CHAPTER 50

MELODY OF DEATH

After checking her makeup in the bathroom mirror, including a new shade of lipstick she hoped to impress her bodyguard with, Inspector Emma leapt out of her skin when the alarm suddenly screamed to life across the entire island. "ATTENTION EVERYONE!" Commander Jill announced through the intercom. "THIS IS A PROTOCOL BLACK. I REPEAT, PROTOCOL BLACK! ALL PARA-MAIL RIDERS TO LAUNCH DECK IMMEDIATELY! All RESIDENTS I'M AUTHORIZING FOR YOU ALL TO USE FULL ORDINANCE! I WANT US TO HIT THE ENEMY WITH EVERYTHING WE GOT!"

'Protocol Black!' Emma panicked as the hallway outside erupted in commotion with the Norma all rushing to battle stations. Erupting from the bathroom, she hurried through Arzenal's corridors barging through the oncoming crowds until she finally reached the Command Centre. "Commander!" She panted clutching the stitch in her side. "Protocol black, is it true?"

"Yes, a singular has opened 6 miles directly above the base." Commander Jill confirmed as the command staff were also taking up arms. Pamela herself tossed Emma a rifle which she caught with trembling hands.

"I don't understand. Why didn't the Norma Management Board or my father warn us about this?" Emma wondered as she glanced at one of the consoles and to her horror saw that the number of confirmed hostiles had passed over 100 contacts. "Wait a minute where's the Corporal?!" Emma half panicked. To her relief, Corporal Lawrence barged in alongside the maid Momoka, who looked just as shaken as Emma.

"Commander please tell me the new artillery aircraft guns have been set up?" Corporal Lawence urged.

"Yes, Mei and her crew already saw to that yesterday. They should be in position now across the upper fields and cliff walls." Jill answered as the huge bodyguard placed his large silver steel case on the floor and began to arm himself with the contents. Over his shoulders he slid a harness with two side mounted .45 semi auto pistols. He then swapped his uniform belt for a tactical utility model on which were small silver cubes which Emma could only assume were some new grenade type before pulling out a heavy shotgun carbine and the head of a massive white and gold sledge. Setting the shotgun aside, the Corporal pulled out two solid steel handles wrapped in purple leather which he connected and then affixed to the sledge to form a Warhammer that was almost as tall as he was. It was an impressive arsenal and all three of the Command staff could only gawk in awe.

"All Para-mail pilots get ready to launch on my signal" Commander Jill ordered through the intercom.

"What are you waiting for!?" Emma demanded, going chalk white. "They need to engage the enemy now! If they get too close, we'll be torn apart."

"Inspector calm down!" Her bodyguard snapped, loading up a magazine into his shotgun and stowing it over his shoulder. "The GF-54 Artillery guns only have a range of 4000 meters. They'll deal with the first wave of DRAGONs until the Para-mail engage. In any case, I'd advise you to be ready Inspector."

"Wha…what are you saying?" Emma gulped.

"He means we might be getting up close and personal with the DRAGONs once again Inspector." Commander Jill answered.

The entire base was pandemonium. 'Code Black.' Salia dreaded. 'An enemy number this size has never opened this close to base in Arzenal's history.' With no time to lose, Salia and her squad raced down the corridors until they finally reached the launch hanger. Second and third squad were already present and awaiting Mei and her team to get the Para-mail ready for launch.

"This is really bad." Rosalie whispered.

"A code black." Chris shuddered.

"Are we going to die?" Miranda whimpered.

"Keep it together." Behind them, Cal marched up to them looking ready to go at a moment's notice. "This is just like any other attack. No matter how many DRAGONs there are, we'll all stay together and watch each other's backs. Most of us here fought on the front lines against the category 5 and this is nothing compared to that." Miranda seemed to calm down and Salia irked herself for not taking charge of the situation.

"He's right, it doesn't matter how many there are, we'll drive them back where they came from." said vice-captain Betty alongside Captain Scarlett.

"We'll show them just what happens when you drop in unannounced." Scarlett said with a hungry grin. "They may be just Schooners but bag them all at once and it amounts to a pretty nice payday." Finally, the last of the Para-mail taxied into place, forming a diamond formation with the second squad on the right, third on the left, and first squad on point with Siegfried in front to lead the charge. Salia also noticed Villkiss and Hilda's red Glaive were among the assembled units but before she could make anything of it, Cal had already boarded his unit.

"Mount up girls!" Cal called out as everyone snapped to attention. "It's time to go to work. Just stay in formation, coordinate your attacks and watch each other's backs out there." Siegfried's red stripes began to pulse with a burning light as the other pilots hurried aboard their units when Commander Jill suddenly spoke through Salia's visor alone.

"Salia, head down to the holding cells and release Ange and Hilda. We're going to need all the pilots we have. I want Ange and Villkiss in the sky within the next five minutes." Salia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Ange and Villkiss?" She repeated.

