Hey! bestknight32 here! …yeah got nothing this time lol. I'd like to thank dahliingg for making the base of the story and Tim Baril for making this chapter! you two are the best! Thats all until next time! " dun dun dun My name is bestknight32! and im here to say, to read the next chapter is all I have to say!"
Rotor blades sliced through the air with a deep whine. The interior of the cargo plane was filled to the max with people and supplies.
The pilot had taken one look at the size of the delivery and the number of soldiers that had escaped from Mephisto's forces and had shaken his head. "I'll load as much as we can, but we won't be able to take all of it."
Hayden had protested, "But we need—"
"We'll be red-lining it the whole way home. Lucky if the fuel lasts. Don't worry, I'm pushing the machine to the limit. But there's only so much I can do."
Strapped into his jump seat as they flew, Hayden wondered if the harsh whine he heard from the engine was only his imagination or if the plane was struggling to carry them all through the air. Would they make it home or be forced to land in strange territory and wait for rescue?
Emperor lay on the plane's floor in front of him while Ansel applied bandages to the bird's wounds.
Hayden raised his voice over the noise of the engine and flight. "What's next for you?"
Emperor cracked open an eye. "Me? Back to work!"
He raised a brow, surprised by the penguin's resilience. "Aren't you worried? Multiple gangs came together to take you down."
Emperor casually waved a flipper, dismissing the threat. "Just means I'm doing my job. They're jealous of my success, man. Losers can't achieve it on their own so they wanna drag me down, get me outta the way. But it's ok. I gotta good look at them out there. I know who came after me. And I'll have my revenge. Oh yes, believe me, brother, I will have my revenge. Muahahaha!" His brave laughter cut off in a hiss of pain.
Ansel blushed and bobbed his head while he worked on Emperor's wound. "Sorry. But you need to stop moving while I do this."
Exusiai overheard their conversation from where she and Texas were strapped into jump seats behind a huge stack of boxes. "Don't worry about us, Doc! We're survivors. This is just a little setback is all. Seen them before."
Texas nodded, her tone more reserved but still confident. "This is actually an excellent opportunity. Those that attacked us lost a lot of members. Not just to us but because they became zombies. Once we get back to headquarters, I'll start drafting a plan to strike back at those gangs who were decimated today."
Exusiai pumped a fist into the air. "That's right! Hit 'em while they're weak. Perfect time for us to expand. Ha!"
Hayden couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm. If you were going to survive in this world, you needed grit. If you were going to thrive, then being able to recover fast from adversity seemed like an important trait to have. Emperor and his crew would be just fine.
Adnachiel, sitting next to Steward in the back corner of the cargo hold, was hidden from the doctor's line of sight. He leaned over and nudged Steward. "So? What'd you think of the mission?"
Steward shrugged, nonchalant. "We're not dead yet. That's a plus."
"Things might have gotten a bit messy, but it turned out pretty well. We escaped a hell of a trap back there and still got out with what we went for. Didn't lose anyone."
Steward allowed, "Yeah. Got lucky."
"There was some strategy in there, too."
Steward just shrugged.
Adnachiel chuckled at his friend's determined stubbornness. "Come on. He did a decent job for someone who's lost all his memories. You gonna let up on the guy?"
"We'll see how it goes. Kind of hard to believe he just woke up as someone else." Steward hesitated. "But he seems a little different. No sacrificial pawns. This time."
Adnachiel threw an arm around the stiff young man's shoulders and laughed. "Everyone deserves a second chance, right?"
Sitting at a cluttered work table in the Engineering section, with multiple projects laid about in various states of tinkering and repair, Closure had one eye on the diagnostics monitor and another on the cermial dilator. "Come on, you stupid thing! Why won't you work?" She twisted the calibrator another hair. Nothing responded. "Grr. Please tell me the circuit isn't fried."
Lancet, the flying cube robot swept into the air overhead. "Attention. You have a delivery."
"Uh-huh." She didn't bother turning her attention away from the frustrating repair in front of her. "I get lots of deliveries."
"This one is most unusual. It is not a scheduled delivery, and there is no record of who the sender is or where it came from."
"'K. You scan it for bombs? Traps? Acid? Poison? Originium?"
Lancet pulled himself up and spoke as if affronted. "Of course! Guardian has run it through all standard safety protocols."
Guardian rolled up just then with a small, nondescript brown carton in its hands.
Closure intently peered through her magnifying scope and adjusted the calibrator another hair. Still nothing lit up on the monitor. "I'm this close to through this dumb thing through a window."
Lancet tilted sideways. "There are no windows in this room, nor in any room within the engineering department."
She didn't look up. "I'm going to throw you through the window after it."
"I take that as an idle threat. If there are no windows, there is nothing to throw me through."
"If I through you hard enough, it'll make a window."
"You do not have the physical capacity to throw any object with the force necessary to create a hole in a wall let alone the superstructure of this base." It paused. "Perhaps if you hit the gym now and then instead of all those fried potatoes…"
Closure blinked and slowly raised her head. She silently stared at the flying demon machine.
