant ocean - with all its recognizable landmarks - when he saw clearly again. So the device back in the cabin really was a window to the outside after all. But something was off, the ship was not moving - yet the landscape shifted as though they traveled in an entirely different direction.

Cole breathed a heartfelt expletive, which made the sergeant turn and see. Just like the others' apparently had, he initially lost his voice when confronted by what their ship had landed at. Most of the view filled by an open-air dock, which was aside from the crew and wooden floors perfectly white. Whatever this place is, it's damned huge.

"What the fuck..." Baird tried to take it all in, and steadily failed as he repeatedly cursed. His mind close to being blown. "What the flying fuck!?"

Marcus had a creeping feeling that they are just looking at a small part of a much more massive vessel.

What demanded their attention more was the number of troops across the dock this craft's berthed at. Easily a hundred, most more than elevated enough to have a clear shot. This particular part of their view did much to make the reality of their situation sink back in.

"Yeah." Dom said severely, "We're in the shit now."

"Ri~ght up to here." Cole breathlessly indicated a space above his head. "A mountain of it."

The ship's hull shuddered under their feet – its top deck was also made of wood from the looks of it, such finely crafted panels with no gap wide enough to shove a knife into – and forcefully dragged Delta's already overwhelmed attention to a number of frames on the far side of the deck that popped into existence and exploded into showers of shiny dust-particles that danced across the deck. From within this display, a humanoid machine more than a couple of dozen feet tall rose up from a crouched position.

What struck him about this threat was its womanly design, and the strong colors and stylistic additions it was adorned with. The thing was also armed with what appeared to be a pair of huge wrenches – Marcus' choice of weapons would have been a pair of cannons if he had one of those. Its twin emerald eyes glowing with acknowledgment as it began to home in on their position with thundering steps that would have put a horde of silverbacks to shame.

It was all too much to take in at once as the four stood there, their brains apparently frozen. The bodies however acted automatically in the face of this threat, and elevated whatever guns they had in hand at it.

"So... what are we going to do now?" Dom asked, more than a little nervous.

"Drop your weapons and submit." the half-dragon that had pursued them through the interior of the ship surfaced with a grin. "That is all that is required from you."

The Santiago whipped around to face it, "You can talk?!"

"Big surprise." it dryly chuckled, "Now, drop the arms."

"You would be wise to heed us." a female voice seconded – with a posh accent. From above came a youthful girl with a fancy uniform and an impossibly large hairdo – but the most eye-catching detail was the number of chains that in logic-defying ways orbited her body - one of which has bounced off the deck and curled itself into a platform to provide her with a landing pad on which to stand on like it was ground.

Did she just jump? From where? And how's she standing there?

Finally, far up ahead, the young woman they saw leading the effort at the reactor on Vectes surfaced and addressed Delta solemnly, "Indeed, you are at the receiving end of far too much bad karma to come out unscathed if you choose the path of resistance."

The situation was not lost on Delta at all. Challenging them was a small horde of soldiers, a giant mecha, a strange girl and an even stranger armored creature, and who knows what else. After fourteen years of war, every member had been in more disadvantaged fights than they cared to remember, but this situation in contrary to the grubs was full of unknowns. The more they saw, the less they understood. "Marcus?" Dom asked, letting their sergeant make the call. Surrender would have been impossible to consider against grubs, but this was different.

"Hrm..." Marcus locked eyes with the silver-haired girl, who was the closest to them if one did not count the dragon-like thing. "And what is going to happen to us if we surrender?" he inquired smoothly like one noble to another.

11:25; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era

Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" - "Asakusa" 3rd Dock

Nate arced an eyebrow. It'd be insulting if a dirty stranded had addressed her in that manner, but there was something very different about this one and his ice blue eyes that glowered as if judging her. There was no flaw in the formality of his speech, so it left her to guess he might just be a noble - or used to be one.

Till now, other than dropping down to join in the act of intimidation intended to make them drop their weapons and allow capture, she did little more than to observe them. Them, and their sheer bulk that seemed to come from their sheer physical fitness. Each of them sported an impressive set of excellently trained and well-defined muscles. So much in fact that it seemed as though their muscles got muscles, and their muscles' muscles got muscles.

At the same time, this observation made the werewolf-side of her heritage decide what to have for dinner today: Beef, lots of beef. Just like when she decided to order chicken after a hearty glance at the witches' sets of wings.

Finally, mentally shaking the more indecent thoughts from her mind, Nate folded her arms as she replied to his inquiry: "You will be taken prisoner, of course."

His expression was unreadable. "And after that?" the man – Marcus – almost insistingly asked.

Nate gracefully settled herself into a crouch – somewhat alarmed. After the initial shock, these soldiers – their occupation guessed at by looking over their rugged armor - displayed a remarkable lack of real fear. "You shall eventually be taken in for questioning. But we will not endanger your lives." It was not of the most defusing kind, but a little honesty could go a long way. "That is unless you choose to fight – at which point you will be branded as invaders and be dealt with accordingly; both as enemies and eventual prisoners of war."

Marcus considered her words with great scrutiny, "Alright." he finally grunted, though the noble tone remained. "Delta – drop your weapons."