"That's an order Salia!" Jill barked before she switched to the shared channel. "First squad hold position until all your squadron is assembled. Cal, Scarlett, Eleanor, get ready to move on my signal!" Cal looked back at Salia and waved her on. Jill must have alerted him to the plan before her.

"Just go, we'll hold them off as long as we can until you all join us." The sound of Arzenal's artillery guns suddenly erupted alongside reptilian screeches and they knew the attack had begun in earnest.

"Second and Third squad, attack!" Commander Jill yelled.

"Let's do this!" Cal kicked Siegfried into gear and shot off across the runway and into the sky.

"Let's give these bastards a good hammering!"" Scarlett boomed.

"Time to earn some dough!" Eleanor shouted eagerly as the second and third squad followed Siegfried. As the rest of first squad along with a few armorists took position at the hanger's entrance with their assault rifles to shoot down any DRAGONs that managed to sneak past the frontline defenses, Salia grit her teeth in frustration and anger.

'Why is it always Ange?' Salia demanded. All she ever wanted was to be of use to Jill and Libertus and to fly alongside Cal as her knight and her as his equal. Now Cal was off to face an army and lead on his own and yet Jill still entrusted Ange even after betraying and abandoning them.

"Salia?" Ersha asked, noticing her lack of involvement.

"Salia, come on!" Vivian called. "We can't let big bro do this without us." Salia looked to her squad who awaited her orders. Jill had entrusted her with leadership after Zola died, had brought her into Libertus, had her train Cal on how to use Siegfried, and yet Jill couldn't entrust her to use Villkiss. All she needed was the royal ring to control Villkiss. Alektra had always said Villkiss was useless without one.

"All of you wait here and give support to the armorists." She ordered. "I'll be back very soon!"

"Captain where are you going?" Miranda yelled as Salia ran down a hallway that led away from the prison block and on to Jill's private office. 'I don't care if you won't acknowledge me Alektra. I won't allow Cal to bear this responsibility alone.' She would not let him die like Ann and Naomi. She could not lose anyone else close to her. For once she would be the one to save Cal. All she needed was that ring.

Bursting out into the open sky, Cal pulled Siegfried up towards the swarm. Most of them were still circling around the singular, and the sky above Arzenal became a chaos of bullets, explosions, blood and raining corpses of DRAGONs as the 21 Para-mail met them head on. On occasion, a few would get past them and dive down towards the base, only to be cut down by the rows of anti-aircraft artillery guns that stuck out of Arzenal's cliffs and fields. The guns made short work of the first wave before the now 21 Para-mail met half of the army head on as Cal flew back and forth, shooting down any Schooners that came into his line of fire. But with there been so many, droplets of DRAGON blood sprayed across Cal's visor, obscuring his vision slightly.

"Powder, Hannah, disengage and give cover fire to Courtney and Makoto!" Scarlett shouted.

"Margret give Lauren and Tanisha support!" Eleanor yelled.

Twice Cal came very close to being unseated by a Schooner, his vision so clouded that he often didn't realize how close they were until he heard them. And then he noticed the screaming. Cal spun around quickly, not wanting to stay still for too long in case he was attacked from behind, and saw the young recruit Ginny's glaive in destroyer mode trying to throw off one Schooner that had dug its jaws into her right wing.

"Irma, Tanya help Ginny!" Cal ordered. Irma stabbed the Schooner in the side of its neck then chucked it across the sky for Tanya to blast it into smithereens by her heavy cannons. On the other side of the battle Sadie fought back-to-back with Vice Captain Betty as they spun and barrel rolled around each other, clipping over half a dozen at a time.

"Chiho, stay close and keep them off my back. I'll take care of the rest!" Scarlett ordered, the young recruit providing cover fire while her Captain obliterated the DRAGONs coming above them with her MS-04L1 SAKU sniper. One Schooner came streaking over Cal's right flank when another grazed Siegfried's smaller left wing. The attack sent Cal off balance and a third and fourth closed in to take advantage. Cal had a fleeting glimpse of the first two schooners shooting in behind him and he turned Siegfried upwards at the last second, leaving the four DRAGONs to collide into each other with the sickening crunch of breaking bones. Converting to Destroyer mode, Cal switched to melee when he saw several DRAGONs streaking towards Irma, Tanya and Ginny.

"Girls dive down now!" Cal shouted as he switched to his ice bullet launcher. The three pilots dropped out of the way just in time for Cal to fire and as the ice bullet hit one of the Schooners, an explosion of ice shards shredded the others. Meanwhile, another Schooner had grabbed on to Eleanor's candy red Arquebus' leg. But with other DRAGONs swooping in to take advantage, she couldn't shake it off.

"Eleanor three o'clock!" Cal cried as he threw her one of his dual blades. Eleanor caught it and cleaved the lone Schooners head off while Cal provided cover fire at those attempting to blindside her.

"Head's up!" Eleanor suddenly warned as toss Cal back his sword, which after catching he spun and beheaded a Schooner trying to sneak up on him from behind.

