Rondo in the Endless Sky

Chapter 8: Ange Lost

With one more defiant screech, the Brig fell into the water with spikes of ice bursting from it as Garm pulled away and a pillar of ice burst from the water. Alain looked around as Wyvern went into a hover, but he didn't see a sign of Villkiss. It must have already sunken below the surf, and was either sinking to the abyss or had found itself caught in a current. There was plenty of islands near their current location, so the odds were in their favor that it would wash up somewhere.

"Good work." Jill said. Alain started tapping away at his console. If he hurried he may just be able to retrieve it. "All units return to base."

"Commander." Sali interrupted. "The Vill-I mean, Princess's unit hasn't necessarily been destroyed. We should search for and retrieve it immediately."

"You're kidding." Hilda said, pulling alongside Salia as the squad shifted to flight mode. "We're exhausted from the fight and don't have enough fuel. And you're telling us to look for Princess and that cruddy machine?"

"Count's right." Jill said. "We'll send out a recovery team later. All units return immediately. That includes you Trigger."

"Yes ma'am." Alain replied. Considering Wyvern's engines, he could very easily stay behind to search around the local area for Villkiss. But since it wasn't like he was any safer from taking on water it wouldn't serve a purpose. His best option was to wait and head out with the recovery team once he pinned down the tracker's signal.

As fate would have it, a problem arose immediately as they were flying back and Alain was continuing to search for the signal. When he'd gotten the tracker, he'd been told it was sturdy enough to handle anything short of an outright gunshot, so he knew that it'd be fine even if Villkiss had taken on water. But as he switched one of his screens to an area radar all that pinged for him were the IFFs for Garm Squadron's Para-mails.

"Wyvern, is something up?" Alain tapped at the screen as he switched to auto pilot. There was no way the thing could have been broken.

"Negative. All scans indicate the tracker simply isn't active."

"How?! I made sure it was on when I installed it, and no way Ange found it. So why did…" Then it hit him. Mei's work ethic was unmatched. She'd never send a unit out unless it was in top condition. And yet the Villkiss had gone down like something blew something in it's internals. That meant one thing: Someone had to have sabotaged the Villkiss. And on top of that, they somehow found out about his tracker as well. 'But how?!' he wondered. 'I never told anyone I had that! Not even Jill! So how did… wait, did someone see me last night? Who?!'

The answer was obvious. Alain's eyes drifted across the formation, stopping at the red Glaive to his right. He couldn't say anything without evidence but his instincts told him he was right. Hilda was crafty, and she no doubt had been a lot more thoughtful then Rosalie and Chris on how she'd get revenge on Ange. There wasn't really any other subject 'Dammit… this is gonna make things a lot nastier. I'll need to play it safe. I hope Ange gets lucky. If all else fails, I'll go see Tusk and get his help.'


On the rocks overlooking a crystal clear lagoon, a lone figure sat with a fishing rod in hand. It finally began to twitch, and with a snap of his wrist, Tusk flicked his rod up and set the hook as a mullet came out flopping on the rock beside him. Lanky and wiry with a mop of shaggy brown hair, the young man gathered up his catch and headed for his shelter. It was on days like this, with the mid-day sun beating down and the loneliness of the island he called home became more prominent, that his daily routine ground into a crushing weight. 'What am I doing?' he thought with a sigh. 'Day in and day out is just the same thing over and over. It feels like I could be doing more, but nothing would change.' Best to just head home and try to forget about it.

As he made his way along the jungle path, something gleamed through a gap in the brush. 'That wasn't water.' He thought. The sheen had been more metallic. Must have been another Para-mail from Arzenal. They washed up here often enough. Tusk figured he might as well check it out. He could see what parts were salvageable, give what was left of the pilot a proper burial. But when he stepped out from the brush onto the beach, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"It can't be… Villkiss?!" Tusk's arms went slack from the shock, his catch and fishing rod falling to the sand. He rubbed his eyes and even slapped himself a couple of times to make sure he hadn't finally gone crazy from the years of isolation. And when he looked it, it was still there. In a daze, he stumbled forward until he suddenly broke out into a full run. Despite the machine still being slick from the seawater he managed to scramble up top. His hand trembling like a leaf, he threw the emergency release. "Hey!" he shouted as the hatch flew open. "Alektra, is that you?!" No, whoever was in there was too small to be Alektra. Dropping into the cockpit, Tusk's eyes took a moment to adjust, and he gasped a bit when he saw the pilot. The girl couldn't have been any older than he was. Her cropped blonde hair, left soaked by the water, fell about her delicate face like strands of gold. Tusk checked her wrist and let out a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse.

