Chapter 13; Captive
Standing between Cecilia and the Red Fairy, Simon took stock of what he had remaining. That blast had slagged his shield and had also shattered the controls for the blade on that arm. The two fangs on his left hip had also taken damage, and the readout showed that their flight systems were down. So he was now reduced to eight fangs, his sword and the blades on his legs and right arm. However, he had no clue what other kinds of weapons this thing had on it. Screw it he thought as he launched his remaining fangs and charged the Fairy. Better to go all-in at this point then wait for this to get worse, especially since that Knight IS still hadn't shown back up yet. To his surprise, the Fairy had the four points on its wings detach and move to meet his fangs before they started firing at them.
Before he could react they had blown three of his fangs out of the air. Meanwhile, the Fairy had brought its remaining javelin up to block his strike. Stopping the swing at the last second, he pivoted on his right foot and brought his left up in a kick, deploying the blade as he went. But, the Fairy just brought its hand up and stopped his food dead before thrusting forward with its javelin. Jumping back, Simon took flight to avoid the bits it had deployed and recalled his remaining five fangs. The Fairy, however, wasn't about to give him any breathing room as it launched after him and swiped at him with its javelin. He blocked the swipe, only to have it kick him in the side before it began to take more swipes at him. He managed to block most of the attacks and dodge the others, but he was being driven back with no room to retaliate.
Before he knew it, the thing had backed him into the wall. Crap he thought as it tried to stab his head. Ducking to his right, he lunged forward and brought his sword into the Fairy's side. He felt the blade hit home and the teeth bite into the metal, but the Fairy calmly reached down and grabbed his wrist. With strength he wasn't aware that it possessed, it pulled his sword away from its side, revealing a gash in its armor but no serious wound. Glancing at the cut, it then looked at him and said, "You will have to do better than that," before it head-butted him and tossed him aside.
Landing on the stadium floor, hard, he briefly saw stars as he tried to stay conscious. How can that thing be so damned powerful? he wondered as he got back up. "Simon, you need to get out of there!" Cecilia told him over an open link. Looking back, he saw that she had managed to slow the bleeding and that she had been reduced to her laser bits. "And why would I run when I'm winning here?" he shot back before something occurred to him. Wait, shouldn't the Absolute Barrier have stopped that attack? he wondered briefly before the Fairy was on him again. At that point, it was all he could do to avoid being skewered as it pressed its obvious advantage.
Maylin and Laura had been trying to close on the large mech that had invaded the island, but it had been keeping them at bay with a near constant salvo of missiles and energy blasts. Dodging another wave, Maylin asked, "How many of those does that thing have?" "Judging from the size of the missiles, the size of the missile cells, and how many it uses in each wave, I would guess that it has another 3 volleys left," Laura answered as she tried to line up another shot. She had succeeded in blowing one of its arms off, but the constant stream of missiles was keeping her from getting another shot in. Cursing, she was forced to give up a promising head shot as it launched yet another wave.
"We need to end this, Maylin," she said as she caught a pair of the missiles. "I thought you would never ask," Maylin responded as her helmet deployed, covering her head and making her look rather menacing. Switching her rifles to their sword-mode, she dodged a pair of missiles before rocketing towards the mech. Before it could bring its remaining cannon to bear, she had sliced through two of its legs, sending it toppling towards the ground. Laura took advantage of the opening to send a shell into its chest, gutting the thing.
"Why didn't you do that sooner?" she asked as Maylin joined her, slightly annoyed. "I had to be sure that it did not have any other close-in weapons," she responded before heading off in the direction that Simon had left in. However, before she got more than a few meters, several Harpies swarmed her and she couldn't avoid the fight. As she methodically worked her way through them, feelings of unease began to well up in her. She couldn't really explain it, but she was getting a very bad feeling about this whole battle.
According to the records she had been given by her teacher, the Tabane she had known, this raid had been carried out during her mother's final year, not this soon. Am I to blame for this? she wondered as she rocketed over the smoldering wreckage of buildings. Thankfully, the staff and students had managed to drive back the attackers, although several firefights were still raging. It was going to take a long time for the Academy to recover from this attack, not to mention the diplomatic fallout from such a brazen assault. I just hope I am not too late.