"Thanks." Cal gasped.

"I'd say I've earned a reward for saving your ass." Eleanor teased. "Maybe a date or you can buy me something nice?"

"I'll think about it."

"Okay let's save the bed talk til later." Scarlett told them, as all 21 pilots now in destroyer mode regrouped. "Looks like they're retreating." Scarlett wasn't wrong, though they had only made a slight dent in the horde's numbers, the DRAGONs were starting to fly back up to the singular portal where the other half of their army remained.

"It's weird." said Betty. "I've never seen so many Schooners in one attack. And why isn't there a Galleon or even some Corvettes to back them up?"

"Probably didn't know what they were up against." Sadie snarked.

"I don't think so." Cal mused. It didn't seem like the DRAGONs were retreating. More like they were trying to regroup. It had to be a trap. Like that Galleon during Ange's first fight in Villkiss. "Something's not right. Commander the enemy has fallen back. What's our orders?" There was a short pause before Commander Jill answered.

"Scarlett, take your squad and intercept the singular. Send them back to where they came from." She ordered. "Cal, I want you and the third squad to hold position and provide sniper and long-range artillery support."

"Belay that order!" Cal heard Inspector Emma Bronson's panicked voice through his visor. "All Para-mail return and defend the…"

"Will you be quiet!" Her bodyguard snapped and everyone couldn't help but snigger despite the situation. "Unless you know what you're doing, stay out of it!"

"Looks like the Corporal is growing tired of that boring bossy know it all" Sadie hummed. "Maybe he might be eying someone with a bit more spunk."

"Yeah right," Vice-Captain Betty gave a derisive laugh, "keep dreaming."

"All right focus you lot." Scarlett ordered. "Cal, Eleanor, if we get into any trouble up there, we'll fall back to you. Just keep them off our asses."

"10-4. Just be careful." Cal told her.

"When am I never careful little bro?" Scarlett laughed before she and her squad darted up towards the singular portal.

Taking cover behind the first squad's para-mails the armorists along with the remaining pilots picked off any Schooner that tried swoop through the upper hanger's opening. Then as quickly as the assault began the DRAGONs began to retreat.

"Is that all of them?" Chris asked peeking over Villkiss once everything seemed clear.

"I think so. It looks like Cal and the others will take care of the rest." said Ersha.

"Just great. They snag all the money while we've only earned chump-change." Rosalie groaned just before something very peculiar happened. It was faint at first but it sounded as though someone was singing, growing louder and clearer before floating its way through every corner of Arzenal.

Hoshi ni toban El Ranga

Banri o koete kanta e

"Hey, that sounds like Ange's song." Vivian realized.

"Yeah, but where's it coming from." asked Miranda as everyone's eyes cast upwards to the sky.

After the Commander's announcement of a 'code black', the security squad had run off to aid the other residents, leaving Ange and Hilda alone in their cell. Ange and Hilda had a prompt but silent fight over who would stand on the bunk and watch out of their cell's small, barred window. Hilda won, so Ange could only listen to the action outside.

"Do you see anything?"

"No, I can't figure out what's going on."

"C'mon you've had your turn let me see."

"Shhh." Hilda hissed. "Shut up a minute. Do you hear that?"

Hoshu ni yukan El Ragna

Setsuna yuukyuu o

The song carried its way down to Arzenal's cells and Ange instantly recognized it. "Yeah, I do." she said. Its language and rhythm might have been different, but its melody was without a doubt the song of the Imperial family. The same song Ange had sung herself so many times. But who on earth was singing during a battle?

Inside the command center, the stress of battle had given way to silent confusion. Wherever that song was coming from, it seemed to halt the DRAGON attack.

Nagare nagare itsukushimu

Mata Seishi no yurikago de

Yaraku awadastu

"Commander, I'm picking up three new signals." Pamela suddenly announced.

"More DRAGONs?" Jill asked.

"Negative." replied Olivier. "I'm detecting some kind of radio signal."

"But these signals only come from Para…no it can't be." Hikaru muttered as if stunned at her theory.

"Give me footage of Second squad now." Jill ordered. "Captain Scarlett, have you and your squad intercepted the enemy yet?"

"Negative, we're currently just outside of the singular's edge." Scarlett replied. "It sounds like the singing is coming from inside." On the main screen overhead, live footage of Scarlett's onboard camera showed the ring of schooners swarming around the still open singular. But now within its entrance, Jill saw movement as three figures descended into view.

"How is…it's impossible." Inspector Bronson gasped.

"What the…how?" The Corporal added, sounding just as stunned. They weren't DRAGONs but three familiar looking humanoid winged machines.

