Final chapter guys! This story has been fun, but I was ready to end it. Enjoy!
"Dynamis, I hope you guys are all on standby and ready to disappear when needed."
"You have completed it then?"
"Yeah." Gingka said. "I'm using it to call you right now. Yuki is setting our plan in motion while I wait here at the laboratory and pretend to be shut down. Call the others, will you? I have to make sure I am paying attention enough to 'boot up' when Yuki comes and flips the switch. I only hope he can convince the Garcias."
"I suppose we shall see." Dynamis said. "Good luck, Gingka."
"Thanks." Gingka said, taking a deep breath. "This is going to be likely one of the most dangerous things I have ever done."
"You'll pull through. You always do." Dynamis said.
"Gotts go. Yuki's here and said the Garcias will be in less than a minute. They wanted to set up a perimeter to make sure nobody's coming." Gingka said.
"I shall see you when you come to capture me then." Dynamis said, cutting off the connection.
"Where is this robot you spoke of?" Ian Garcia asked as he entered. Gingka took one more deep breath before holding as still as he possibly could, standing in a corner.
"Right over here." Yuki, disguised in a golden cloak and hood, along with some goggles, led Ian and the few enemy agents who were with him over to Gingka, who watched them calmly through the eyepieces in his mask.
"Seems like a lot of clothes for a robot." Ian commented.
"Well, that is to make him seem more humanlike, and to keep the parts from getting wet and potentially rusting." Yuki said. "Also to protect from cold weather should those conditions be the robot's surroundings."
"Would you mind us seeing precisely how this works?" Ian asked. "It seems to be quite the piece of technology."
"I am afraid I cannot. I sealed off any way of ever doing that, and must keep my trade secrets." Yuki replied calmly. Gingka let out a slight sigh in relief, glad that Yuki was good at making comebacks.
Ian huffed. "Suit yourself. I suppose you do have the right to keep the secrets of your creation secret. However, I must, as a good conductor of business, ask if this contraption actually works the way you claim it to work."
"Of course it does. I only made the claim that it could take down Gingka Hagane because it already has." Yuki said.
Gingka very nearly shuddered at the undertone of evilness that Yuki managed to get into his voice with that line. It was quite convincing, as was evidenced by the surprised look on Ian's face.
"You have proof of this?" Ian said slowly.
"But of course I do." Yuki said, reaching within the folds of his cloak and pulling out a glittering silver and blue object. "This is his Pegasus. He is trapped in a cavern, and without this, he will not be able to escape. He has been in there for quite some time now."
Ian looked impressed. "Show me how this works, and show me the cave Hagane is trapped in, and we may have a deal."
"Stormflight has the location of the cave and can show you the location. He is a robitic soldier who you can command just as you would any other soldier. He will do the rest, and can think for himself as a human can. I used some of the highest levels of technology and computer science to achieve this feat." Yuki said proudly.
"'Stormflight'?" Ian said quizzically.
"The name of my creation." Yuki said, reaching over and putting one hand on Gingka's arm, giving him a slight reassuring squeeze that went unnoticed by all but Gingka.
"Ahh. I see. So it has a name." Ian said.
"Well, of course it does. I had to call it something shorter and better-sounding than 'Experiment 309." Yuki replied.
"And to activate it?"
"Well that is quite simple." Yuki stepped back slightly.
"Get ready, Gingka…" Gingka muttered to himself.
"All you have to do is tell him to activate." Yuki said. "Stormflight, activate all primary systems."
Gingka's eyes flashed around the screens inside his helmet. "Computer, activate eyes and mechanical noises." He said, as whirring and clicking noises began to emanate from the miniature speakers hidden around his person. Ian watched in surprise as a brilliant blue glow ignited in the previously darkened eyes.
Gingka, feeling adrenaline begin to rise in his body as his turn to perform came, stiffly moved several parts of his body, as if he really were a robot who was just booting itself up. He took this opportunity to tap his left forefinger and thumb together, activating his outer speakers.
"All systems ready." He said, smirking slightly with pleasure at the distorted and monotone sound of his voice as it came out of the room.
"From here, commands are easy." Yuki explained. "You can command Stormflight as you would do to a regular person. His interface is also quite interactive, as I said, he can think like a human being could. For example." Yuki paused and turned to Gingka. "Good afternoon, Stormflight."
"Good afternoon, Sir." Gingka replied, making sure to give slight pauses to further push the idea of the robot.
"This is Mister Ian Garcia." Yuki said, gesturing to Ian. Gingka stiffly rotated his head so that his glowing eyes were pointed towards and focused on Ian.
"He is considering becoming your master. Please enter this data into your software." Yuki said.
Gingka rolled his eyes slightly at the technical terms. "Information saved."
"Thank you. Now take us to where you sealed away Gingka Hagane." Yuki said.
"Of course, Sir." Gingka said, beginning to walk as robotically as he knew he could keep up for a while. He was now very glad that Yuki had forced him to practice these movements repeatedly over the past week, because now he knew that they would not give Ian any reason to doubt that what he saw was anything other than a robot.
"He moves quite humanlike." Ian commented. Gingka felt himself tense slightly, biting his lip as he kept walking.
"Yes, I managed to make his movement nearly perfectly like that of a human." Yuki said.
