Chapter 15: Factory Raid

At the same time that the Aegis party was making their way through the wastes of the Old Factory District, their destination was certainly far busier than a supposedly abandoned factory shoved into a corner of Mor Ardain should have been.

Practically roaring with activity, production lines and conveyers awash with materials from supply crates to ether containers, all illuminated by either the ether furnaces of the active machinery or the harsh lights of the scaffolding and ceiling.

And overlooking it all, Bana and Muimui.

"Now this quite the sight!" said Bana, stroking his mustache with a wing.

"Production has been running non-stop, twenty-four hours a day!" Muimui stated.

"Muimui… Once we have first thousand ether furnaces, we sell them to Torna."

"Eh? Mehmeh? But I thought this projected funded by Roderich from Imperial Senate… Was it not Senator who gave us info on Core Chips for Lila to steal, too?"

"That make no difference. We go where profit goes. Old geezer can wait a bit longer for his turn," Bana let out a chuckle as he turned to the ongoing production, gazing to the main product being moved across the lines. "Once war break out with Uraya, he get desperate and offer more money."

"Chairman Bana so amazing! Did not realize thinking about this was so deep."

"Mehehehe! First rule of making money."

With the mechanical bustle around him, so sure of the success of his plan, the thing that Bana didn't notice was one of the vents way off on the other end of the factory being ripped open…

With Vaios's all too convenient—if shockingly cheeky—method of getting the part into the factory's front entrance done, as with the outer door they were greeted by little more than the rusted shell of a building long abandoned. Upper catwalks that looked close to giving way at any moment from how rusted and aged they were.

And yet, from right above, they could all hear the noise rattling out through a ventilation channel right above them.

"Well, from one door right to a bloody 'nother one," said Nia, folding her arms as she approached the following set of heavy doors. "Don' suppose you've got a cheeky away 'round this one eh?"

"I mean if we wanna throw subtlety out the window, front door for sure. Orrrr…" Vaios snickered as his eyes went to the ventilation shaft, covered by a grate and with a fan visibly spinning just behind it. "We could take a not from the novels and sneak in that way."

"I 'ope you bloody know what you're doin'…"

"Tora agree with idea!" Tora stepped up, giving a chuckle. "Poppi can easily break through vent fan! Plus, if sneak in, mean easier to look for Lila and Dadapon!"

"Tora's got a point," said Mythra. "If we're trying to get the information we need, best we do this quietly. If we go in loud, we'll probably just make whoever's behind this run for the hills."

"The quiet approach does seem the most appropriate," said Dromarch, gesturing with his head to a ladder leading right up to the vent. "And it seems the path there will be quite easy."

"Then leave fan to Poppi!" Everyone nodded at Poppi as she raised an arm.

The Artificial Blade took the lead upwards, stopping by the vent as everyone else followed after. And once they were gathered, Poppi got her fingers worked into the gaps of the grate, and with a mighty heave, yanked grate and fan right out of its slot, tossing the remains aside and exposing the open ventilation shaft, which angled upwards a bit as it went in.

"Nice one!" Vaios chuckled as he took point heading in. Thankfully, the vent was quite sizable, enough that someone of even a larger persuasion could have fit into it… if a bit cramped for such a person anyway. But for the group, there was more than enough room to file in and not be bumping into each other as they followed the vent upwards, and not that far in, found an exit that led right to an upper catwalk of the factory.

And as soon as they were in, everyone dispersed around the catwalk, taking in the active production lines rolling with materials. And most of all, the line rolling the completed product along to wherever the storage was.

"No way…" Vaios's eyes widened as he scanned the bronze machines rolling through the zone. "Are those things Artificial Blades?!"

"Then… Dadapon really must be…" mumbled Tora, his voice rising as hope grew in the Nopon.

"Hmm… what exactly are they planning here?" said Azurda, shifting out to Vaios's shoulder. "Well, whatever it is, it can't be good."

"Yeah…" nodded Vaios. "Whoever's behind this, they're either preparing for something big… or making bank off whoever's getting them to produce all these things for them."

"Probably some rancid politician here in Mor Ardain, I'd bet," scoffed Nia. "Some of 'em 'ave been chompin' a' the bit to get to warrin' with Uraya. And from what we saw there, the Urayan's ain't too far off themselves."