"They have…Para-mail?" Jill said breathlessly. The first was crimson red who seemed to be the leader of the three judging by its central position. The second was aqua blue and the third fern green, all identical in shape and design. They had 4 long, thin spiked wings with a huge firearm twice as big to the standard Para-mail assault rifles fitted on their rear skirt armor, a yellow blade mounted on each unit's right gauntlet, and on their left a small cannon. But unlike the green and blue units who only had one horn and steel grey pneumatic gears, the crimson unit had two horns and its gears were the same gold as Villkiss and Siegfried's while it's rifle mounted an underslung bayonet beneath its barrel. As they watched, the three unknown units continued to descend but did not attack as the singing continued.

"What are they waiting for?" Jill wondered as Second squad held back a mile from the enemy's position. "All units," Jill picked up the intercom, "those three unknown units are with the enemy and will be classed as 'first offs'. Cal, third squad, join up with second squad and eliminate them at once."

"Why are they just hovering in the open like that?" Corporal Lawrence wondered. Jill realized he had a point which brought a twinge of dread to her stomach as she observed the crimson red enemy unit more closely. The way it made an entrance and just hovered in the open with its guard down. Almost like it wanted to be noticed. Whoever was piloting that red unit had something planned. Almost parallel to that faithful day at Xeon Jill remembered vividly.

Aah, sen no toki no rinne no tabi

Tsunagi au te to te sagashi motome

The singing continued as Cal, Eleanor and the third squad began to climb steadily up to the second squad, the three DRAGON para-mail still not making any attempt to counter. "Keep on your guard." Cal warned. "There might be only three of them, but we don't know what they're capable of or who's piloting them." No sooner had he said so, the red unit in the lead suddenly began to change color, shining with a gold light as its shoulders snapped open to reveal a pair of glowing apertures.

"What's it doing?" Eleanor said uneasily.

"Scarlett pull back now!" Cal yelled, his heart thumping faster out of a sense of foreboding.

Kokoro kawashi ibuku kaze yo

Aratana Sekai o tobe

"Are you seeing this?" Scarlett responded.

"Scarlett, do you copy, pull back now?" Cal repeated. But it was too late. In that split second the singing stopped, and a thunderous swirling blast fired out from the enemy's shoulders. "GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" Cal yelled, but the only thing he heard was a surprise mingled fearful gasp from Scarlett's radio as the twin swirling vortexes rushed towards every pilot and Arzenal. For a fleeting second Cal saw the second squad scatter just as the storm of twisting energy erupted towards him when Siegfried's gem blinded him in red light before the energy storm washed over them all.

There was a flash of white light as Eleanor threw herself to her console, her eyes held tightly shut. But the only thing that came was a rushing sound as though a vast invisible something was soaring through the air, then came the sound and shockwave of a hurricane behind her that only lasted for a few seconds. Eleanor slowly opened her eyes and before her was a transparent green barrier. As her vision cleared, she looked up around and to her shock and amazement, Cal's unit had turned emerald green and was radiating a sparkling aura of the same color. Whatever he had done it seemed Cal's unit had somehow protected them from the enemy's blast by incasing all their units in protective bubble-like shields. Eleanor had heard rumors he had done something similar during his fight against the big horn but she had assumed it was just fantasy.

"Is anyone hurt? Is everyone okay?" Eleanor checked and it seemed all her squad mates were unhurt. "What the hell hap…" Eleanor felt her insides churn by the sight behind her. While the red unit's attack had passed over them without any real harm, Arzenal wasn't so lucky. The blast had impacted the northwest side head on, destroying a part of the plateau and mountains and leaving a giant crater like hole in both land and sea. "My god…" Eleanor shuddered.

"What the hell happened?" Vice-Captain Cho gasped.

"What did it just do?!" Irma whispered in fear.

"Scarlett…Scarlett…" Eleanor heard Cal's voice mutter in blank shock. Eleanor looked ahead where the three enemy units still hovered at the singular point, and the entire Second squad had seemingly vanished into thin air. "Scarlett…" He whispered, his unit fading back to dark blue.

"Where did they go?" Tanya gasped.

"Scarlett…where are you? C'mon stop hiding…we have a workout session later…" Cal's hushed anguished voice broke out as he began to breath hard, fighting the reality staring him right in the face. Scarlett and the second squad must have been too far for Cal's unit to protect them. And the twin vortex blast from the red unit had completely vaporized them all. "SCARLETT!" Cal's harrowing cry broke through the dead silent sky.

Several of the girls stifled cries and Eleanor slammed her fist on her cockpit screen holding back tears of her own. But the shock of what had just happened vanished as all the Schooners had now stopped circling around the singular and were now making their way down to Arzenal led by the three enemy Para-mail. "Cal…I'm so sorry but keep your head in the game." Eleanor regained herself. "All units pull back to Arzenal."

"You…bastards…," Cal's voice shook with fury, "you're gonna…pay for that…I'LL TEAR YOU ALL APART!" Cal gave an animalistic, inarticulate roar of rage as a deep crimson searing aura burst from Siegfried like fire. It was so violent that Eleanor could feel the heat issuing from Siegfried like a second sun.