'What should I do?' He wondered. If this girl could pilot Villkiss then he needed to contact Jill or Alain and let them know she was alright. But as he looked at her, something made him hesitate. Something about the way she looked in her sleep. It wasn't a peaceful rest, rather it looked like she was in pain and just on the verge of giving up. "Guess I'll wait for her to wake up and see what she wants to do." A decision if ever there was one to be made. He carefully undid the seatbelts and hoisted the girl over his shoulder, pausing a moment as he felt her breasts press into his back as he climbed out. He was really starting to rethink how well this isolation was doing him. Once back on the sand, Tusk spared a look at the gashes along Villkiss's hull. 'Hope whatever made those is long gone.' He prayed. On occasional, he would see fights between Para-mail and DRAGONs out over the sea. The last thing he wanted was to see one up close and personal.


The last thing Ange remembered was Villkiss's cockpit filling with water and the Schooner thrashing on top of it. 'Am I dead?' she wondered. As feeling returned to her, Ange felt like her arms were stretched above her head. Not her usual sleeping position. And why couldn't she pull them back down? Plus, there was some kind of weight across her chest. 'Did those idiots do something again?'

As her eyes opened, Ange blinked her vision clear. But rather than the cracked plaster of her dorm, she found herself in some kind of cave. It was then she noticed the thin leather straps securing her wrists, to a makeshift headboard made of thin branches. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next. Feeling some kind of warm, rhythmic wind against her face, Ange looked to the side, her eyes going wide at the sight of a teenaged boy laying next to her, his arm draped across her chest. And to make matters worse, her plug suit and ceramic armor had been stripped off of her, leaving her with nothing but the bed sheet over the both of them preserving her modesty.

"Ehhhhh?!" Her shocked scream echoed through the room, and the boy flinched a bit as he sat up. For several awkward seconds, they couldn't do a thing but stare at each other.

"Sorry." He said, jumping off the bed. "I tied you up just to be safe." Ange scanned around to get a better idea of her surroundings. Most of the furniture looked like it was made of tree trunks and branches. A clay stove sat near a table, one which had her equipment on top of it. Her captor meanwhile had gathered something from a pot on the stove and was walking back. "So, why are you…" he didn't even have time to finish the sentence before one of his feet caught a nearby bottle, and he pitched forward with an alarmed cry. Ange's face went bright red as by some sick joke of the heavens, the boy face planted right into her crotch.

"Sorry, I-"

"No!" Ange screeched as she lashed out. Her knee slammed across the boy's across the face, stunning him long enough for Ange to get her legs under him and toss him over her, sending him right through the headboard. Now that she was free, Ange snapped the ropes and shot off the bed, grabbing her things, dashing out of the shelter as she threw her boots on. 'Where am I? How did this…' then she remembered. During the last mission, Villkiss shorting out on her, and Hilda and her mocking expression. Ange made sure to make a note to get back at Hilda threefold once she got back. After putting some distance between herself and the perverts cave, Ange dressed herself and followed the sound of waves until she reached a beach. To her relief, Villkiss was sprawled out on the sand, half of it submerged in the surf. She climbed up and dropped into the pilot's seat through the still opened hatch. She pressed the activation key, but the machine refused to star. She gave a few more frustrated pressed, but still nothing occurred.

"Why won't it move?" She climbed out and noticed the forward vents were covered in soot. That couldn't have been normal. Upon reaching in, her hand found a clump of something singed but still soft. Ange pulled the clump out, multiple pieces of girl's underwear falling to the sand. In her hand was a red set of bra and panties, and she already knew who the owner was. The image of Hilda's snide face came to mind, and all the anger and frustration Ange felt came broiling over. "Damn, damn, damn!" she cursed as she tore the underwear apart and stamped it into the sand. "You… you bitch!"

"How could you do that?" someone said. As if to make her day worse, the pervert boy had caught up to her, still rubbing the spot he'd been hit. "I saved your life back there! Why'd you go and…" before he could finish, Ange whipped her pistol out and fired at his feet, making him leap back.

"Don't you come closer!" Ange yelled. "Do it and I'll shoot!"

"Just take it easy! I swear I'm not going to hurt you!" He said. "Besides, you already shot at me!"

"You bound me, stripped me, and groped me!" Ange said, her arm shaking in rage.