"And they have to be doing this behind the emperor's back," added Haze. "I doubt he wouldn't know about something like this unless it was being done without his knowledge."

"Mórag's gonna have fun with this once she gets here…" Vaios folded his arms, then squinting when he spotted some movement. Moving further down the catwalk, what he saw got clearer.

Tirkins, squat, birdlike creatures who by all means with any other race in Alrest were well integrated into common society. Mostly found on Gormott as it were, Tirkin often chose to live in smaller, more primitive settlements. Not exactly a rare sight though. And yet, here was a whole host of them bird-like folk, moving about on the lower catwalks and factory floor, many of them armed to boot.

"The 'ell are a bunch of Tirkins doin' in Mor Ardain?" Nia muttered, coming up beside Vaios as she looked below them. "I know some of the groups work as for-hire mercs but getting' 'em all the way here? To patrol some stuffy factory?"

"… and then there's the fact Niranira was here too," Vaios noted. "Whoever's running this factory has got to have Guild connections. Tirkins aren't off the board for who the Guild hires for non-Salvaging work."

"We should avoid!" Tora suggested. "We so high up, can also move around through more vents! One must connect to room with Dadapon inside."

"Good thinking, Master Tora," said Dromarch. "If we can avoid unnecessary combat, all the better."

"Sounds ace," Vaios gestured with an arm as the party headed on.

At the end of the current path, they came to an immediate t-intersection. To the right, a shut bay door leading to another zone. Ahead of them, a shut lattice door that connected to the next section of the catwalk that led further into the current area.

And further to the left, another lattice door, and conveniently enough, the fan of the next ventilation shaft.

"Well, how we gonna do this one quietly huh?" said Nia, her ears flattening when Vaios pulled out the Aegis Blade. "What you uh… plannin' to do there mate?"

"Easy: Laser sword, meet sheet metal," Vaios chuckled as he ignited the blade, ramming the plasma edge into the vent grate and starting to trace around it. "Poppi, catch the grate before it falls once it goes loose!"

"Understood!"

Poppi hopped over as Vaios continued cutting away. And once he'd traced all the way around the square form, as soon as it tipped forward, Poppi caught it. Carefully, Poppi moved the grate to the side and set it against the railing of the catwalk, shooting Vaios a thumbs up as he disengaged the Aegis Blade. With a quick return of the thumbs up, Vaios ducked into the vent, the others following while giving various expressions of amusement at the action or sighs telling of a "of course he would" thought.

As the group crept through the vent shaft, the slowed as they heard a noise from in front of them, echoing up through a smaller grate in the lower part of the vent. Gathering around it, they were just able to peer into the room below. Through it, they could make out a Tirkin and a Nopon in work overalls and with a pale green pelt, and notedly prominent mustache to boot.

"Professor Tatazo! Speak, speak, you give orders!" squawked the Tirkin. "If productions get more slow, maybe you ready for sleep time with fishes…"

"… Reduce load on neural circuits by 20%," said Tatazo, looking more than a little done with the Tirkin even as he had a spear jabbed at his face. "That should improve production efficiency."

"See? It not so hard."

"So I'm assuming that's…" Vaios trailed off as Poppi was already ripping the grate loose from its slot, she and Tora dropping through the hole just as quickly. "… I mean fair enough, but he could've waited for two seconds…"

As Tatazo was turning to head elsewhere, he turned at the sounds of two thuds. Spinning around, expecting the Tirkin to have come back with more demands. Instead, he was faced with someone he didn't think it could have been.

"Ah! Could it be… Tora, that you?!"

Tora nodded as Tatazo nearly shrieked in his surprise.

"You really Dadapon Tatazo?"

After a moment of silent realization, it wasn't much more for the two Nopon to hurry over and embrace each other, on the edge of tears as they did.

"Tora!"

"Dadapon! Tora miss you so much!"

"I miss you too!"

And as the Nopon were getting their relief out through quiet but happy tears, the rest of the part dropped into the room, smiles all around as Tora embraced his father.

"Good on you, Tora," As Vaios chuckled, he raised a brow when he heard sniffling. He half expected it to be Haze, but while she too looked happy from Tora, it was much the same as him. Rather, the sniffling was coming from Mythra, who was doing her best to keep her expression stiff even as tears brimmed at her eyes. "Haaagh… you really are just a softie at heart, huh?"