"Cal no!" Eleanor tried to stop him before he charged head long in a bursting flash of crimson light towards the three enemy units.

The last thing Momoka remembered before hitting the floor was the sense of the whole world closing in around her as her vision was consumed in a blinding white light. But no sooner had it started than it faded within seconds. Once the light evaporated and the ringing in her ears ceased, Momoka lifting her head and saw the Commander getting to her feet first.

"Is everyone alright?" The Corporal checked. Everyone seemed fine as the command staff got up and the Corporal had to drag Inspector Bronson who was curled up hugging her knees to her chest from underneath the desk. "Get ahold of yourself Bronson!" He barked. "Do you want to die here?!"

"No." Emma whimpered as she clung to her bodyguard like a child. Momoka edged closer to the door wanting to get away from the Corporal. She had to warn Lady Angelise she was in danger from this man who was here to no doubt kill her on Julio's orders.

"Get me a damage report now!" The Commander ordered as Pamela typed away at her console.

"All radar, communications, and sensors are all dead." She reported shaking her head. "We can't contact any of the pilots."

"I'll try to reboot the system to get the intercom and transceivers working again." Hikaru said she stepped in to help.

Momoka then realized with dread that Sir Cal had been out there when the red machine had fired. Fearing the worst, Momoka looked out of the cracked observation window where to her relief, Sir Cal and the third squad had survived and were now engaging the enemy; including the three first off units that joined the attack. But she also noticed that his friend Scarlett and her squad were nowhere to be seen.

"Poor Scarlett." Hikaru said weakly. "There's no way she and her squad survived that."

They all continued to watch with held breaths as Siegfried, highlighted by it's red energy bursting from its four wings rampaged across the sky, slashing through whatever Schooner stood in his way before meeting the three enemy units head on. While third squad were locked in combat with the DRAGONs, Siegfried and the three enemy Para-mail flashed across the sky in streaks of navy, red, blue and green, swishing in and out of focus from the speed of their attacks. Meanwhile, a good chunk of the enemy had broken off from the main group, taking advantage of the distracted pilots to circle around and attack Arzenal head on. The remaining base guns fired, and several Schooners were taken out but one of them had not been fatal and was now diving fast towards the Command Centre.

"Watch out!" Hikaru cried as she and Olivier dove out of the way as the lone injured Schooner crashed through the observation window and into the central console. The Schooner now slumped over the crushed center console diverted its gaze at Olivier who tripped and screamed as the Schooner lunged its jaws at her. Before it could snatch her, Momoka rushed to Oliver's side and raised a Mana shield putting herself between her and the DRAGON. The Schooner now fixed its attention at Momoka, let out a deafening screech as Momoka felt white hot needles pierced her entire body, her Mana shattering like glass.

"Die you beast!" Inspector Bronson who overcame with panic and shock, began to fire her assault rifle with such frenzy she almost hit the command staff and Momoka who flattened themselves to the floor as the bullets began ricocheting off the walls and ceiling.

"You fool!" Jill snapped as she chopped the Inspector across the back of the neck, knocking her out.

"Girls get out of the way!" Corporal Lawrance roared as he leapt over the desk and with one swing, brought his massive hammer down upon the Schooner's head, sending bone and gore flying everywhere like an overripe watermelon. "Come on we need to go." He extended his hand to Momoka and Oliver as he helped them back to their feet. 'What is he playing at?' Momoka wondered. She had overheard his conversation so why did her just save her instead of letting that DRAGON tear her apart?

"Commander, I managed to get some of the systems back online, but communications are still down." Hikaru told her.

"Jasmine come in, what's your status?" the Commander spoke through her intercom.

"Jill! The DRAGONs are trying to breach through!" Jasmine's voice shouted back through the intercom as gunfire, Vulcan's barking and screeching DRAGONs could be heard in the background. "Me and a few girls are keeping them from getting through the mall! Mei and her crew have the hanger covered! But I fear we won't be able to keep this up for long!"

"Understood. Keep holding them off at your end," Jill answered. "Attention all residents. The enemy has breached the base. Prepare for close quarters combat. First squad deploy immediately!"

"But what about Lady Angelise and Miss Hilda?" Momoka asked.

"Salia will get them out of their cell, but we need to evacuate to the command bunker!" Jill ordered just as a second Schooner landed and tried to force its way through. Drawing her heavy revolver, Jill nailed it between the eyes as it fell onto the tarmac runway below.

"Let's go before more of them show up." Corp Lawrence said as he slung the unconscious Emma over his shoulder. "You!" He told Momoka. "Stay close to me and don't leave my sight." Momoka did as she was told, not wanting to raise any more suspicion before she could tell the Commander his secret. But keeping lady Angelise safe was more important. Opening the door, the Commander took a moment to check for cover and saw it was clear as they all followed her out into the yard towards the emergency command bunker. Momoka got a peek outside the door and the devastation became shockingly clear as the entire northwest side of Arzenal was completely gone. With the others watching the sky for any surprise attacks, Momoka knew it was now or never and she immediately ran in the opposite direction and down an adjacent stairwell. "What are you doing? Get back here, you'll be killed!" She heard the Corporal yell before she ducked underground.