"You seem to have made all of him humanlike." Ian said, disguising what could be suspicion as a simple conversational comment.
"Well, I figured that since the human body works so well, why not model a robot after it as closely as possible?" Yuki said.
"I see." Ian said, seemingly convinced, but who knew whether or not hw actually was?
Gingka forced the worries from his mind. He refused to be nervous about this. He couldn't let nervousness cloud his judgment, or there would be something larger to worry about. He simply had to lead Ian to the place where he was supposedly trapped, and then the moment of truth would come.
"Isn't it rather dangerous to be out in the forest like this?" Ian asked.
"Perhaps, but the way through here is mostly clear, I beileve. And Stormflight should be able to pick up on anything that approaches. Plus, you do have your own agents with you and I am sure that you have trained them for this jungle, since you brought them, am I right?" Yuki said causually, although Gingka was sure that the brunette's mind was likely half-focused on the potential of snakes.
A slight tap of the forefinger to the thumb again, and Gingka's helmet reported that his speakers were off, leaving him free to use his vocal commands.
"Computer, switch to partial heat vision." He ordered, hoping that he would be able to make out anything that was in the area.
"Switching to heat vision at fifty percent." The computer reported as Gingka's view of the surroundings became more colorful.
"Stormflight, check for anything in the surroundings that may be dangerous." Yuki said.
Gingka quickly tapped his fingers together. "Yes sir." He said, then stopped walking and slowly looked around, not identifying anything that looked dangerous. "Nothing has been detected. Area is clear."
"Thank you." Yuki said, sounding slightly more relieved.
"You're welcome, sir." Gingka said, continuing on and keeping an eye out for anything that might pose a threat. He, for one, would be glad when this mission was entirely over. But right now it was just beginning, and it would likely be quite some time before it was all over.
"This is the location." Gingka announced as they finally arrived with no incident, Ian's helicopter following them the whole way.
"And the cavern?" Ian asked.
"Right here, sir. I have melted and sealed the rock so that it cannot be moved." Gingka said, indicating the solid wall of rock.
Ian stepped up to the rocks and inspected them before ordering everyone to stand back and raising his beylauncher. He launched powerfully at the rocks, and Herculeo's impact created quite the explosion, but when the dust cleared, there was barely a dent in the rock.
Gingka allowed himself a smirk at this. "I could have cracked that easily with Pegasus." He thought, suddenly remembering that he needed to get his bey back from Yuki before Ian noticed.
"Well, I suppose that settles things then." Ian said, lowering his launcher and replacing Herculeo in a case hidden inside his suit coat.
"You have made your decision then?" Yuki said.
"Yes. We will agree to your terms and try out your robot." Ian said.
"If there seems to be a flaw in his workings simply send him back to my lab or call me and I shall see what I can do to repair it." Yuki said.
"Of course. Thank you, sir." Ian said.
"My pleasure." Yuki said before walking over to Gingka, who had stood silently through the exchange. "Stormflight, do you understand what you are to do?"
"No, sir." Gingka replied.
Yuki reached both arms forwards, long sleeves trailing slightly. In a moment, the exchange was made, and Pegasus was safely tucked into its case underneath Gingka's coat, the transition hidden beneath Yuki's cloak.
"You are to go with Mr. Garcia and fulfill any order he gives as a method of testing your full intelligence and abilities, is that clear?"
"Perfectly, sir." Gingka said.
"Good. Then go." Yuki said, stepping back as Gingka stepped forwards and into Ian's helicopter, which had landed for the purpose of picking them up.
Yuki watched as the helicopter took off with Gingka inside. He bit his lip slightly and watched the helicopter until it was out of sight. Only time would tell now whether they would succeed or not. Yuki only hoped that Gingka was up to the enormous task that he had given himself. If Gingka failed, he could die, that much was certain. All of them could.
As Yuki began the long walk back to his observatory, he was uncertain whether or not this had been a good idea. Of course, now it was too late to back out of it. Gingka was gone, off on his mission deep into enemy territory, and whether he succeeded or not was up entirely to him.
Gingka, as he stood in the helicopter surrounded by enemies, forced himself to stay calm. His golden-brown eyes flashed around the inside of his helmet, as he forced himself to simply breathe. The important thing right now was to not panic and to do his job. The last thing he was going to do was fail. The Garcias and whatever they were planning would be stopped. Gingka knew that much. Even if he did not stop them, he would die trying before he let them take over the world.
As the helicopter soared towards the looming building in the middle of the forest with all its secrets, only one thought was in the minds of both Gingka and Yuki.
"Operation Stormflight has begun. And, no matter what… Together, we stand."
Two things to finish this off: First, if you feel like there should have been more and that this wasn't a solid ending, you're probably right. But this wasn't supposed to be a solid ending because this is a prequel story. If you have not read the rest of the Stormflight series, you should go do so. The first one is titled Together We Stand (Yes, I used its title for the last few words of this story. Because I could. XP) And you can go from there.
Second: New story next week guys! So, next weekend, I am pleased to announce that you may look for "Rearrangement: More Than it Seems." This story will be back up to my former writing level that I don't feel like I have had since I wrote Lost in the Echo. Oh, and if I can pull it off properly it'll be worse in feels than Not One of Us was. Just chew on that fact for a week. ;)
On that note, until next time, Galaxy out!