"Sh-Shut it…" but, Mythra didn't protest when Vaios handed her a handkerchief from his belt, wiping away the tears. "Thanks."

"Who all these people…?" As Tatazo and Tora separated, the older Nopon looked across the smattering of people accompanying his son.

"They Tora's sidekicks…" Tora cleared his throat when Nia and Vaios gave him unamused stares. "I mean, sidek—I mean new friends!"

"Wonderful!" the others could only sigh as Tora's fumble managed to work. "They come here for you? You have good friends!" Tatazo let out a surprised sound when he then laid eyes on Poppi. "Oh! That Artificial Blade…"

"This is Poppi!" said Tora, gesturing to Poppi with his wings. "Tora make her by improving on blueprints for Lila!"

"Meh meh…!" Tatazo's wings fluttered as he laughed. "Most impressive. Tora must have worked hard!"

"If I may…" Dromarch cut in. "I know there's a lot of catching up to do, but perhaps we should escape!"

"A good idea," said Azurda. "Vaios?"

"Right. Let's get moving before any…"

"Not so fast, intruders!" Vaios let out a curse as a rather familiar voice cut him off.

The party turned to be faced with a group of four Tirkin entering the room. And leading them was Muimui, looking quite smug as he did so.

"Muimui?!" gasped Dromarch.

"Don't tell me…?!" Nia grumbled.

"Really, now? You actually not realize it yet?" Muimui cackled. "Muimui give you information on purpose, to lure you to factory. If we not want you here, you would never find this place so easily!"

"… wouldn't say it was easy," Vaios grumbled.

"Meh meh… How dare you?!" Tora was the first to draw his weapon as he glared at Muimui, his fur frazzling up as he growled.

"Masterpon is really angry," noted Poppi.

"Meh… Finally I have chance to seize precious Artificial Blade," said Muimui. "Now! Take care of these intruders!"

"… really? He's gonna sic the Tirkin mercs on us?" Vaios could only sigh as Muimui dashed off to the side, drawing the Aegis Blade and pointing it at the Tirkins. "Quick question… do you four honestly think you can take down three Drivers and five Blades? When one of said Blades is the Aegis herself?"

The four Tirkin guards took a moment. Before them were three now armed Drivers, two of whom had secondary Blades who also took up their weapons to be sure about things. The Tirkins looked among each other, chattering for a few moments. They then collectively nodded, turned on their heels, and scurried back down the way they'd come while squawking like mad the entire way.

"Thought as much," Vaios set the Aegis Blade on his shoulder, glancing over to the stunned quiet Muimui. "Did you really think that would work?"

"H-How…?!" Muimui shuddered.

"Well…" Nia jabbed a thumb at Vaios. "Since you seem to have forgot, this guy here did just recently fight the Flamebringer herself on even footing. Honestly, we'd have wiped the floor with those poor things. Best they scurry on off really."

"Saves us all time," Vaios added.

"Now, we're going to need some answers," continued Nia. "What were you people plotting here?"

"O-Ordinary business!" Muimui spluttered. "We innocently mass-produce ether furnaces and Artificial Blades, and sell to people who want then!"

"Why don't we ask the recently discovered missing Nopon?" Vaios looked to Tatazo, the older Nopon huffing up.

"They threaten Tatazo, and force to participate in production process."

"Dadapon…" murmured Tora.

"Sounds to me like this isn't so 'innocent' after all," Vaios bit. "Especially since you're using a defunct Ardainian factory under the government's own nose. Definitely legal."

"And next you wanted to get your hands on Poppi?" Azurda shook his head. "You are a greedy bunch."

"I knew as soon as I saw her!" Muimui continued. "That Artificial Blade uses lost ether furnace designed by Professor Soosoo! That is why…"

"You quite right," said Tatazo. "Even I could never make such incredible furnace as my own dadapon."

"…So you lured us out here to avoid making a ruckus in the city, is that it?" Nia's voice was wavering in a rising tone of anger.

"Qu-quite right, yes…" muttered Muimui.

"Muimui was part of group plotting to steal Artificial Blades all along," Tatazo said. "While he my Dadapon's assistant, he sell information to contact in Guild and had them attack laboratory."

"What?!" gasped Tora. "Then it all his fault that Grampypon was killed?!"

"Indeed, it was!"