Lost in blind rage, Cal wanted nothing more than to kill everything in his sight, not caring how many DRAGONs got in his way or how much he got hurt or killed in the process. All that mattered was getting to the red enemy unit. Eleanor called after him, but he barely registered her words. If that red unit fired its weapon again, Arzenal and everyone else he cared about would be wiped off the face of the earth. Drawing his blades, Cal slashed his way through a final wall of Schooners and finally came within sight of the three enemy Para-mail. In response, the red unit raised its long-barreled rifle and fired a crimson energy beam which barely missed Cal as he spun out of the way. Before it could fire again, Cal fired another freeze bullet from his ice bullet launcher, but the shot wasn't fully charged and harmlessly exploded in an icy cloud, obscuring the enemies' vision. Cal took advantage and charged through as the red unit raised its rifle to parry Cal's swords with its bayonet.

"I'm going to make you pay for what you've done!" Cal roared. Snapping backwards he drove both legs into the red unit's midsection sending it flying backwards just as its two companions attempted to flank him. Cal shot upwards just as they fired their own rifles and more Schooners attempted to charge him from behind. A quick burst of his M4 rifle took care of them just as the blue and green units renewed their pursuit. Cal swerved left and right as the two enemies behind him unleased a barrage of energy bolts from their gauntlet cannons. Though Cal dodged, he failed to notice the red unit had snuck up overhead until it dropped down on him, the yellow blade on its right arm extending and cleaving off Siegfried's left armored shoulder plate before giving him a kick of its own, sending him into a downward spiral before he could regain control.

"I'll kill every last one of you!" Cal vowed, the hate towards these units pumped through his veins like venom, his brain replaying flashes of Scarlett, her sweet smile, her warm and kind face. The blue and green units rushed at him again and he darted upwards, focusing his aim on green enemy first. Bullets and blasts of red beams tore through the sky and the green unit took a few hits when the red unit fired another energy beam which Cal narrowly avoided as the two once again clashed blades.

"You fight well with nothing held back." Came an unknown voice from the red unit. A girl? Had a human or even a Norma teamed up with the DRAGONs? "I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I'll give you a warriors death."

"You'll be first!" Cal snarled, his rage and contempt growing from having yet another person he deeply cared for taken.

The DRAGON numbers were beginning to overwhelm the third squad. Eleanor tried to take control but there was no end to the mob of Schooners. And now, they were nearly dry of both fuel AND ammo. "First squad where are you, we're getting swarmed!" Eleanor shouted through her com.

"Just hold on a little longer!" She heard Ersha respond over a crack of gunfire in the background. "The DRAGONs are trying to breach through the hanger opening! We'll be right with you once we chip a gap in their assault!" Eleanor dived out of the way as a Schooner almost clamped its jaws on her, then swerved to the left as more came zooming in, all the while trying to conserve what little ammo she had left. In the distance, Cal was engaging all three of the enemy Para-mails by himself. His rage at losing Scarlett was allowing him to hold his own but she knew he couldn't keep it up forever. A sudden cry snapped Eleanor's attention away to where two Schooners had clutched onto young Ginny's Glaive as her already damaged right wing began to smoke more. Eleanor quickly picked them off Ginny with her sniper before it clicked on an empty chamber. She only had one magazine left and she knew if the first squad didn't get up here soon that was it.

Conserving her ammo Eleanor drew her long bronze spear to cut down a few of the Schooners who dared to get close. From the corner of her eye, Cal and the red enemy para-mail continued their clash, sending sparks and echoes of clanging steel across the sky as they parried each other's blows. Three more Schooners attempted to sneak up behind Cal, and Eleanor nailed them just as Cal tried to stab the enemy unit through the cockpit only for the enemy to weave to the right and kick Siegfried hard in the stomach. She tried to take aim at the red unit, but it was moving too fast and she couldn't afford to risk anything that wasn't a perfect shot. And now the blue unit was moving in for a sneak attack.

"Tanisha, Lauren, assist Cal now!" Eleanor shouted as she cleaved off a Schooner's head with her spear. Lauren fired 4 shots from her heavy cannons and though she missed the resulting cloud of smoke and fire blinded the blue unit temporarily as Tanisha charged forward in destroyer mode and swished her blade at the blue enemy, managing to cut a large gash in one of its four wings. The two together with their fire power caused the blue enemy machine to back off when its green companion suddenly came from underneath Tanisha and Lauren. "Break off now!" Eleanor tried to warn but could only watch in horror as its energy beam pierced through Lauren's black and pink Hauser like paper. "LAUREN, NO!" she screamed.

The upper hanger was a bloodbath. Mobs of Schooners dove through the openings before being mowed down by Mei and the other armorists as they tried to bridge a gap in the assault for the remaining 5 pilots of first squad to lift off.

