Chapter 3: The Ganglion Menace
(Disclaimer! I own nothing of Xenoblade X!)
Lin was wondering what she should cook.
"Hmmm what should I whip up today?" asked Lin.
"How about…. Fried Chicken," said Cross, "I haven't had that in a minute."
"That is a GREAT idea!" said Lin.
Later she started cooking it.
Tatsu looked and was wondering what she was making.
"What's Linly making?" Asked Tatsu.
"Fried Chicken," said Lin, "Looks like we're out of meat, so we'll need something that tastes like chicken, or should I say someONE who tastes like chicken."
"Tatsu no taste like chicken, Tatsu tastes like poop…. And poison!" said Tatsu, "Tatsu tastes like poison poop!"
"Oh just remembered, we got plenty of chicken!" said Lin.
"Hey Linly did that on purpose!" said Tatsu.
After a few minutes food was ready.
"Foods up, come and get it!" said Lin.
Sombody opened the door.
"Man that was delicious," said Vandham, "Good thing I decided to drop in.
"You say that every time I'm about to set up the table," said Lin.
"You don't say," said Vandham.
Later they were in the main lobby.
"Looks like we've found something in Noctulim thanks to Frontier Nav," said Vandham, "This is Northwest of here, and looks like a piece of the Lifehold."
"That's good news," said Elma.
"You mean Nightglow woods?" asked Tatsu.
"Is that what you call it here?" asked Cross.
"We didn't have names for anything here so we called it Noctulim," said Elma.
"That's a silly name," said Tatsu.
"Look who's talking," said Lin.
"Moving on… there's quite a few indigens, but no intelligent life forms," said Vandham.
"That's good news," said Elma.
"Wrong, nopon visit there all the time," said Tatsu.
"Well no 'INTELLEGENT' life forms," said Vandham.
"Do not patronize Tatsu!" said Tatsu.
"Unless you wanna be boiled to the brim Tatsu, I suggest you shut up," said Lin.
"Eep!" said Tatsu.
"I'll have you check in with Lao's team first," said Vandham, "They're installing a probe near Noctulim."
"Got is boss," said Cross.
They started heading out.
Once near Primordia's end they saw a team of blades installing a probe.
The probe was installed by a green probe.
A light skinned man was watching everything.
"Lao, its been a while," said Elma.
"It sure has," said Lao, "Gonna introduce me to your friends? What about Danny and Boris?"
"These are my new team members, and as for Danny and Boris…" started Elma, "We had a run in with a powerful indigen and they didn't make it…"
"Sorry about that," said Lao, "Sooooo who's this little ration over here?"
"Tatsu is a nopon!" said Tatsu, "Not food or ration."
"I-it talks?" asked Lao.
"Pretty wild right?" Asked Cross.
"We rescued him from the Prone," said Elma.
"Ok," said Lao as he turned to Lin, "And what's your story? Are you really as young as you look?"
"Yep, 13 years old in and out," said Lin, "Lin Lee Koo at your service."
"Nice to meet you," said Lao, "And what about you?"
"My name's Cross," said Cross, "I'm a boy who's trying to discover my memories."
"We're well met," said Lao, "My name's Lao Huang and I lead the Pathfinder team, Belisarda."
They shook hands.
"A great cast of characters, and they really look like they can handle anything," said Lao, "I heard Nelson's team got wiped out by a group of nasty Xenos."
"Yeah, we're not sure whether or not they're responsible for Earth's demise," said Elma, "Oh, we picked up a signal of a Lifehold unit around Noctulim."
"We haven't heard anything," said Lao, "But if you need an extra member to help I'm down."
"What about your work around here?" asked Cross.
Nobody could see it, but there was a small bit of jealousy in him.
"This is a piece of the Lifehold we're talking about here," said Lao.
Cross thought for a moment.
"Alright," said Cross.
"I'll see you guys back at NLA," said Lao.
"Good luck," said one of his teammates.
They started to head into Noctulim.
Cross smelled something.
"What is that?" asked Cross, "It smells strange."
"Tatsu took a shower before we left," said Tatsu.