Sliding back a few feet from the kick he had just received, Simon fought with every fiber of his being to remain standing as he glared at his opponent. The Fairy had managed to knock his sword away, as well as destroy his last fangs. Now it just stood watching him expectantly as he deployed his wrist-mounted blade. Looking at his shield energy, he saw that he had around 5% left, definitely not enough for another blow of any kind. However, he wasn't in much shape to take another blow, ether. A rather nasty cut on his forehead was threatening to partially blind him with how bad it was bleeding, to say nothing about the other cuts across his body from this things attacks. Risking a glance to his side, he saw that the Knight had returned and was battling Houki and Ichika again, so help from them was out.
"Simon, please!" Cecilia begged. She had attempted to help him with her laser bits. But, the Fairy had destroyed them in short order and blasted her wings and left leg, effectively leaving her crippled and unable to fly, let alone stand. "Damnit, I'm not telling you again!" he shouted, feeling his frustration finally boiling over, "I will not leave you behind! Got it?" "How touching," the Fairy said before it charged him again. Blocking its swipe at his head with his left arm, Simon brought his right one forward and managed to connect with its left shoulder, piercing the armor. He had expected to hit flesh and bone, but instead he saw circuits sparking and slashed metal. This stunned him long enough for it to knee him in the stomach and leap back, clutching at the hole he had made in its armor.
"What the hell are you?!" he demanded, standing up and looking at it again. "More than you can imagine," it responded, "Now then, I think it's time we wrapped things up here. Crusade!" At this, the Knight IS lashed out and knocked Ichika into the wall. Rounding on Houki, who had charged at its back, it brought its shield up and triggered a hidden weapon. The end of its shield folded out and a cannon barrel extended before blasting her full in the chest. Armor and shreds of her pilot suit flew away, as well as blood, as Houki fell to the ground; her IS destructing from the major damage and leaving a bleeding, unconscious girl behind. "HOUKI!" Ichika yelled, streaking out of the crater he had made in the wall.
However, he stopped short as the Knight landed, aiming at her unconscious form in a silent threat. Before Simon could even think of helping, the Fairy had kicked him to the side before landing in front of Cecilia and pointing its own javelin in her face. "Now then, Simon," it began, the mocking tone clear, "You will destruct your IS and surrender. Or…" It left the rest of that question hanging, leaving it to him to fill in the rest. Looking between Cecilia, Houki and Ichika, he weighed his very limited options. "Why am I so damned important to you?" he asked, hoping to buy time. "Nice try, Felix, but that's not going to happen. You have ten seconds to make up your mind," the Fairy responded, already powering up its javelin. "Simon…" Cecilia said, finally looking away from the almost certain death staring at her.
"Seven, six, five…" "Alright!" he finally said, raising his hands, "Alright." With an explosive sigh, he destructed his IS and stood with his arms away from his sides. "Good choice," it said as it walked over to him. The Knight remained where it stood, staring at Ichika, who in turn was staring back, clearly wanting to rip it apart. "Simon, no!" Cecilia said, trying to stand back up, "You can't!" Rather than say anything, he just stared at the Fairy as it came closer. In one quick move, it brought its free hand down and hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. Catching the back of his suit before he hit the ground, it slung him over its shoulder before turning to the others.
"You follow us, and I cannot guarantee his well-being," it said before taking flight. The Knight followed shortly after, leaving Ichika with two wounded friends and feeling completely helpless. As they were leaving the arena, Laura and Maylin showed up to back-up their friends. Looking at the two wounded, Maylin glanced up and saw them carrying away Simon. Feelings of guilt welled up inside her, things she had believed she had buried deep. No, not again she pleaded as she landed, not again! "Father!"
Simon awoke in a twin-sized bed, his arms shackled to a ring in the wall and his IS' stand-by removed. His wounds had been treated, and judging from the stiffness he had been out for a few days. Looking around at his room he saw that it was rather basic; a toilet, sink, a single light and a chair in one corner, but no window. The door was metal and solid, no window or slide in it, so he couldn't see out into the hall, either. So, looks like we're playing the waiting game he thought, but was surprised when he heard a latch being lifted on the door. Two girls in plain jumpsuits walked into his room, one carrying a covered tray, the other carrying a stick with two prongs on the end. This wasn't as interesting to him as their choice in head wear; both girls had on a grey headband with a small jewel in the center. They also had a blank look, like they weren't thinking of anything.