"Come on Salia where are you?" Ersha urged as she bit her lip anxiously. If she and the others didn't take off soon Cal, Eleanor and the other pilots would certainly be killed. It wasn't until Ersha saw a cyan Glaive crash into the sea in the distance that she couldn't stand to wait any longer.

"Listen up girls," Ersha ordered her squad mates, "We have to get out there now. The others aren't going to last much longer!" As the oldest member she would have to take charge with Cal until Salia's returned.

"We're coming big bro!" Vivian announced loudly.

"Tanisha!" Cal yelled in shock as her cyan Glaive went crashing down into the sea below with several Schooners clinging on to her unit like ants as they ripped the cockpit apart and tore her to pieces. His sudden distraction was enough for the red unit to slice off a piece of Siegfried's long right wing that began to smoke before he received another kick that sent him flying back again.

"You monsters!" Vice-Captain Cho shouted in anguish as she charged her frost white Arquebus at the blue unit, swinging her curved blade madly. "Captain!" she shouted. "Take everyone else and get back to base, I'll hold them off!" Tanya, Irma, Margret, Holly and Ginny did their best to hold off the other Schooners still coming from every angle. Before Eleanor could protest, the green unit came dashing at her as the two fought. Eleanor tried to get in close, but the green unit kept firing energy beams at her and with an empty gun she could not counter.

"I've had enough of this!" Cal growled still trying to put a dent in the red unit's attacks. If they didn't finish this now, then the Schooners might finish off everyone inside the base. Cal tried to focus hoping, praying that Siegfried's power would channel through, but he was so blinded by rage that he couldn't focus and tossed aside his now empty rifle and blindly struck with all his might at the red unit. There had to be a way to use Siegfried's hidden power on command. The trouble was Cal was getting more desperate the longer the fight continued. "Damn it Siegfried! Don't something!" Cal cursed, concentrating with all his might to repeat what he achieved against his fight with Dutch's Ragnarök unit.

There was an explosion in the distance and Vice-Captain Cho was destroyed by the blue unit's beam rifle. Cal heard Eleanor give an anguished yell and managed to rip the green unit's cannon off its forearm but she along with the reaming five pilots were about to get bombarded from all sides by the Schooners. And with the red unit refusing to let up, he couldn't even get to them. "Girls get out of there!" But just before the Schooners got close enough, they were blasted out of the sky and Cal turned to see five familiar units flying up to them.

"Need a hand big bro!?" Vivian's voice came through his visor.

"Girls retreat back to base!" Ersha ordered. "Once you're refilled come back out to assist us!" As the third squad retreated and with Vivian and Miranda protecting their flanks, Ersha, Chris and Rosalie aimed their cannons and fired a barrage at the horde. "Cal get down there with them, we'll handle them!" Ersha insisted.

'No not yet.' Cal vowed. 'Not until I make this bitch pay for what she did.' "You're not going to hurt anyone else." Cal told the red unit as they circled each other. "This ends now!" They both charged, this time Cal's blade grazed the red unit's shoulder and it backed off immediately. "Let's see how tough you are without your big gun." If he could at least destroy whatever power it used, then the battle would definitely swing in their favor. Across the sky, the blue and green enemy units signaled the DRAGONS to retreat as they both charged toward the first squad, shooting their beam rifles. One blase clipped Rosalie on her right flank, knocking her off course until Chris caught her.

"How dare you!" Chris growled pulling Rosalie up straight as the blue enemy dove straight towards them. Providing cover fire, Miranda clipped a few of the retreating Schooners but didn't see the green enemy closing in. It raised its long rifle before a whirling blade flew past, nearly slicing the green unit in half. "Back away from my friends!" Vivian warned. The green unit now locked onto Vivian and extended its yellow blade which it pointed towards the pink Razor. "You wanna fight?" Vivian dared as she holstered her submachine gun and separated her boomerang into two fighting knives. "Bring it on."

"Cal I'll help you." Miranda offered as she tried to rise up to where he and the red unit were fighting.

"No! Stay with Ersha and keep those Schooners away. This one's mine!"

Ange didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was it had shaken the entire island, knocking her and Hilda off their feet with Hilda landing right on top of her. "Ow get off me!" she yelped.

"Okay okay." said Hilda as the two got up. "What the hell was that?" Hilda climbed back onto her bunk to peer through the window on her tiptoes, only to cry out in alarm. "Look out!" Hilda jumped out of the way as something smashed through the wall and continued on through the bars and the two stared in shock at the corpse of a Schooner, its body riddled with bullet holes.

"Lady Angelise, Miss Hilda!" a voice called. "Are you still there!"

"Momoka!" Ange called back in relief that she was still alive. She and Hilda fled their cell and down the hall to the stockade's entrance where Momoka was already waiting for them.