His team was clearly hesitant, but ultimately followed through. Dominic was first to place his rifle down on the deck, followed by the shotgun, ammunition, then finally his set of grenades. Baird and Cole followed his example. The blonde was clearly not very optimistic at all, but he did as told anyway.

Once they had fully disarmed themselves, Nate nodded in appreciation. "All can with ease bring their weapons forth, but only a few people know when to sheathe them. You are indeed wise."

"Shit." Cole mumbled an unexpectedly nervous chuckle, "First time anyone's called me wise." watching as a group of soldiers, each of them clearly in their teens, came out of the ship with a collection of cuffs.

11:26; 18th June; 1648; Testament Era

Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" - "Asakusa" Bridge

"Capture complete." Neshinbara reported uniformly. "Confronted on all sides, the intruders surrendered without a fight."

"That's great news." Masazumi sighed in relief. It had been a fairly tense moment as she and those with her watched as things unfolded at the docks. "Glad it did not turn into a firefight."

"Indeed." the boy readjusted his glasses, lips kept thin in scrutiny. "By sheer number, they carried a whole lot more instruments of destruction than the average infantryman. Each of them carried about four grenades, and an absurd number of magazines to feed their weaponry – which by and large consisted of a pistol, shotgun, and an assault rifle... which got a chainsaw for a bayonet." Neshinbara shuddered.

"There was a whole lot of such weapons in Tuktu."

"For the love of... Why did they go out of their way to mount such an addition. One hell of a thing to maintain I wager. Lots of dry blood on 'em too – so they've used it plenty."

"I am fairly sure they only did it out of necessity. Anyway, take the prisoners straight to the brig. I will be there shortly."

"Yeah, right-o."

"Ho~h. For a bunch of fossils, they look pretty good." Kimi hummed softly as the transmission closed and leaned her frame closer to the sign frame that displayed the prisoners being taken away from the Bontenmaru, lips pursed into a sultry smile.

"Aw, Kimi..." Tomo Asama displayed a slight amount of indignation towards her childhood friend. "That is very rude. At most, they must be in their thirties."

"Precisely!" the shameless woman proclaimed with a curled fist.

"Don't fall into her trap, Tomo." Masazumi twitched, "A reaction's what she wants."

Kimi giggled, then leaned unnervingly close to the dark-haired girl, who in futility tried to back away. "So, shan't we go see these beasts, boob-less politician?"

She stared at the other woman with some trepidation, "That's what I plan to do you know."

"So let's do it now."

"Kimi..." Tomo said with a nervous grin, not exactly doing anything to get between them. She may be a shrine maiden, but with enough knowledge of indecent things to sink a fleet.

Masazumi swallowed nervously, "Y-yes! Now is as good a time as any, just don't squeeze those things at me."

The Aoi smiled triumphantly as she rose to her full height, gaze lingering on the Vice-Presient as she got up and motioned to leave.

You know... your family's antics are going to be the end of me.

11:40 – 14 A.E.

Quasi-Bahamut Class Aerial City-Ship "Musashi" - "Asakusa" Brig

A loud metallic click rang out through the brig as the heavy door slid shut after the last of Delta had been brought inside one of the more spacious cells, with no less than six separate bunks along the walls – each oversized to a degree that puzzled the imprisoned gears.

Cole took it in stride as he almost went and bounced off of one while laughing loudly, "Look at this! I think I like this place already."

The silver-haired girl, who came with them alongside a troop of guards, watched them with some amusement. "This prison was fashioned in order to hold the likes of arch-devils if necessary. So whatever you might try to escape, it will not work."

Dom leaned close to Marcus with a quiet question; "Arch-devil. The hell's she on about?"

"Don't know." Marcus whispered back with a shrug.

"Be sure to straighten up." she continued, "Our Vice-President wishes to see you."

Marcus' only reaction was the arcing of an eyebrow, "The Vice-President?"

"Aye. Despite, or exactly because of what you did."

"Huh, you don't say?"

With a nod she turned and paced away from the cell, a glance cast by the fancily dressed woman was enough to make the guards stand a little straighter. But no longer did it take than a minute till approaching footsteps could be heard behind the door at the far end of the brig. "I believe that is her. Be on your best behavior for the duration of the visit, you hear?"

"Oh, don't ya worry." Cole stood up from his selected bed with a grin that could be both serious and childish at the same time, "I'm a real ladies' man, baby."

"I-is that so?" she grimaced at what he called her.

"Momma taught me all the manners, ya see. To treat with sensibility, respect, and tact -"

A dark-haired woman appeared at the door with an unreadable expression that could be anything from interest to suspicion, and two other women flanking her with large and overly buoyant-

"- Hooters!"

Nearly everyone within earshot froze in shock at that booming outburst from Cole, all attention on him as their expressions were nearly universally filled with either disgust or bewilderment, all except one of resignation from Marcus. And amusement from the long-haired brunette next to the assumed Vice-President; "Hoh~"

Cole numbly realized his mistake, and had a very real and nasty feeling that he would soon be the ground-zero of an imminent case of female on male violence.

"Yeah..." Baird hoarsely coughed, "Tact."

Author notes: Here it is. Not as full of action as I originally intended, but here you go. Chose this route for the sake of variation instead of simply starting the relationship between the COG and Musashi with dialogue. Also, this will allow for interactions that would not had been possible with the other route.