"L-Like I said, I… okay I'll admit that's fair."

"And I bet you would've done more!" Ange accused. Tusk sighed. "What other filthy and perverted things were you planning to do to me huh?!"

"Cut me a break." The young man put a hand to his head. "You don't seriously think I'd feel up an unconscious girl's shapely breasts, or taste every inch of her vulnerable body, or use her to admire the mysterious female figure?" Ange's face got progressively redder the further he went on. Did this guy not know when to shut up?! "Do I look like I would do that sort of thing?"

"You would do that sort of thing?!" Ange yelled. She wasn't taking chances, and started walking forward. "You filthy damned… I should shoot you right now!"

"Like I said I was trying to help you!" And because Tusk's attention was so focused on the girl holding the gun before him, he didn't even see the crab until it reached out and pinched his toe. With another yelp, he fell forward and right onto Ange again. Something warm pressed on his face and a scent far from unpleasant filled his nose. He opened his eyes, and to his horror he'd again found himself with his face in Ange's crotch.

A few gunshots and one very angry chase later, Tusk had found himself bound to one of the trees by some vines as the girl stormed off in a huff.

"You can just hang there and rot you sick freak!"

"Come on!" he begged. "I swear it was an accident!"


As soon as they'd returned, Alain and Salia had immediately been called to Jill's office. Villkiss's sudden malfunction was plenty cause for concern, and while the plan to recover it was in motion there was still plenty to discuss after the debriefing.

"We had just found someone to pilot it too." Jasmine sighed as she kept a hand on Vulcan's head.

"But why?!" Mei cried as she pounded a fist to a palm. "The machine was in perfect shape! Why did it go down?" 'I've got a pretty solid idea.' Alain thought. But, throwing out a baseless accusation wouldn't help anything here.

"We can think about that later." Salia said. "For now, We need to focus on recovering it." 'Would be easier if that damn tracker worked! That thing cost me an arm and a leg to convince that shrewd bastard to hand it off!' Salia caught a glimpse of Alain's shifting expressions and wondered just what was going through his head. He clearly knew something they didn't, but wasn't saying anything for some reason.

"You're right." Mei agreed. "I'll form a recovery group right away."

"And Ange." Jill said. "Retrieve her as well. If she's dead, then bring me her corpse."

"I'll follow the recovery team." Alain said. "Wyvern has a larger range than the transpot and it's faster. I can scout the islands in that quadrant and see if it washed up anywhere."

"Good plan!" Mei said. "We'll search the area too. If you find Villkiss and Ange ahead of us then radio in!" Alain shot Mei a thumbs up before glancing over to Salia. The troubled look she wore was telling him plenty. 'I seriously need to do something to help her get over it. But, it doesn't help with Jill as part of the problem.'


Alain was still going over those thoughts as he was preparing Wyvern to go alongside the recovery team. The heavy VTOL craft they'd be using roared like a hurricane as it's rotors spun, a noise Alain was thankfully spared from in the sound-enclosed comfort of his cockpit. The rear section of the recovery craft was big enough to house a flight-mode Para-mail with room for personnel to spare though it was a rare day they brought in a full machine. Mostly the ones they collected were just piles of scrap.

"Heyyy! Alain!" Vivian's voice called. "Big Bro open up!" Alain looked to the monitor and saw the vermillion haired girl tapping the side of the craft along with Ersha who carrying a basket and thermos. Alain opened the cockpit and stood up so he could lean on the edge as he looked over.

"What are you two doing out here?" He asked.

"You guys are going on recovery yeah?" Vivian asked. "We're gonna head out too!"

"You two just got back from a mission." Alain reminded them. "Besides, Salia's already tagging along to supervise things. You should stay here and rest, maybe enjoy some of that reward money."

"Yeah but she'll die if we don't hurry!" Vivian said. "Ange is alive, I know it! My nose is never wrong!"

"We'll need to find her quickly of course." Ersha held up the basket in her arms. "She's definitely hungry don't you think? Be sure not to fall behind us!"

"Come on let's book!" Vivian ran off with Ersha following behind.

"I'm going ahead of you lot for the record!" He shouted as he dropped back into the cockpit. "At least I can always count on them for help."

"I already have a plan for the search operation drafted out." Wyvern said, Alain drawing his gaze to the console as its image changed to one of a digital recreation of the sector Villkiss went down in. "If Villkiss were to have drifted off then possible sites where it could have been washed up have been marked. I suggest we check the most likely locations first and continue from there. Without the aid of the tracker, we'll need to rely on visual confirmation."