"Lady Angelise!" Momoka joyously cried. "Thank heavens you and Miss Hilda are safe!" Lighting her hand with the Light of Mana, Momoka unlocked the bared door and yanked it open.

"Momoka what's going on?"

"The base is under attack! The DRAGONs have three Para-mail and one of them has a weapon that blew up a part of the island. Sir Cal is fighting them on his own." She told them breathlessly. "I don't know how much longer he and the others will last." Hilda went slightly pale and Ange mouth went very dry.

"Then let's go." Ange decided.

"Follow me!" Hilda told them.

"You sure you know the fastest way to the hanger?"

"Trust me, I memorized all these hallways when planning my escape!" Hilda said urgently as all three ran out of the cell block and up one of the many staircases.

Safe inside the command bunker, Commander Jill watched the battle through her binoculars. Cal seemed to be holding his own against the red enemy unit as was Vivian with the green one. But the blue unit seemed to be causing trouble for Rosalie and Chris. 'Come on Salia, what's taking you so long? She should have made it back by now.' Had Salia, Ange and Hilda got cornered by one of the Schooners stamping through the base. No, best not to even entertain those thoughts.

"Commander, I'm going after the maid, she's going to get herself killed." Corporal Lawrance told Jill before he turned to the command staff who now wore armored helmets and flak vests and had set up 3 data pads around a small table to replace their consoles. From his belt, he pulled two silver cube shaped objects. "Here take these, you might need them."

"What are these?" Hikaru asked.

"Sonic wave grenades. Just push the blue button on the side and it will burst the ears out of anything within a 10-meter radius." He instructed. Over in the corner, Inspector Emma still lay unconscious in the corner. At least she would stay out of the way for now.

"Commander!" Hikaru said. "I just got word from that the remaining members of third squad have returned to refuel and restock on ammo."

"Good, the more pilots we have out there the quicker we can end this." said Jill. If Villkiss was out there then they would stand a better chance.

"Jill!" She heard Maggie's static voice through her transceiver.

"Maggie, what's the situation on your end." Jill responded.

"The DRAGONs have broken through the northwest side!"

"Head to the mall, evacuate that entire section, get everyone out of there now." Jill ordered before a worried gasp came from Maggie.

"Their heading for the nursery, the babies!" Maggie's voice suddenly cut off and Corporal Lawrance's head snapped to the transceiver. For a moment, Jill could have sworn he muttered, "Serra…" His face strewed up painfully. It was an odd expression for a human to wear regarding Norma. Almost as though he was about to lose a loved one.

"Corporal?" said Jill suspiciously. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." He whispered in a strange tone that sounded shameful as though he was speaking to someone Jill couldn't see. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore." Corporal Lawrance then suddenly took off from the bunker without an explanation or word.

"Corporal! What are you…"

"Commander I just got word from Mei that Villkiss has just taken off!" Olivier suddenly informed, turning Jill's attention away from the Corporal. If he wanted to go on some suicide mission so be it.

"Excellent!" Jill said as she picked up her transceiver. "Ange, listen. That red unit is the priority target. Assist Cal in taking it out before it fires its weapon again and..."

"I already know that, Jill!" That voice, it couldn't be. Jill snapped her binoculars to her eyes and saw Villkiss rising towards the battle. And in the cockpit, Jill could make out a slim girl in a seafoam blue plug suit and purple twin tails.

"Salia?" Jill cried. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Bring Vilkiss back immediately! That's an order!"

"I don't care! I won't let Cal do this alone, not anymore." The radio was cut and Jill clenched the transceiver in her pathetic hand so hard she dented it.

'You...stupid girl!' Jill fumed. 'Why can't you just listen to me?!'

Racing across the sky Salia could see her squad battling the DRAGON horde. Just ahead, Chris and Rosalie were fighting the blue unit while Vivian was battling the green unit, and further ahead she spotted Cal and the red unit duking it out. And from the looks of things, it was proving to be troublesome as Siegfried had taken some damage.

But Salia was ready, she finally had Villkiss and with Ange's royal jade ring on her finger, she'd finally be able to control Villkiss and help Cal. 'Just watch me, Alektra!' she vowed. 'I'll show you that you should have never entrusted Ange with Villkiss.'

Back down in Arzenal, Ange and Hilda tore up the staircase as fast as they could and Salia now finally in possession of Villkiss shot ahead, all three girls thinking the same thing. 'Just told on Cal, I'm coming.'

TO BE CONTINUED…

ARHTOR'S NOTES

Wow 50 chapters in and still going strong. In all honesty I didn't think this story would be as long as it is, but I'm having real fun writing it in my spare time and creating art for you guys to enjoy. At the end of the day it's you, my audience, that keep me writing knowing how much you enjoy this story with all the PM and feedback you send me. I also want to thank Eric Micheal Kline for still producing amazing great reedits to my chapters, without time the story wouldn't be as good without him. Anyways I hope you all have a happy new year and lets hope good things come for the days, weeks and months ahead. Take care.