"He wasn't talking about you," said Lin.
They all noticed the water was purple.
"Its gotta be poisonous," said Elma, "Watch your step."
They continued going around Noctulim.
Cross looked around trying to regain his memory.
"Don't remember anything about this place," said Cross.
"Don't sweat it," said Elma.
"Something ahead!" said Tatsu.
They saw something come towards them.
Cross ready to fight got in front of Lin ready to protect her.
"Hey, down in front!" said Lin, "I can't see."
It got closer.
It was a blue colored xeno wearing strange clothing.
"Its another Xeno," said Elma.
"Well whatever that Xeno is, at least its not a prone," said Lin.
Cross put his sword down.
"Oh perish and set that thought in a raging fire," said the Xeno, "We would never associate with those savage beasts."
"Sorry about that," said Cross, "So what's your name?"
"We are called L'cirufe," he said.
"L'cirufe…." Said Cross, "I don't think I'm gonna use that…. How about Lee."
"Lee?" asked Lin.
"Yeah," said Lee, "That fits me very much."
"I'm Cross," said Cross.
"Good to meet you Cross," said Lee, "We have inhabitated this planet since days of young."
"Friend knows abut nopon?" asked Tatsu.
"Yes," said Lee, "They are excellent…. Suckers as I put it."
"I think you mean customers," said Lin.
Cross and the gang started to explain everything.
"So you're after a piece of this Lifehold," said Lee.
"That's right," said Cross, "But there have been a few creatures that have been attacking us along the way."
"Well we can't say we blame them, especially after the Prone," said Lee.
"Trust me, we dislike them as much as you do," said Cross.
"Well any enemy of the prone is a friend of ours," said Lee.
"You seem to speak our language quite fluently," said Elma.
"We owe it to that wreckage back there," said Lee, "especially that data terminal."
"The Lifehold," said Cross, "Do you mind if we take a look at this wreckage you're talking about, Lee?"
He gave them a unit and Lin scanned it.
"It must be from the Lifehold unit Vandham was talking about," said Elma.
"Well let's get to it pronto," said Cross.
"Now may not be a good time as those asscaves are near it," said Lee.
"Well that changes everything," said Cross, "We should get to it before they do."
"Allow us to show you the way," said Lee, "Too many heads are better than none right?"
"Close enough," said Lin.
They started heading towards the Lifehold piece.
Cross started to smell fire.
"Oh no," he said.
Prone soldiers were firing at it.
"We were afraid of this," said Lee.
"Do they just destroy anything in their sight?" asked Lin.
"No, it seems organized," said Elma, "It looks like we're not the only ones looking for the Lifehold."
"I think its time to kick some ass!" said Cross.
He got out his sword and started fighting them.
Lao got out his sniper and got the other soldier's attention.
"Try this one out for size," he said, "Arching Horn!"
He did a move with his javelin.
Cross staggered the other prone soldier.
"He's staggered!" said Cross, "Lin now!"
Lin did the Trash Talk to get their attention for a spilt second and Elma did the side slash weakening them.
Cross did a new move he learned called the Incendiary Edge finishing them off.
"That takes care of that," he said.
Someone approached the battlefield.
"Mistress Geotia," said a prone, "These are Earth Aliens."
She looked at them.
"Seeing is truly believing," she said.
The lifehold piece exploded.
"Even though she's not a prone, they're siding with her," said Elma.
"What do you have against humans?" asked Lin, "Why do you hate us?"
"Destroying humans is more of a duty to us Ganglion," said Geotia.
"So that's what you call yourselves," said Elma.
"I see humanity as a cancer feeding upon our race," said Geotia.
"We came here in piece, not to start a war," said Cross, "Why do you think you can just destroy the lifehold?!"
"You are a dangerous group of savages that need to be purged," said Geotia, "And I will see to that personally. That is the righteous cause of the Ganglion."
"Then you'll forgive us for using self defense against your so-called righteous cause!" said Elma, "Attack!"
They started fighting each other.
Lin and Elma handled the prone soldiers while Cross and Lao had their eyes on Geotia.
