Chapter 22: Reminiscence

'If I had to say there was something I can never turn down, it's food.' Alain's eyes were boring into the hotpot that Garm Squad had decided would be that day's after drills meal with ready eyes. After the rather emotional few days he had been through, sitting around a steaming pot of meat and vegetables was certainly a welcome shift in pace. Naomi and Ersha certainly looked pleased at how his mood seemed to have improved.

"A shift change?" Vivian gasped. Salia had mostly convened this to inform the team of what the next week was going to look like.

"Yes. Due to… recent events, Garm Squadron is being put further back in sortie rotation. We won't be having another sortie for a few days." Salia explained as she set aside her data pad. "Thankfully we have the numbers to avoid being put on standby, though we will need to get Naomi through her first sortie since she got out of her coma. Alain will be with us then too to keep us at where we normally are."

"Though that one's a special case." Alain added. "Commander still has me set up to sortie with another Squad today."

"Which one?" Rosalie asked.

"Snowbird. Eleanor's squad."

"Doesn't she hate you?" Naomi asked.

"She does." Alain sighed. "Eleanor's hated me ever since I knocked her off the leaderboard. Everyone else in her squad is just ambivalent."

"Well at least we're not being kept out of combat." Ersha said as the began to divvying up portions from the bowl. And surprisingly to the others, Ersha nabbed the biggest portion of the cooked meat rather than Alain.

"It would be worse if we got grounded completely." Rosalie admitted. "No thanks to the Breakout Sisters anyway."

"Did you make that one up?" Alain dryly muttered.

"Unfortunately, no."

"Part of me hopes they never come back." Chris's frosty words caused a few looks to be shared among the squad.

"Just how bad has she been?" Alain asked as he leaned closer to Naomi, almost hissing as he tried to stay quiet.

"Pretty bad." Naomi answered. "And I'm not sure it'll let up any time soon. We tried talking with her, but she wasn't having it. Maybe you should try, Chris always listens to you."

"I did say I'd stop by for that." Alain said. 'I have to wonder what CROSS is going to do now?'


To say the news Garuda had brought back with them to CROSS's headquarters caused an uproar was an understatement. Leon felt like he'd barely slept the past couple of days as it was, and now everything was getting into place in case something went down. But until they got word from Tusk about whatever was happening in Misurugi, it was just set up. 'Not that it isn't a reason for us to be thorough with it.' Leon thought, turning down the hall as he made his way to Dission's office. 'If we could have an easier way to know what's going on in Arzenal this would be that much better. Dammit Alektra, what will it take for you to realize Arzenal can't do another Libertus on its own?'

"Heyyy, Major!" Leon looked back, seeing Chopper trotting down the hall towards him. "Was wondering where you'd gotten to amid all the buzz!"

"And where exactly have you been since getting back, Louis?" The operator sighed at the use of his real name, Leon folding his arms. "You know I don't use callsigns outside of ops and comms."

"And you know I refuse to go by anything but!" Louis countered. "Anyway, you goin' to see Big Boss?"

"I am. Did you finally get that mission report done?"

"Relax. Had Huxian finish it up before he and Ionela started schnozing it up like they do whenever we get back." Louis flicked out a stack of papers to prove it. "Sucks we can't do anything until Tusk gets back to us about that bug he planted."

"Operations require information to be run effectively. We can anticipate all we want, but it won't do if we can't find out anything else." Leon said as they continued down the hall. "It's already enough of a problem learning the Nightmare works for Embryo. And that 'change of plans' says enough."

"And until we know what that means, we can't act." Louis said so in a tone mimicking Leon, which earned the younger man a glare. "Ho hoo, lookin' fierce as usual with that glare Heartbreak. You should hear how some of the ladies talk about it."

"What it kid." Leon warned.

"Hey, I'm only four years younger than you, Mr. Almost 30." Louis ducked when Leon threw a punch his way. "And besides, everybody knows there's only one person you're set on. You aren't nicknamed Heartbreak for nothing!"

"Keep talking and I'll put you in med bay for a next week."

"Yes sir."

When the two arrived at Dission's office, they found the commander already surrounded by papers and Mana screens as he worked, sending orders and going over the info that was coming in from their entire spy network. Trying to find out what was going on within the Mana nations had been occupying much of their time since the Misurugi incident.

"I'm here with that report Big Boss." Louis got a nod from Dission as he put the papers into the stack, the old man barely looking away from his work. "Full on work mode eh old timer?"

"I was never one to take things slow." Dission said. "And we can't really afford to do that anyway."

"Has anything come in?" Leon asked. "Tusk has Misurugi covered, but what about Rosenblum? I'm sure they're not taking the fact a pair of Norma manhandled their princess lightly."