"A contact in the… fucking dammit it's Bana, isn't it?" Vaios's eye twitched as Muimui yelped. "AGGGGGGHHHHHH! Because of course it's freakin' Bana! For Architect's sake half the reason we're here right now is that blasted job Bana took from…" Vaios then slapped a hand to his forehead, letting out a growl. "…ah god Torna is involved in this too, aren't they?"

"Indeed, it is I! And am quite amused you so frustrated by it!" Vaios could only let out another enraged yell as Bana proceeded to enter the room, Lila in two beside him. "Hah, shocked, are you not?"

"Pissed off is what I am!" Vaios snapped. "The worst part is how much goddamn sense it makes. But hey, this is a good chance to work some shit out after the fact your job almost got me killed!"

"M-Master Bana?!" Muimui shot back from the far larger Nopon, Bana scoffing at his accomplice.

"You never do finish job properly, do you?" said Bana. "You manage to lure them all this way and then fail to capture them?!"

"Muimui very sorry…"

"But, I am nice Nopon!" Bana stroked his mustache as he faced the party, looking to Mythra. "You brought not only Artificial Blade to me, but even the Aegis itself! Once I have ether furnace of Professor Soosoo, I can produce even better Artificial Blades and make a killing! Then I sell Aegis too and make mountains of cash! Then I can feast on Mushy Mushrooms for life!"

"… well now I think I get what Niranira was doing here," Vaios said, giving the Aegis Sword a quick spin before igniting it. "Guess the esteemed chairman of the Salvagers Guild was always a seedy sack of feathers."

"You should show respect after all the valuable work I find for you and crew!" Bana's response was Vaios raising his middle finger.

"Lemme guess," spoke Nia, "You were planning to sell the Aegis to Torna, hm? Considering Vaios already pieced that one together."

"How you know about Torna?" Bana scoffed, Nia puffing up. "Wait, I remember you! You one of Torna's Drivers! Wh-wh-what you doing here?! If you come for ether furnaces, they already in ship outside!"

"What?!" Nia gawked. "You're selling those to Torna as well?!"

"Not sure what is going on, but I will just beat you all up! Lila, take them all down!"

"Mission acknowledged. Commencing combat."

The party readied up as Lila hopped from the platform. And with a moment of thought, Tatazo turned to the lot, a resolute if sad look on his face.

"Tora, destroy her for me!" said Tatazo. "Muimui modified her so she not even listen to Masterpon Tatazo any more!"

"Dadapon…" Tora took a second, then gave a no. "All right! Come on, Poppi!"

As it were, things weren't all that different than the party's prior encounter with Lila back in the city. Since it had only been a couple of days, it seemed all Muimui and Bana had pulled was repairing whatever damage Lila had incurred during the earlier fighting.

Yet it was still eight versus one, and for all the strength Lila personally possessed, the number advantage and strategic thinking of the party meant that, as Lila dove in to try and pick a target, someone else would swap over and get their hits in. And since this was the second fight now… well, Vaios certainly felt smug catching Bana and Muimui looking a might panicked in the corner of his vision as the fight clearly was not in Lila's favor.

"Haze!" Tossing Mythra the Aegis Blade, Vaios caught Haze's staff as she dashed to his side. And with a wave of the item as Haze raised a hand, a shining wind swirled through the air, Lila stalling for a moment. "Poppi, get her!"

Poppi nodded and charged right into Lila. The two Artificial Blades went barreling past the others and crashed through the windows of the observation area, flinging themselves out into the zone beyond as their thrusters flared to life.

"Do not let her win, Poppi!"

Tora was the first to rush to the broken window as Poppi and Lila separated, drifting through the air as they looked for a shot to take.

"Of course, Masterpon!"

Poppi was the first to boost back in, Lila following suit, bringing the two to a mid-air flurry of punches and kicks.

"Comprehension error," uttered Lila amid the clash. "You're integrated ether furnace is not fully activated. As an updated model, my energy throughput is superior."

Lila boosted away from Poppi, boosting back down and swinging her leg in a kick, Poppi catching it with her arms and staying put.

"Energy efficiency not the problem here. Poppi's masterpon told Poppi not to lose. So Poppi will win. Very simple logic!"

"Comprehension error."

As Poppi began to push back, her thrusters flaring at full, Lila bounced her leg back to try and get away. Poppi countered Lila's attempted blows by flipping over her, catching the follow up and locking Lila into place in the air.