"Good timing with the food," he said, receiving silence in response. The girl with the food set the tray down on the chair and turned to leave. When Simon moved to get up, the other girl raised her stick menacingly, and he just sat there with his hands up. They left the cell and slid whatever bolt back into place, leaving him alone once again. Getting up, he walked over to the tray and removed the lid, revealing a sandwich, apple and a glass of water. "Well, it's not five-star," he said, feeling his stomach rumble, "But it'll do."
After he had eaten, he took a more thorough look around his cell but found no obvious exits. It was frustratingly barren, while the furniture was well put together so breaking it to use parts as weapons was out of the question. Not that it would do me any good, considering my enemies he thought as he sat back down. And while he was on that subject, there was something odd about them. He had been sure that he was fighting people like him; a.k.a., IS pilots. But when he pierced that thing's armor, he just hit more metal and circuits, which didn't make any sense. It could have been a well-programmed drone weapon, maybe even an AI he mused, but, it didn't behave like a program, so what are they?
The answer was surprisingly forthcoming as his door opened again to reveal the very thing he had been thinking off, the Red Fairy. Walking up to him, it held its hand out and said, "Your wrists please." Rather than say something smart-ass and risk it hitting him, he complied. It quickly removed the cuffs and motioned for him to walk in front of it. The Fairy led him out of the cell and down several hallways. Along the way, he spotted several more women with the same strange headbands and blank looks. "So, what's with the walking mannequins?" he asked. "Initiates," it answered simply before prodding him in the back. "You were very talkative earlier. Was it something I said?" he said, deciding to press his luck. "Because before you were a worthy opponent," it responded without breaking stride, "Now, you're just our little toy." Keep dreaming he thought.
Finally, they arrived in a room that looked strikingly like an IS maintenance bay, complete with his dismantled IS. "What the hell have you been doing to my suit?" he demanded, forgetting where he was for a second. Grabbing his shoulder, the Fairy dragged him over to a chair and pushed him down into it. "Stay," it said simply before turning around and walking over to the IS. Something else stood up near it, and Simon recognized the Spider IS he had seen in the park. "Nice to see you again, lover boy," it said before it reached into the innards of his IS and removed a disk with a ball in the center. It took Simon a moment to place it, sense it was a part of the suit he rarely ever worked on, but it came to him soon enough.
"What the hell are you doing to my core?" he asked, standing up and prepared to take the damned thing away. That was the most important part of his suit, bar none, and they had just yanked it out. "I said SIT," the Fairy said again, making it clear that there was no room for debate. Taking the core from the Spider, the Fairy walked over to a computer station on a wheeled cart before bringing the entire setup over to his chair. Placing the core into a tray on one end, it picked up several electrodes and began sticking them onto his head and chest. "What are you doing?" he asked, too interested in whatever the hell this was to interrupt. "We're measuring your compatibility," it answered before turning back to the computer and starting up some kind of program, "The Gospel may have high hopes for you, but we still don't know if you will survive the procedure."
That's encouraging he thought as he asked, "What kind of procedure?" "Better if you asked her than me," it responded as it read whatever was on the screen. Any further attempts at conversation were met with silence, so Simon just sat there while it ran whatever tests it was running. A few minutes later, they were joined by another machine; the Gospel, Simon's sister. "Did you have a good nap?" it asked as it walked over to examine the screen, "You were out cold for two days." "Two days?!" he shouted, fighting the urge to stand up again, "How did I sleep for two days?" "A blow to the back of the head can do that," the Gospel responded, looking at the Fairy. Walking around the computer, it kneeled down in front of him so they were eye-to-eye. "Regardless of the circumstances, I'm glad to see you again, brother."
