Chapter 5
Destiny: Souchou.EXE
Five Keronians standing amidst the control room of the Garuru Platoon's ship were caught dumbfounded at the sight of Sepron's face. Before them a field of sharp, jagged red icebergs of crystal drifted radically in open space. Every so often a burst of electricity would jump from crystal mass to crystal mass. A true hell if there ever was one.
No one in the room other than Kururu understood the impact of the field, because only Kururu knew the details of E.X.E. 'This is bad…' He thought pressingly. He looked up at Tororo who was manning the controls, with Garuru standing over him, while Zoruru and Taruru guarded him. Even if he tried to tell them it was a bad idea, it seemed apparent that everyone would be more than happy to not listen to him. 'Might be better to let them find out for themselves…'
As they entered the field Kururu noticed that Tororo activated a metal shield around fragile parts of the ship. "A metal shield…?" Kururu asked a loud, though he kept his voice down. Taruru still heard and jumped right on the question. "Yeah! If we get hit by a charge the metal can conduct it into our generators!" he replied in a chirpy voice. 'Generators…' He had forgotten that most ships come with back up generators.
For a moment Kururu wondered how they knew about Sepron's face. His gaze fell on Tororo as he was pondering, perhaps Tororo had read over his data? 'But I destroyed all my data…' But apparently that wasn't true. The only data on EXE that was suppose to exist was the report he submitted to Headquarters, and the reports made during the eight days that EXE was studied, all of which had nothing to do with Sepron's face or the incident. 'Tch…' Yet, in spite of all his attempts to erase EXE, they had had his map.
As Taruru had predicted, the ship began to get struck by the electrical charges, which were redirected to the back of the ship. "Pu-pu! It's working perfectly!" Tororo cheered. Kururu cringed inside, knowing Tororo's favorite thing was turning someone's weapon or defense against them. They drifted amidst Sepron's Face in silence until Garuru rose from his controls. He stood over the railing peering down on the yellow keronian, "You've picked quite a spot to hide this project. I applaud you efforts." Kururu smirked a bit, acknowledging the compliment. Sepron's face was a perfect hiding spot for the project. No one would venture into the crystal mass, charged with electricity and on the edge of charted space, if not already in uncharted space. "They say the man who discovered this area, named it after himself." Kururu began, "One of the universes greatest technological engineers, however, he was infamous for his mistakes-"
"Don't bother." Garuru interrupted, turning back to him controls. "I'm not interested in this hell hole's history." Kururu grinned wider at his un-interest. "Apparently he tried to use this area's electricity to power his machines. However, he discovered why this place is not only dangerous, but useless." Garuru stopped what he was doing upon hearing Kururu's further details. "Useless?" he asked with a light chuckle. "It doesn't seem so useless to me. With all the energy we're collecting, we'll have enough to get us home with almost all our fuel-"
"Kuu-ku! It doesn't matter," Kururu's voice slithered around the purple soldier, screaming 'I know something you don't!'. Garuru sighed turning back from his controls, to Kururu. "Why," he growled, "Does it not matter?"
"You guys are the smart ones. Ask Tororo." he laughed. Tororo froze up at his controls, letting out a small hiccup. "Tororo!" Garuru demanded looking in his direction. "Y-yes sir!" he answered with a salute. Garuru gave him an annoyed look, making it apparent he was in trouble. "I uh….Don't know what he's talking about…." Tororo said, his voice shaking. "Lying to your comrades is not only dishonest, but also intolerable, Ku-ku-ku!" Kururu laughed chiming in. "Shut up! All you talk is a bunch of jibberish you damn nerd!" Kururu stopped laughing at Tororo's outburst and glared up at him. "Nerd? If a nerd can survive through Sepron's Face, then I would rather be a nerd compared to a failure of a hacker." he said, his voice growling, but also, hinting that perhaps Tororo really didn't know. In which case, would mean they truly were lacking his data. "Bakaaaaaaaaa!! You-!" Tororo began.