"And that is why you are failure."

With a burst of her thrusters, Poppi began rolling in the air, picking up speed and throwing Lila back through the busted window, sending Lila crashing over the console, and bouncing across the floor to slam into the wall all too hard, denting the metal inwards from the impact.

"Lila!" Tatazo couldn't help but yelp in a slight panic while he and Tora had been scrambling out of the way.

As Poppi remained in the air, Lila yanked herself from the dent she'd been used to make, but otherwise struggled to try and get back to her feet.

"Do it Poppi!" Tora shouted. "One more attack and she go down!"

As Poppi caught her shield from Tora, the front opening and deploying its drill, Tatazo was bouncing around in a panic.

"W-Wait!" yelped the elder Nopon as Poppi revved the weapon up. "Wait one moment please!"

Poppi had to put the brakes on quickly as Tatazo threw himself in front of Lila, stopping just in time to not end up skewering Tora's father on her drill. Though it was rather uncomfortably close to doing so all the same.

"Dadapon?" Tora said, raising a brow.

"I sorry, Tora… Even if she no longer listen to me… Even if she become weapon for evil… Lila… Lila is all I have. Only reminder of Dadapon Soosoo. She is my treasure… "

"Comprehension… error…" Lila muttered, Tatazo looking back at her.

"What you think you are doing?!" As Bana pulled out a remote-control device, before he could even press a button, the Nopon found the device speared through by an anchor head, having it ripping from his grasp as Vaios reeled back his anchor gun with a hard pull.

"Like hell!" Vaios snapped. "You're not forcing Lila to keep fighting in the state she's in! Lila, this one's up to you. Who're your real Masters? Those two pieces of waste, or Soosoo and Tatazo?!"

"Lila's… Masterpon is…" As Lila managed to stand, she raised an arm. "Lila's Masterpon… is Professor Soosoo… and Professor Tatazo!"

And she then drove a hand into her chest, yanking out a device of some kind and crushing it with a quick move. Bana and Muimui jumped in surprise.

"She destroyed control device on her own?!" Bana jumped in surprise, flinching when he saw the furious glare Vaios was leveling at him.

As Lila fell, Poppi hurried to catch her, Tatazo and Tora looking worried for the other Artificial Blade.

"I very proud of you… sister," said Poppi.

"Poppi…"

"Poppi… Lila…" Tora murmured, he and Tatazo moving in to hug the Artificial Blades.

"… ugghhh, this not how it supposed to happen!" Bana shot back, grabbing Muimui and lifting him up. "What happen to activation of Rosa?!"

"Sh-She ready when you are!" Muimui yelped as he flailed about in Bana's grasp.

"Good, do it!"

"Hey, don't think you can just…" Vaios leapt up to try and catch the fleeing Nopons, but they'd already jumped through a set of panels that opened, descending through them before Vaios could grab so much as a feather off of them. "What in the… the hell did they mean by Rosa?"

"Vaios, let's find 'em!" Nia said, Vaios nodding as he jumped back to the lower level.

"Tora, Poppi, we'll go on ahead," he said, Tora turning to him. "Take care of the professor and Lila. We'll handle them."

"If Bana and Muimui activating Rosa, will need to head into central corridor through ether systems," said Tatazo. "Path there right outside past ether separator controls. Cannot miss!"

Vaios nodded, leading the way as the others hurried to the top layer and sped out of the room. Once they were gone, Lila looked to Tatazo.

"Masterpon, profusest apologies for letting them control Lila like that…"

"Lila show much more respect for Masterpon than Poppi do…" Tora kept a mental note of that one.

"No need for apologies," said Tatazo, shaking his head. "You come back, and that enough for me."

"Sister…" Lila then looked to Poppi. "Lila did awful things."

Poppi have a shake of her head.

"Poppi used to people doing awful things," she said.

"What Poppi mean by that?!" Tora snapped, Popping just giving him a flat look.

"Poppi, Lila has one more request. We have… many new sisters…"

"Poppi will save them. It is my duty."

"No Lila has one thing left to do…" Lila held a hand up, Poppi taking it into her own. "Poppi, use Lila as starter, and…"

"Ah, of course!" Tatazo perked up in realization. "Poppi's ether furnace! Using experimental ether furnace from Lila, it can be fully ignited!"