"And how many people did your friends hurt for this little reunion, huh?" he asked, deciding that formalities and niceties could go screw themselves, he was getting some damned answers. It jerked its head back slightly, almost looking shocked at him. "You should know that my orders were to keep destruction to a minimum, and that no one was to be killed," it responded, sounding hurt. "Then why did your knight put one of my friends in the hospital? Why did this one put a hole in the shoulder of the girl I care about?" he shot back, pointing at the Fairy. When the Gospel looked up at the Fairy for an answer, it responded, "He was uncooperative, and we were pressed for time. I did what was necessary."
"Necessary? How are they going to leave us in peace now?" the Gospel demanded, shooting back to its feet. "And how was raiding their IS Academy going to help that in the first place?" the Fairy shot back, looking the Gospel square in the eye, "We're already responsible for the deaths of dozens. If it takes a few more for them to get the message, then so be it." "We're not having this discussion again." As they continued on, Simon felt awkward listening to the argument. Clearly, they weren't as united as he had thought. "We're not having this talk right now," the Gospel concluded with and explosive sigh, "Is he compatible with the core or isn't he?" "Why does it even matter?" Simon asked, but was ignored. After typing a few commands, the Fairy looked up and said, "Yes, he is compatible. Happy now, Gospel?"
"I told you, my name is Sarah," it responded before kneeling in front of Simon again, "Good news, brother. You can become one of us. You can be more." "What does that mean?" he asked, feeling his patience wearing thin, "What are you?" "Well, that might take a while to explain," the Gospel responded. Simon just nodded and crossed his arms, prepared to sit for as long as it took. "Okay, then I should start at the beginning. Do you remember the accident?" it asked, causing Simon to wince, "Well, the researchers discovered that during the explosion, a massive amount of energy was transferred to my head. They believe that because the IS core was so close to my head, that it absorbed the energy as it passed through my brain, making a physical copy of the brainwaves inside the core itself. Are you with me so far?"
Simon just sat there for a moment as he tried to process what he had just heard. "So, you're telling me," he began, fighting down the tremor in his voice, "that the explosion I saw somehow copied your thoughts and memories into your IS' core?" When it nodded, Simon looked over at the other two IS. "And the same thing happened to you two?" "Technically, yes, although the circumstances were different," the Fairy answered, "We were 'selected' to prove that their theory about the mind transfer was accurate. It didn't always work." "What do you mean?" "You remember those other machines that were with them?" the Spider asked, walking up behind the Gospel and crossing its arms, "They are the result of experiments to build new cores, and are populated with the leftovers of their mind-transfer project."
Looking back at the Gospel, he was about to ask when it answered what it knew was his next question. "Not all minds can handle that kind of transfer, Simon," it explained, "Some lose pieces of themselves, like their memories. Others fragment completely and are unusable for regular IS. But, they can be used as cannon fodder." Simon just sat there, letting all of that sink in. The longer he thought about it, the more he felt his anger bubbling to the surface and threatening to drown him. They took my sister for this? To treat as a lab rat? he thought as he clutched his head. "It seems he understands, Gospel," the Fairy commented. Finally, he managed, "Who was it? Who ordered this?" "You don't have to worry about them, Simon. We dealt with it." At the coldness in its voice, he looked up at the Gospel. That wasn't his sister, that was something else. They can lose pieces of themselves, so what could she have lost?
Sitting on the rooftop plaza of the hotel, Maylin struggled to get her racing thoughts under control. She had completely closed herself off from the others two days ago after her little outburst, avoiding Ichika, Laura and Cecilia like they had the plague. This was not as hard as you would think it would be, considering their current situation. After the attack, the Academy had canceled classes for the time being and sent most of the student body home. Houki and Cecilia had been sent to a hospital on the mainland for treatment, although whether Houki would wake up or not was unclear at this point.
Ichika had carried her to the main tower himself, unaware of, or just not caring about, the fact that the blast she had taken had virtually removed the entire front of her pilot suit and exposed more skin that she would have been comfortable with. When they transferred her to the hospital, he had insisted on going with her, and the rest of his friends had as well. As such, Chifuyu had booked them rooms in the nearest hotel to rest and recover while they took turns watching over Houki while she recovered. Cecilia had received treatment for her injuries, which hadn't been as bad as they initially thought, but she had to wear a sling for her left arm for the time being. Everyone else had received minor scrapes and bruises, but the worst part was that the usually energetic group was extremely depressed.