"And with all the damage and water it took on, I think it's safe to assume there won't be any contacting Ange by radio." Alain lowered his visor and tapped a finger across the screen. His eyes perked up as the image moved to one of the marked islands, which was notably bigger than many of the others, but also much further away from the incursion zone. It was an island he knew quite well. "You marked Tusk's place? It's so far out of the way though."

"Yes but I kept it in mind as a possibility. I assumed if we ran out of options you would wish to seek his aide, so I marked it as a possible location. And it is not impossible for Villkiss to have landed there. Depending on how deep it sunk, the possibility stands Villkiss could have been caught in a deep water current that would bring it right to this location."

"You know me that well huh?"

"I have known you your entire life. It is only reasonable that I would have a handle of your behavioral patterns."

"Would it kill ya' not to sound weird about it?"

"Not possible. Doing so would require lowering my vocal abilities to your level." The insult the AI threw out got Alain to crick a brow. The thing had some nerve for sure.

"You're an ass sometimes, y'know that?" Alain did have to admit however, it was impressive the AI had learned how to toss out casual insults like that. For a machine that just as frequently blew off his sarcastic remarks, getting jabs like that thrown at him was at least a good sign it was learning something. Even if it came at his own expense. "But damn if we're not friends. Alright then, let's get searching!"


Aside from the day her mother died, today was the worst day of Ange's life. Nearly killed by that red-haired bitch, then getting felt up by that pervert, and now she couldn't even get Villkiss to start up. Heck, it'd make her day if she could just get the radio working. But dark clouds were starting to roll in overhead and the tide was rising.

"Why don't they even pack emergency rations?" All the cockpit had in it for any other event was a mount for her assault rifle. "A coffin for Norma huh?" As she was giving up, Ange felt something splash her leg, looking down to see water had seeped back into the cockpit. Climbing out, she looked over the edge and saw that the tide had risen and was starting to edge over the cockpit. "Oh come on!" Was it too much to ask for one thing to go right today?

Ange jumped out and waded onto the beach as the clouds finally broke and began to pour rain down on her while thunder boomed. She felt more than a little aimless as she wandered through the forest. She had to at least find some kind of shelter and bide her time. 'If only this darn suit covered more.' At least she could spare herself a snide thought like that. A crack of lightning that was far too close made her flinch, a tree right before her getting split in half by the bolt. Ange looked around, and found a nearby tree that conveniently made a small hollow. It wasn't much but shelter was shelter, even if now the constant rain was starting to make her shudder from the cold.

"Ow!" A sudden pain like two needles made her jump, and she looked down to see a snake dangling from where it had bitten into her exposed thigh. Whacking the animal off, she kicked it into the brush. She ran back out into the storm, but it wasn't long before she started limping. Her leg began to feel numb and a burning sensation began to spread through her. It only got worse the further she went. Where had she even ended up now? She'd lost her way back somewhere, but her mind felt so clouded she had no idea where she was anymore. 'How far back is the beach now? Maybe… if I can find it… I can hunker down in that guy's cave… where did I leave him anyway?' she didn't know why her mind was running all over the place now. She just knew she felt tired and numbed all over.

"Someone…" Ange whispered as she finally gave up and collapsed onto the muddy ground. "No… nobody's coming. Nobody cares." She heard someone's voice, but her mind was too foggy to make it out. Through the rain and the haze, she was barely able to make out something hanging from a tree. It was someone, at the least. "Help…" Ange begged as she finally began to black out. "Help… me…"


"Oh great." Tusk hung his head as the rain finally started coming in. It wasn't like he couldn't have gotten out of the vines by now, but something told him he'd be safer if he stayed where he was. That girl could pilot Villkiss, which meant a lot of things. 'I wonder what Alain thinks about all of it. He inherited Wyvern after all. If I get a chance I should check Villkiss over. Knowing him Alain may have snuck something into it.'

The vines were starting to get uncomfortable as they got soaked. But, that at least meant he'd have an easier time getting out of them. It was around the time he finally got to wriggling his arms around to get his knife that the girl who'd attacked him came shambling down the path. She looked totally out of it and was limping along like something had injured her leg. On top of that she was breathing heavily. She stopped just as she got close to the tree Tusk was suspended from and collapsed. She shifted a bit while mumbling something, and while she ended up looking at Tusk, her eyes looked like they were completely elsewhere.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tusk asked. She didn't seem well at all. She'd gone sheet white and looked even worse than when he'd found her.