"But then…" Poppi murmured.

"Will Lila be alright, doing thing like that?" said Tora.

"It least I can do…" Lila shut her eyes as she and Poppi were then surrounded by a sparking aura of golden power. "Use flames of Lila's life… to save them…"

"Of course," Poppi nodded again, sharing a resolute nod with Tora and Tatazo.

They would be catching up quite soon.

With the size and sheer winding nature of the factory to contend with, Vaios and Nia quickly concluded that following any kind of sensible path through the place would simply be a waste of time. So rather than do so, they, followed by their Blades, simply made their way through the factory by jumping from catwalks, inner buildings, and to the floor itself, darting past any Tirkin guards before they could even notice them amid the rush to the central room.

The central corridor opened up from cramped production lines and storage to a far more open room, pools of liquid ether flanking the central pathway of the large space… and yet no sign of Bana or whatever Rosa was supposed to be.

"So, there's two possibilities here," said Vaios. "Bana and Muimui are either in another part of the factory… or something ridiculous is about to happen."

"What makes you say that?" Haze asked.

"General experience with Nopons and their standards."

Suddenly, the grand began shaking, rattling the factory something fierce.

"Wha…wha-wha-wha-what's all this shaking?!" Azurda yelped.

"NOPON GO!" Vaios could only sigh as Bana and Muimui's voices came echoing through the air.

And right above them, a flying contraption went soaring over them, some kind of pod with ribbon-like wings. Ahead of the party, one of the ether pools slide open, rising from it being something about as ridiculous as Vaios could about expect. What rose from the bay was a construct built all too close to Lila's patterns, but made several times larger and with a just as comically large head to go with it.

"Wh…wha-wha-wha…what the hell is that?!" Nia yelped, Vaios only letting out a strained noise as he stared with a stilted expression.

"Activate… docking complete!" Bana and Muimui's pod came to a hover above the construct, the wings rotating forwards as it docked to the head. And as soon as it did, the construct's eyes gleamed, arms shifting into a pose as it activated.

"Why do I feel like I know what this is?" Vaios grumbled.

"Wahahahahaaaa!" Bana's raucous laughter blared from the construct's speakers, and Vaios only grew more visibly offput by this entire thing. "How you like that?! This is secret weapon based on blueprints of Lila… Gigantic Artificial Blade: Rosa! Ahahahaha!"

"You enlarged the design? Incredible…" said Dromarch.

"I'd actually be impressed if this were in any other situation," Vaios sighed and drew the Aegis Blade, igniting it with a flick.

"Wahahah! Now you all bow before the power of Bana! Go get them, Rosa!"

"Remember how to fight something this big?" Mythra glanced at Vaios as she raised her hand to him, her Driver chuckling.

"Aim for joints and exposed areas, simple. Think you can blast it with Siren if we get a chance?"

"Not in this room, too many support structures. Blasting it would bring the whole roof down on us."

"Talk about a situational ability," Nia mused. "But no wastin' time, let's move!"

"Bam-Bam Missile!" Bana's command prompted Rosa's shoulders to produce racked missile launchers, the Drivers and Blades diverting at the barrage to rush in past the explosions. Vaios spun past a punch thrown by the gigantic Blade, slamming his sword to the arm, grimacing when the photon edge barely even cut into the thick plating, and he had to leap away to avoid a stomp that followed up.

Nia's own attempts at attacking didn't fare much better, her chakrams barely getting past the cloth of Rosa's dress before she and Vaios were bat away. They tried a few more times to get in a solid hit, but between the missiles, the air-shredding punches, kicks, and that thick armor, they barely made more than a few dents before they were sent skidding off.

"This is gonna be more annoying than I thought," Vaios groaned, "How thick is that armor anyway?!"

"It's strong too," added Nia. "One solid hit and we're bloody screwed!"

"If I could just figure out how the ether flow works, I could maybe stall her," Haze muttered as she gripped her staff, wind pulsing from it to heal up the Drivers.

"Allow me!" said Dromarch. "I shall serve as a decoy. And then—"

"No, Poppi will take care of that!" Despite expectations, Poppi and Tora rushed into the chamber, and to the surprise of the rest, Poppi's body was aglow, practically surging with energy as she and Tora caught up with them.

"Poppi? That energy's incredible!" Mythra's brow raised in surprise, Poppi giving the Aegis a confident nod.