And all of this is my fault Maylin thought for the hundredth time. When she had arrived in this timeline, she had decided that her best course of action was to eliminate the Gospel as soon as possible. But when she had arrived at the test facility to destroy it and end this nightmare before it could begin, she had been surprised to find three other units like it. They had overpowered her and used the confusion of her attack to escape the facility, killing several of the staff in the process. Then, days later, they had gone after her parents. Whether they knew who she was or not, that felt like a personal attack, and it had driven her to reveal herself or risk losing them again.
And then, after she had met her father and was finally getting to know him, they had returned. In one swift attack, they had taken him from her, again. How many times will this happen? she wondered as she felt tears welling up again, am I doomed to have this happen again and again? Is this my punishment for failure? Before she could slide much deeper into these dark thoughts, she heard someone open the door behind her. Turning, she saw that it was Cecilia, looking rather surprised to find her here. "Oh, Maylin! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," she said, looking rather embarrassed. "No, it is okay, mot- I mean, Cecilia. Sorry," she said, turning back around and wiping the tears away.
Her attempt at playing it off wasn't going to fool her. Cecilia could plainly hear the pain in her voice. While she had never spent time around the girl, it wasn't because she had hated her. Maylin's presence simply caused too many confusing thoughts to surface, and rather than try and deal with them, Cecilia had decided on avoiding her. Which is definitely not what she needs right now Cecilia thought as she walked up behind her. Sitting next to her, she asked, "What's wrong, dear?" "Nothing is wrong." "Don't try and lie. A mother always knows when her child lies." "I thought you said that you were not my mother?" Maylin asked, looking at her and smiling slightly. "W-well, I did," Cecilia stammered, feeling those confusing thoughts coming back, "So, how about we just remain as friends?" Maylin just nodded and looked away again, though she still looked absolutely awful.
"So, what's bothering you?" she asked, putting her hand on Maylin's shoulder, "I promise, it will stay between the two of us." After thinking for a few moments, she asked, "Cecilia, am I a screw up?" Cecilia was taken back for a moment, surprised that this girl would even ask such a question. "Why do you ask?" "Because everything I do just seems to make things worse. I came back to stop this, and I accelerated their timetable. I try to save fa- Simon, and he just gets taken away," she said, feeling the tears coming back. "I remember what you said, Maylin. Is it true? That he's your father?" Cecilia asked, watching as Maylin just hunched over. "I should not have said anything. Actually, I should never have told you, but… I missed you so much."
After calming herself, she looked at Cecilia and asked, "Did Simon tell you what we discussed a few weeks ago?" "About what happens to some of us?" she asked, thinking back to the conversation they had had, "He did, but he was fairly vague about it. He said something happens to Ichika and Charlotte, but not much else. He did say that there was a third person, but didn't mention a name." At that, Maylin stiffened slightly, feeling that particular memory rising to the surface. Looking down and fiddling with her dress, she decided that it would be better to share this with her mother than let it drown her. Funny how this was the same way she had decided to share this with her father.
"Charlotte and Ichika had married not long after graduation," she began, not noticing the slight shock on Cecilia's face, "They had been together for a long time, and had moved to France. When the Gospel and its forces began to make themselves known, they targeted European countries first. France took a serious blow, and they had tried to help, but…" She couldn't continue, not after getting to know those two and how kind they were. "You and father had gone to Britain, and were focused on its defense. Two years after I was born, he went off to help Tabane when the Gospel raided one of her labs. Tabane returned with a nasty scar on her cheek, but father had… He had stayed behind to buy time for the transport to escape, and they…" She stopped again, feeling like the emotions welling up were going to choke her. "Something happened to me, to, didn't it?" Cecilia asked, already sensing a pattern to the poor girl's story. Taking a deep breath, Maylin struggled through what she had seen, why she was here. It was high time that she came clean.
I wish I could say that this is as dark as it gets, but sadly, there's more to come. Will Simon be able to escape with what he has learned? What will come of Maylin's guilt? And will I finally pair Ichika with someone? Till the next chapter, and as always, feel free to post a review or shoot me a message if there's something that interests/concerns you.