"Help…" the girl reached a hand out, but it slipped as her body went slack. "Help… me…"

"Crap!" Tusk hurried to grab his knife and slash himself free of the vines. He ran over to the girl and lifted her up. Her breathing was shallow, and her pulse was irregular. On a hunch, Tusk checked her over and confirmed his suspicion. On her inner right thigh, a swelling bruise around a pair of still bleeding puncture wounds. 'She's been bitten. It doesn't look like the venom's spread too far, so I should be able to get most of it out.'

Removing his shirt so he could set the girl's head on something soft and got to work. The girl made pained sounds as he pressed his mouth to the wound and sucked out the blood he could. Once that was done, he picked her up and made a run for his shelter. When he was back at the shelter, he made sure to administer some of his homemade antidote and dressed the wound. Luckily for him his uncle Hannibal had taught him how to make anti-venom, or else he'd have probably never survived his first few years on this island. Still, it'd be some time before she fully recovered, and he'd have to keep her temperature stable. As he wiped her down, his eyes caught the ring on her finger. It was all the further proof he needed of her ability to pilot Villkiss, but it also brought unpleasant memories with it.

He still remembered what he'd seen ten years ago. Everything in flames with the ruins of battle around him, the lifeless bodies of his parents, the stern face of the girl who'd been meant to lead them to freedom left battered and wounded, and the Villkiss, the blade meant to achieve that freedom, left without someone to properly use it. 'Libertus… could Alektra really be planning it again? I'll definitely need to give Villkiss a look over. Alain stayed behind at Arzenal for a reason… he'd know about this. And he's not the kind to go without a plan for something like this.' Tusk gave a sigh as he looked out of the cave and at the starry sky above. If things really did begin to change, where would that place him? 'Alain took his place as Wyvern's Rider… but me? I'm a coward who just ran away.'


Whatever had happened after she passed out, Ange certainly didn't feel well once she finally woke back up. Groaning as she pried her eyes open, she found herself in the pervert's cave again. Her leg felt both sore and numb. As did the rest of her body. Just trying to sit up on the bed took all her strength.

"You shouldn't force yourself." Ange looked up, and the pervert was stirring a pot set on the stove. "I sucked out the venom and gave you an antidote, but your body is still going to be numb for a while." Ange looked down at herself and gave an angry glare when she saw that rather than her plug suit, she was in a rather loose shirt. "Cut me a break." He sighed. "Just so you know I'd never do anything perverted to a girl who couldn't move." Spooning some of the pot's contents into a bowl he came over and sat in a chair set next to the bed. Though she hated to admit it, Ange was hungry and whatever he had made certainly smelled better than whatever passed for good at Arzenal. "You might not have made it if you hadn't stumbled onto where you left me earlier. You should learn not to go running through the forest half naked."

"Don't patronize me." Ange grumbled. "Besides, I don't need your help."

"Yeah yeah." The boy took a spoon of what he'd made and held it up. "Here."

"What?"

"Just eat. I'm sure you haven't had anything since you arrived so you've gotta be hungry."

"I don't want it." Ange pulled back as the spoon was moved closer. It was some kind of soup, and she couldn't tell what the chunk that was in it even was. Some kind of meat? "I don't even know what it is!" But her stomach betrayed her by loudly growling.

"I promise there's nothing weird in it. So just have some."

"Fine." Ange opened her mouth with a bit of hesitance. The taste was odd but still better than Arzenal's food. "It tastes bad." Despite her comment, Ange opened her mouth again for more.

"Glad you like it." The young man said. "It's sea snake soup." Ange's eyes went wide and she quickly downed what she had in her mouth. Between that and the viper, she didn't think she'd be too fond of snakes from now on. "So, do you trust me a bit now? Hopefully you won't punch me, shoot at me, or tie me up from now on."

"I'll think about it." After another mouthful, a thought occur. Ange shifted the blanket and looked at the bandage around her thigh.

"What's wrong, does it hurt?"

"You said you sucked out the venom, right?"

"Well yeah."

"With your mouth?"

"Right."

"From here?"

"Well, what else would I have-oh." The pervert had a concerned look of realization hit him. Ange's face started to burn and she lunged at him. "Owwww! What the hell?!"

"I NEVER SAID I WOULDN'T BITE YOU!"