"Thanks to my sister Lila!"

"Now it time to show what proper Artificial Blade can do!" Tora clenched one of his wings, then pointing off to Rosa. "Now Poppi, show them your real power!"

"Roger that, masterpon!" Poppi grabbed her cape and gave it a swish, the article rapidly expanding as it swirled until it became a sphere surrounding the Artificial Blade. "Initiating QT Mode! Engage!"

Light surged from the sphere, growing like a flame as it became more intense by the moment, all eyes wide from the surge of power being released by Poppi in that moment.

"C-Can it be…?!" Muimui was the one to express audible shock. "She manage to fully activate ether furnace!"

"WHAT?!" Bana's guffaw followed suit.

And when the orb vanished, the smaller Poppi the party was so used to had changed. Her appearance looked far more refined, older even. Rather than bulky plating and circular parts were more human proportions and a sleeker build—though perhaps one could question the fact Poppi's new form came replete with a maid themed costume.

"Meh-meh! No matter how much power she have, she still no match for mighty creation of Bana! Crush her, Rosa!"

"When the heck did you find time to cook up an upgrade like this?" Vaios chuckled as Tora joined in the league, Poppi generating the same kind of arm shields as Lila and tossing them to the Nopon.

"All part of Poppi's plans! Artificial Blade made to grow and change, and Poppi QT is first step of that! Now Poppi far stronger than before, and Tora too! So, let beat Bana down, Vai-Vai!"

"Then take point and show us what Poppi can do! Nia, we're backing Tora up!"

"Hah, guess the li'l fella deserves the spotlight a bit! Aight then, let's give this another go!"

The party split as Rosa's eyes fired a sweeping laser at them, Tora taking the lead after blocking one of the lasers with his new weapons. When Rosa next threw a punch, Tora tossed one of the arm shields to Poppi, who met it head on and stopped it dead, her return punch causing Rosa's arm to spark. Tora followed it up by jabbing his arm shield forward and raising it, the weapon opening up and firing a set of missiles that raked up to impact the cockpit.

With Rosa pitching back, Vaios and Nia took the opening. The Aegis Blade extended as Vaios gripped it two handed, moving into a rolling swing that left a deep gouge into the titanic Blade's armor, following into a second slash as he passed that left much the same. Nia swapped from Dromarch's chakrams to Usurla's gauntlets, landing a rain of ice coated punches that left frozen spots across the impact points.

Rosa let loose another barrage of missiles, yet this one was met by Haze's reprise, a swing of her staff answering the swarm with a wave of wind, stalling the objects and stopping them dead. As the missiles harmlessly dropped to the floor, Bana and Muimui let out shocked yells. Haze gave a slight grin, then raising her staff as more pulses flowed through the air. And when Rosa tried to attack again, the Artificial Blade came to a stall, slowing in pace until almost freezing.

"W-What on earth this?!" Bana yelped.

"Just a little trick Haze has up her sleeve," Vaios snickered as he and Mythra retreated to cover Haze. "Pretty handy, having a Blade who can manipulate ether flow and use it against Blades to boot."

"WHAT?! How some piddly Salvager come across such powerful Blade?! First the Aegis and now… this?! Who are you, Vaios?!" Bana's raging demand was met with Vaios returning a smirk.

"Exactly what you said. Just a Salvager. Tora! How about we finish this up!" Vaios held the Aegis Blade to Mythra, who gripped it with him as the blade expanded.

"Tora thinking same thing! Poppi, show Bana what we really got!" Tora tossed the remaining arm shield to Poppi, who nodded as she clanged them together.

"Poppi more than ready, masterpon!" Poppi's thrusters flared as she lifted into the air, her shields raised as they opened up in full. A missile barrage loosed from the weapons as her and Tora's aura surged, carpeting Rosa in blows and tilting the gigantic blade back.

And as the barrage continued, Vaios and Mythra punctuated it by raising the Aegis Blade, a large blast of light bursting from the sword and crashing into the cockpit.

And with those blows delivered, Rosa was left sparking and whirring, eventually collapsing to her knees and winding down. The cockpit ejected, but was equally damaged and in the attempt to fly away, the vehicle went crashing into the factory floor.

"Hah! Justice always prevail!" Tora cheered as he spun, using his wing to slap a high-five with Vaios.