"Stop this bickering." Garuru cut in, turning back to Kururu. "You're with us in this place. You might as well warn us of whatever precaution we should be taking if you'd like to get out of here in one piece." he said calmly. Kururu rolled his eyes, annoyed because Garuru was right. "If all the energy is taken from even the smallest crystal particle, it'll cause a chain of explosive reactions that will jump from crystal to crystal and reverse the energy transfer. Instead of retaining their energy, they're release all of the raw electricity stored inside them in a massive charge." Garuru and Tororo's gazes widened at the news. "But that's not right! Their not retaining their energy! What about the charges being emitted right now!?" Tororo gasped. "Kuuu-ku-ku! You never studied. Like most metals, the crystals here have a polar make up. When those polar sides collide, along with the already high energy quantity, it would only make sense that the crystals would trade electrons through electrical charges. They can get very nasty that way as well."
By now Zoruru and Taruru had begun listening in, and Kururu's explanation brought all of their thoughts together. If their ship absorbed too much energy, they could discharge a small particle within the crystals and cause the whole place to self destruct. "By putting you ship in the way of all the electric charges, the charges cannot be complete and a crystal could go without a replacement for the energy it released. And if this place blows up, who knows what could happen to EXE." Kururu finished.
Tororo seemed to be taken back by the technical make up of Sepron's Face, he was beside himself at his controls. "But if we don't have our shield, the ship could get blown to bits!…How are we suppose to travel through this place?" he asked, his voice quieted with dread. "Simple. You don't." Kururu answered with a shrug.
"Why didn't you tell us this before we entered the area!?"
Kururu looked up at a furious Garuru taking to his controls. "Taruru, Zoruru, Tororo! Get us out of here!" He ordered, reaching under his desk and pulling on a lever that activated a manual override of the ship's course. All members of the platoon took to their controls. "Everyone hang on!" Garuru thundered. Everyone except Kururu, who hadn't expected such a rapid change of course, grasped the nearest thing to them as the ship shot upwards. Kururu fell forward flat on his face, and rolled back to the wall behind him. There he was able to grasp metal post that was supporting the wall. Huge roars of electricity could be heard all around them as they blew through the crystal field. "T-minus 10 seconds until exit of Sepron's Face!" Tororo cried out as the ship began to shake all over and rumble. For ten seconds the roars and the rumbling continued. Kururu wondered just how much damage was being done to the ship, knowing the manual override activated controls in the ship that hadn't been used in awhile, which was cause of all the noise.
The noise stopped and the whole ship seemed to be buzzing slightly when the purple/red haze of Sepron's Face was below them. All of the platoon seemed to let out a sigh all at once, when they realized they had made it out of the electricity field. Kururu relaxed a bit. He hadn't noticed that he had felt that grasp of panic when the ship darted for safety. He found it disturbing, but now wasn't the time to think on it. Garuru rose from his controls, placing a hand to his hip. From the way he had been acting, ever since Kururu had yelled back at him, he seemed….stressed. As if something heavy had been on his mind. He wasn't his calm solider self, with the exceptions of him being enraged by Kururu's interferences of course. "Call it a night." he heard Garuru say. Quietly the other members rose from their stations and proceeded to leave. When they had disappeared through the exit, without so much as a glance or word to Kururu, even from Tororo, Garuru himself began to leave. Slowly making his way down the ramp, he stopped when he reached the bottom and looked over at Kururu. His eyes lingered on him, wondering.
"What?" Kururu asked crossing his arms. Garuru's gaze softened, and he smirked. "Nothing." he said. Kururu quirked a brow at him, knowing that there certainly was something. Garuru only shook his head, "I don't think it would matter at this point. Whether you knew such items as EXE, or such places as Sepron's Face, existed, or not. It doesn't matter." he began. "Headquarters… they're not like they used to be…"
At that Kururu rose from where he was, his gaze was blurred because he still did not have his glasses, but he could see Garuru was feeling different than before. "I heard there was a change in ownership. I didn't figure it would make much of a difference, because nothing on Keron seemed to reach us on Pekopon." Kururu said, sentimentally. "They expect results. They expect a lot more than before, because of the war." Garuru replied, supporting Kururu's statement. "You all seemed so at peace on Pekopon, you don't even seem to be invading, and yet…" Garuru's voice trailed off.
"And yet you couldn't defeat us. You're respected for your ability to understand and accept defeat. You lost that when you attacked me." Kururu said. He felt his arms stiffen. The memory of the attacks fresh in his mind. He had been given everything, except the reason why. 'It could be different. Everything could be different.' he thought, his rage coming back to him. Garuru noticed the anger rising in him, and placed a hand behind his head, scratching lightly as he let out another sigh. "If I was to be honest with you. I would tell you, that you, nor any of your comrades were ever in danger. But at the same time, I would be lying, because, our platoon cannot return home without this project, and I promised that I would not allow ourselves to become exiled because of failure."