It flew backward, slightly more out of reach. "You have gained 1.23 kgs this month—"
She put down the calibrator on the table and reached for a wrench in her toolbelt at her hip, a nice, hefty one that was good for throwing at dumbass robots.
Lancet quickly backed up another meter. "—kilograms which have only added to your sublime physical charms, Mistress of Engineering."
Her eyes narrowed. "Remind me to calibrate your software and remove all personality bits."
"Of course. Making a note now, Mistress."
She replaced the wrench in her toolbelt.
Lancet slowly drifted away, and his voice lowered. "Note: remind violent, domineering tyrant that she wishes to reduce me to a slave mind; do not mention how fat she's becoming."
In a flash, Closure sent the wrench spinning through the air.
Lancet lazily dodged. "Ooh, ow. That hurt. Please stop— Oh, wait. You missed. I'm…shocked by your physical inability despite how little exercise you get."
She barked, "I'm going to exercise my hands around your digital neck, you fancy tin can."
"Name calling? How plebian."
"Rust bucket."
"Fatty."
This time, her throw was right on target, and the wrench she whipped his way knocked him clean out of the air. "Ha! Gotcha!"
Lancet bounced off the ground and then slowly rose up into the air once more.
She smirked at him, feeling triumphant. "Nothing to say now, huh? No snarky comeback? Yeah, you just remember who built you, huh? And who could just as easily take you apart."
Lancet's voice was a mixture of surprised and meek. "Yes, Mistress."
Satisfied, she turned her attention to the box that Guardian still silently offered her. She took it from him and put it on the table. "Thanks, G."
The robot — one without a smart-ass personality or voice software — turned and went back to its business.
She studied the box. "Wonder what's inside. And why they sent it. Not my birthday." Despite security precautions that had no doubt been done by Rhodes before it got to her office, and then by her own mechanical constructs, she approached the box warily. One simply did not receive mysterious things in the mail very often.
She ran her own x-ray and then scans for biological compounds, viruses, and other potentially harmful substances. "Hmm. Plant matter. But it seems to be dead. Obviously, because it's in a box with no light or water. Various metals. A motherboard. Yet nothing powered on. Hmm…" At last, she shrugged. "I'll open it under a hood just to be extra safe."
Taking the box to the side of the room, she opened a glass enclosure with a ventilation hood built into it. The enclosure would contain anything harmful and even dull small explosions, while any contaminants would be sucked up and out of the room by the ventilator. Sliding her arms into the gloves in the glass, she gently peeled open the box.
She pulled the cardboard away to reveal a dull gray cube with rounded corners. A button on top. She pushed it.
The cube's sides dropped open. Blood-red rose petals spilled out, revealing a pile of electronics stacked together.
"Huh. That's…creepy. Although, anyone who knows me would know I'd rather get machine parts than flowers as a gift. So I guess they're kind of on the right track?" She brushed the petals away and focused on the parts, which she extracted from the box and laid on the table.
Lancet hovered overhead. "It appears the device has been disassembled. Perhaps recon—"
She smiled and nodded. "Ah! It's a puzzle." Checking the enclosure monitor, she saw that no harmful substances had been detected. Thinking it safe, she opened the glass case and gathered the electronic bits in her hands. "I love puzzles."
Hauling the parts to a slightly less cluttered workbench than the others, she set to work reassembling the mystery device.
What would it do once put back together?
The cargo plane banked in the air and lined up with the Rhodes Island base.
Hayden had been relaxed for the journey. But now, watching the base through the turn, he felt a spike of alarm. There was only enough room atop the base for a helipad. It certainly wasn't long enough to hold a runway and accommodate planes. He straightened and turned a worried look on Doberman. "How are we going to land?"
She smirked and leaned back in her seat. "Huh. Good question."
He glanced back outside, but they were now in line with the base and slowing, so he couldn't see Rhodes Island. But he knew it was growing close. "We're going to land on the ground next to the base, aren't we? But…" he looked outside again, "isn't there an awful lot of forest around us right now?"
Some of the others within hearing distance and seeing Hayden's growing anxiousness snickered or laughed outright.
Ansel opened his mouth to say something, but when Doberman lightly kicked him, he stayed silent, biting back a smile.
Hayden couldn't help but feel increasingly tense despite everyone else's levity. In part because everyone else also made doubly sure they were all strapped into their seats and then clung to those straps with white knuckles.
The plane slowed and suddenly bounced through turbulence in a way that made Hayden nearly freak out. It turns out he was not a fan of flying. And the following experience was not going to help.
The plane dove.
Hayden's stomach lurched.
They descended only for a couple of seconds. Then the nose jerked up, and the aircraft rapidly bled speed. A glowing, black substance enveloped the windows, shrouding the cargo bay in an odd, green and purplish light. Then it was as if some giant hands took hold of the plane and caught it, everyone inside slamming against their restraints, then slowing the aircraft down and bringing it close to the mobile base before carefully placing it on the helipad.