"Masterpon, that enough gloating now," said Poppi, her gaze turning to the damaged Rosa. "Now maybe you too won't be used for bad things any more."

"Ahhh!" Nia's sudden yelp drew the other's attention. And at the damaged cockpit, while Muimui was slumped on the ground, Bana wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Bana's vanished again! How the ruddy hell is a Nopon that big so slippery?!"

"Over there, my lady!" Dromarch pointed off, bringing eyes to the fleeing Bana, who was rushing down another passage deeper into the factory.

"Looks like he doesn't have anywhere to go, let's go!"

Vaios took the lead after Bana at full tilt. And when the party caught up to the large Nopon, it was in a large harbor formed within the cave beyond, the evening sun rolling in from outside and casting an amber light into the large space. And to make sure Bana wouldn't try anything funny, Vaios whipped out is grapnel pistol, managing to hook Bana by a wing and yanking the guild leader to the floor.

"You're not slipping away again that easy, Bana," Vaios made sure to keep the line tight as Bana tried to wiggle free.

"Ah, you very persistent!" Bana snapped as he tried to grip the hook, but failed to get a good hold as Vaios yanked the line at each attempt.

"And you need to learn when to quit," Vaios snapped back, Tora nodding furiously.

"Stop producing artificial Blades!" said the young Nopon. "You used Grampypon's research for evil long enough!"

"B-but that would mean financial disaster!" Bana's choice of response only made his captors all the more visibly angry than they'd started out. "How much you think I poured into this endeavor?!"

"Enough to get a Guild auditor here in Mor Ardain apparently," Vaios got a small kick out of seeing Bana flinch. "Or if you'd like, we can hand you over to the imperial armor. Morag's on her way here with a bunch of soldiers right now actually! And she's very interested in what you had Lila doing. Hmm… what other dirty laundry could Mor Ardain dig up on you I wonder?"

"You're shockingly cruel at times, Vaios," Haze tilted her head, Vaios only giving a downright evil smirk as Bana shuddered.

"Vaios, I never had you down as such a conniving boy! What would Rakham say were he here now?!" Bana's attempt at an appeal earned him a hard yank on the grapnel line.

"If Rakham were here he'd toss your sorry ass into the Cloud Sea without a second thought. I might do the same."

"Agh… fine," Bana was clearly all too begrudging, but there wasn't really any other choice but to relent at this point. "I stop production of artificial Blades."

"Really? You cave that easily?" a woman's voice sounded behind the group, and they were quick to turn. "That Nopon is still of use to us, so how about not interfering."

Now facing the party were four others. At the lead, a man and a woman, both dressed in armor that signified them as members of Torna. The woman had long black hair and stern features, her armor whiter in color choices, and a large cannon strapped to her back. The man beside her was dressed in reddish-black armor, a pleasant smile painted on his handsome face and messy blonde hair kept in a short, upwards style.

Backing them were two blades. The one to the woman's left was limber, a four-armed warrior wielding multiple generic weapons of his own. And to the man's right, a larger blade with a wide frame and mane of crimson hair, at his back two massive shield-like gauntlets.

"Patroka, Mikhail!" Nia's voice was a hiss as she glared at the two. The woman, Patroka, gave a huff.

"Hm? Oh, if it isn't Nia. Akhos did mention you'd turned traitor."

"Nia know these people?" asked Tora.

"Drivers from Torna. Of all the ruddy lowlifes Bana could have made a deal with…"

"Lowlifes? Coming from the traitorous rookie? You should watch your words…"

"Don't mind her Patroka! Not when we are standing before the Aegis herself!" Mikhail all too casually put a hand to Patroka's shoulder, an act she clearly didn't seem too fond of. "Ah, truly the heavens must have blessed us that we—" only to have his monologuing cut off by Patroka punching him in the face.

"Mik… Please, shut up."

"Mik?" Vaios blinked at feeling an odd familiarity with that name. And as his brow net together in confusion, Mikhail chuckled as he took notice of Vaios. Mythra took notice of it too, and her expression shifted as she too seemed to realize something.

"Ohh, I almost didn't notice the Driver!" Mikhail chuckled as he rubbed his chin. "What's with the face, hmm? You look like you're trying too hard to figure something out, Aegis Driver."

"Why…" Vaios spoke under his breath, though Mythra heard it. "why does this guy look familiar?"