Kururu looked up, completely surprised by what he had said. "When…." he nearly gasped, unable to understand how that could be possible. "You're….not lying…are you?" he asked, scrambling for justification. "No." Garuru muttered. "HQ is more serious than ever about this project. It's not for me to say, but, things are becoming desperate amongst the army. If you know what I mean." Kururu shook his head, noting that he didn't understand, (which was something that was becoming annoyingly more common of him). "That's why, although I agree with your view on EXE. I cannot spare mercy for you. I cannot spare sympathy, I cannot spare your pain, because this must be done. For the good of Keron, and now, for the good of my Platoon. Wouldn't Keroro Gunso have done the same?" he asked, hoping that Kururu would understand him.
Kururu became silent, wondering now what Garuru was wondering. What would Keroro have done? "I don't know." Kururu answered, "Even after your first attack, I haven't heard from Keroro at all."
"I see…" Garuru said. Ending their conversation with a lost hope, Garuru passed through the doors of the control room, leaving Kururu alone. Kururu considered a moment, going to the controls and taking over the ship, but, he realized now the reason that he hadn't been lead back to his cell right off. Garuru trusted him. He trusted him now, to help him, the help all of them. "Unfair…" he muttered walking up the ramp to the controls. He wandered towards the front of the ship, looking out the huge window, staring down upon Sepron's Face below. "Sepron died because he loved this place so much….but who, could really love this place….?" he whispered. He looked up out into the distant space seeing another rogue star far away from the ship. Miles from home, and now, caught between the most powerful weapon in the universe, and the home of four soldiers, he wondered which was worse. Kururu sighed realizing that he had never been defeated. No, he had never been defeated at all, Garuru's attacks of ferocity were out of fear. Out of fear that Kururu wouldn't help him, and out of fear that they'd never be able to go home again. He looked down at the bandages that covered him now knowing that fear had done this to him. 'Emotions drive this universe…emotions…is all it would take to destroy it…'
"And unholy weapon made by the universe itself as a means of self-destruction."
That alone described EXE perfectly to him. But did the universe really come to be just to be destroyed? Even if Kururu did somehow find a way to host EXE without it simply absorbing his lifeforce, he didn't know what would become of him. He didn't know what could happen, if he could control it, or if it would control him. His life, in his perspective, seemed to become like a sheet of glass in front of EXE. As if EXE was a giant hammer and could smash his to pieces without the least of effort.
'It didn't take any EFFORT to take their lives…' he thought, referring to the scientists he had worked with. He wished that he could take it back, he wished HQ had given them more time. Time seemed to be the one thing that he lacked to most in his life. They always say "life is too short for this," or "life is too short for that," but really, if you thought about it, everyone had all the time in the world, if only they would stop and look around. It's not nature that creates the clock, it's people. No matter what form of life, it was people that made life so short. People made situations where there simply is no time to spare. Everyone can remember times when they were under the pressure, and even for Kururu, this wasn't the only pinch he had been in.
"Saburo…" As his thoughts trailed from his situation to his friends, he felt the desire to return home. Giroro and Dororo were probably being welcomed home by now. Tamama was probably with Momoka, eating snacks or something, and Keroro….
"Gunso…" Keroro's absence tore a hole in his desire to return home. "Where are you…? I'm stuck. I can't do everything by myself this time. I can't save you if you get in trouble." he said, feeling a taint of near hatred. Every time his comrades were in trouble, it was up to him to save them. But now, he was the one who needed to be rescued. And where was Keroro all this time? Giroro had said that he had received a message from Keroro saying he wasn't coming for them. But when Kururu thought about it, the message could've easily been made up to discourage Giroro from trying to escape. But still, he had little proof and it hurt to think that there was a possibility that even after all he had done for his platoon, that his leader had abandoned him.
Kururu sat down on large window sill, sulking. "Don't abandon me…" he whispered, sadly. It was then Kururu realized that everything he feared before, wasn't the fear of defeat or intimidation. But rather, it was the fear of destiny.
AN- I'm still not feeling well, but all my downtime is giving me more time to write. Microsoft word prosessor is annoying me because it makes the chapters look really long, then when i post them on here they look almost stupid short... If you all would, please continue to review, and tell me whatcha think! ;3