"This should be some form of entertainment," said Geotia as her hands channeled electricity.
Cross charged in and started fighting her.
She was able to dodge any melee attack he could throw.
She then kneed him in the gut but he quickly got back up.
"C'mon!" he said.
He did the assault hammer hoping to topple her but to no avail.
"Get back Cross," said Lao, "Spiral Horn!"
He did the attack and forced Geotia down.
Lin and Elma handled the prone soldiers with no sweat.
"Look at Cross," said Lin, "He's handling that lady like a champ. We should help him!"
"I think we should sit and watch," said Elma.
Cross did the Maximum Edge on Geotia weakening her and Lao did the Arching Horn on her.
It damaged her right arm.
"You fools just don't know when to quit do you?" she asked, "You won't escape us on this planet or any other! One day, and one day soon the human race will be purged!"
Another explosion appeared and a mech showed up.
"Quickly!" said the soldier.
Geotia jumped on the mech.
"That mech….. could it be?" asked Elma.
"A well fought victory," said Lee, "But we're sorry that we couldn't bring back what you were looking for."
"Why are they trying so hard to destroy us?" asked Lin.
"I'm not sure but that mech… thye were the ones responsible for Earth's demise," said Elma, "And they were the ones involved in a battle as well."
"Well we might as well head back to our city," said Cross.
"Would it be alright if we came with?" asked Lee, "A city with so much knowledge would be so great!"
"I think that would be good, you're not ganglion so you're someone you can trust," said Cross.
"Joy," said Lee, "The early bird is for the worms."
"Riiiiiiight," said Cross.
Back in NLA
The team headed to Blade HQ to speak with Commander Vandham.
"Either you picked up another Xeno or someone's been holding their breath too long," said Vandham.
"We met him back in Noctulim," said Cross, "His name is Lee."
"We've been on this planet since its beginning," said Lee.
"Longtime Resident?" asked Nagi.
"His knowledge could be useful to us here," said Elma, "I think he should stay with us here in NLA."
"That depends," said Chausson, "How much do we know about him?"
"Enough to say he's trustworthy," said Cross, "He did show us to that lifehold piece."
"You seem quite sure," said Nagi, "He can stay with us, as long as he shares with us what we need to know."
"A thousand thanks good sirs," said Lee, "The 9th cloud of 7th heaven shall be conquered on this day."
"Him aside, what happened with the Lifehold Unit?" asked Chausson.
They explained everything that happened.
"It was destroyed by a group of aliens calling themselves the Ganglion," said Elma.
"So it wasn't the core after all," said Nagi.
"It Was Unit 07," said Elma.
"Isn't that the LC Repository?" askd Nagi.
"Correct," said Elma.
"It was one of three parts of the entire Library of Congress," said Chausson, "It contained a ton of history."
"Well if it was the core then things would've been much worse," said Vandham.
"There might be a way to recover it," said Nagi.
"These Ganglion, are you certain they're the ones responsible for what happened to Earth?" asked Chausson.
"Positive," said Elma showing them a picture of the mech they saw.
"It looks similar to what we saw on Earth before the invasion," said Nagi.
"They've been targeting the Lifehold, so its possible they followed us," said Elma.
"It would be best to double down our defenses," said Chausson, "In the meantime keep up the good work."
"Yes sir," said Elma.
Cross was helping Lee get settled in another area in NLA.
"We very much appreciate this," said Lee.
"You sure this is ok?" asked Cross.
"Of course," said Lee, "One man's treasure is another one's pleasure, as they say yes?"
"Close," said Cross.
"Glad to see you two getting along," said Elma.
"He seems very nice," said Cross, "I even got him a spot as a blade."
"We shall do our part to help your fair city in the fight against those asscaves," said Lee.
"Soooo if you don't mind me asking, who are Danny and Boris?" asked Cross.
"They were two teammates of mine," said Elma, "We did everything together until they met their demises with that one indigen."
"I'm sorry about that," said Cross.
"But its nothing to think about now," said Elma, "Because I have you and Lin."
She smiled.
"C'mon let's head back to the barracks," she said.
He walked back with her.