Doberman gave him a sly look. "Yeah, that's about the reaction most people have the first few times they go through that. At least you didn't vomit."
Sudden light returned, and he blinked. Craning his next to look out the window, he saw the glowing black tendrils shrinking and fading away in the hands of two men. "Whoa. They caught us?"
Ansel nodded. "Yep. Not all Arts are used for destruction."
That was good to see.
Hayden stepped off the cargo plane and saw Amiya waiting with a smile. Workers swarmed the aircraft and the payload. Stretchers were brought in, and there was a bit of chaos as everyone disembarked.
Amiya raised a hand and waved. "Great work, everyone! You were amazing, as always!"
People responded to her good cheer with a wave back or a shout.
Emperor raised a flipper from his stretcher. "Can't touch us…ha…" Then he fell asleep thanks to the drugs he'd been given.
12F grinned a toothy smile. "It was a good team effort."
Adnachiel walked by Amiya with arms full of other people's gear. "A walk in the park. Mephisto didn't stand a chance."
Amiya's expression turned to surprise. "Mephisto? What? Why was he there?"
Doberman, serious but smiling, walked up and put a hand on the young leader's shoulder. "Plenty to talk about. But another successful field operation."
Hayden joined them. "A bit of luck and a lot of good people got the job done. Happily, everyone survived."
Amiya gestured to the cargo. "And we got the supplies we needed."
Doberman asked, "How are things here? Any developments?"
Amiya nodded, her long ears flopping about. "Lungmen," then she added for Hayden's benefit, "a mobile city, is offering a cooperation pact. They want to exchange info on Reunion. Kal-tsit is there now, negotiating compensation for potential losses and resources."
Doberman's brows rose. "Oh?"
Amiya became more serious. "They'd also like us to help defend the city. A wave of Chernobog survivors are on their way to Lungmen and are about to arrive. We need to help escort them into the city. At the same time, there may be Reunion soldiers hidden amongst them, and we'll need to root them out."
Hayden was confused. "Reunion soldiers? Why would they be refugees?"
Doberman gave a sharp shake of her head. "They're likely not. They'd most likely be subversives. Reunion spreading its influence."
Hayden looked at Emperor, who was being carried down into the elevator that would take them inside the base. "Emperor said that Reunion was acquiring more resources recently."
Doberman added, "True. He said something big was in the works, and they've been gearing up. We were just one of their targets. He'd had two other drop sites attacked recently. Heard of the same happening to others, raids all over."
Amiya mused. "Any hint of what they're planning?"
Doberman glanced over at him. "You have an idea, Doctor?"
An odd idea occurred, and he spoke before thinking. "Would they…? No that's ridiculous."
"Would they what?"
"It's nothing." He was embarrassed to say the thought out loud.
But Amiya pressed. "What? I trust your instincts, Doctor."
Reluctantly, he spoke. "Well, would they attack a city?" It sounded silly. How could a rebel force attack an entire city? You'd need an army for such things.
But Doberman's curiosity was piqued. "Reunion?"
"Yes. Are they capable of attacking an entire city? Cities are mobile, right? Territory you can define and hold. Move around, as in a mobile base?"
Both Doberman and Amiya pondered.
Hayden hastily continued. "Sorry, it's silly. I'm sure Reunion doesn't have the capability to do something like that. I mean, a whole city? That's the kind of thing you'd need a nation for."
Amiya didn't seem to think the idea was silly at all. "You'd need an army. Or some really powerful individuals."
Doberman agreed. "And a good strategist. Take out key targets rather than mass soldiers."
Amiya frowned. "Reunion has plenty of powerful people. Hmm. Could they be preparing to strike Lungmen City?"
Hayden cursed his ignorance. Despite so much time spent studying and learning about this world, he still had so many gaps in his knowledge. That was something he'd have to rectify if he was going to be of use as a strategist. Well, even as a doctor, it applied. After all, the cure to originium poisoning was a mystery, wasn't it? Knowledge was the key to finding a cure.
He had cursed himself again, this time for the loss of all the knowledge he'd once carried. A thought haunted him: what if he'd once known the key to figuring out the cure, and it had been lost when he'd lost his memories? Or, perhaps worse, what if it was still inside of him, trapped behind a wall of amnesia but impossible to access?
Amiya brushed a strand of stray hair away and as the cuff of her coat slid down, she revealed a patch of infection.
Hayden felt the drive inside of him swell, overcoming the brief feeling of pride he'd felt over the mission's success. He needed to study more. He needed to learn more. Faster.
Doberman slowly nodded. "I think Reunion attacking is a distinct possibility. They'll probably send subversives ahead with the refugees. Maybe sabotage defences. Maybe slip key people into places where they can quickly strike important targets."
Amiya winced. "Like Taluluah."
Hayden recalled the Reunion leader who'd taken down a building with a single shot. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of her destructive power. "Yes. Her and if they have others with similar Arts abilities, like Mephisto, they could devastate the city from within, or cripple defences."
Doberman's lips firmed and her ears twitched. "Then we'd better go to Lungmen's defence as soon as possible."