"That's actually why I called you here, Leon." Dission said, making Leon raise a brow. "I did get word of something major from our Rosenblum operatives. Considering the scope of the breach of security Arzenal just had, they're acting on it as you'd expected. The current Inspector's competence has been called into question, so they're sending a top-ranking officer to do a look over of the facility."

"That is the furthest thing from good." Louis winced. "Going by what Alain's told us, they've only gotten away with everything they have because the current Inspector is a bit too easy to dupe. If they send someone who's better qualified… well we may as well kiss the idea of another Libertus goodbye."

"Not unless we send someone in their place." As Dission and Louis looked to him, Leon glanced between both. Then he realized what they were implying. "Come on Leon, it's been some time since you had a proper mission."

"We are talking about trying to sneak someone – for some reason me – into Arzenal!" Leon objected. "It was risky enough when we had some of our operatives volunteer to act as the crew to retrieve that girl. Heck I'm not even a Mana human! The capacitor gloves aren't easy to make a convincing cover with over a long time. Just who the hell is the officer they're intending to send anyway?"

"By the looks of it, someone who'd be far harsher on Arzenal than young Emma Bronson." Dission turned a monitor around to show the file he had opened up. "Say hello to General Grisha Herman, long time member of the Rosenblum military and one with quite the record of Norma acquisitions. If there was one person to crack down on Arzenal's security, it'd be this man."

"How anyone makes general in a world like theirs I'll never know." Louis snarked.

"In short someone who can't be easily swapped out the usual way." Leon grumbled. "Is this solely because you think I would be the best for this? Or is there other motives towards sending me in particular to Arzenal underneath it?"

"I have no idea what you mean." Dission said, barely able to hide his chuckle. "But if there's anyone I'm sure can play the part of the stern officer, well… that's basically what you already do isn't it? Just toss in a bit of extra scorn due to interacting with Norma and you'd fit right in."

"I'm not pleased with the implications." Leon grumbled. "But I can't really say it's a bad idea. Reckless and dangerous; but not bad. Also probably the only shot we've got to get someone into Arzenal to see if Jill can't be convinced."

"And what better person to do that than you?" Dission said, glancing at the old photograph. "You two were quite close."

"Ten years ago. And even then, she only had her eyes on Istvan."

"Hence the name Heartbreak." Louis had to dodge another punch as he snickered.

"Fine." Leon said. "Let's bust into Arzenal. Boy won't the kid be surprised."


Alain had to admit it, after flying with Garm almost exclusively for a couple of months it was a bit odd being with another team. Snowbird Squad was far from the flying circus the girls in Garm were. An uptight Captain who perhaps was even more by the book than Salia, and Para-mails all in a uniform livery of dark pink and red. It just made Wyvern stand out in the center of the pack all the more.

"Trigger." Alain glanced down as he was pinged. On the console was Snowbird's leader Eleanor, a tan skinned woman with dark brown hair. Also one of the Norma who was quite open about their dislike for Alain. "I don't want you messing with things in my team, got it? Stay out of the formations and deal with stragglers."

"Not that fair in terms of pay isn't it?" Alain countered. Eleanor glared at him, though he paid it no mind. He wasn't in much of a mindset to cause trouble. "I'll pick off whatever gets in my way, simple as that. Also, remember we're both Captains. You're not my superior."

"That rank of yours is only for show, Mr. One Man Squad." Eleanor bit. "Come back to me when Commander has you actually leading a team of your own. Until then, you're just a Captain in name only."

"Frosty as usual."

Eleanor huffed and closed the line as Alain rolled his eyes and focused forward as the call for the approach to the incursion zone came in. As the sky split open, the first things to exit weren't a swarm of Schooners. They were larger than them, but nowhere near as big as the other DRAGON types. The four DRAGONs split off in a fan formation, shooting past the approaching Para-mails at full speed, roars akin to jet engines piercing the air as burning trails followed their wings.

The sole medium sized DRAGON class, Sloops. It was only after those ones that the Schooners descended, followed by a Brig.

"Are you kidding?! Why does there have to be Sloops too?" Eleanor snapped.

"Then I'll take them." Alain said, already veering around. "Wyvern can keep up with them no problem. You ladies can have the rest."

"Tch, fine… Arrow formation!"

As Snowbird got into position to take on the swarm, Wyvern veered off and sped up as its wings locked into Pursuit Mode. As he chased down the Sloops, Alain noticed something as he tracked their maneuvers and responded to their own attempts to get around him. 'They're moving differently. It's almost like they're in formation too.' As he observed, the Sloops were certainly flying in motions he recognized as flight formations. Doubling up when chased to get him off the tail of one, spiraling upwards and diving back, rolling to avoid his gunfire, and breaking his missile locks by taking sharp turns.

It was almost as if someone had taught these Sloops how to fly like Para-mails.

"Took them long enough to start learning." Alain felt a smile creep along his face as his fingers readjusted. "Alright then… let's fly!"

The chase turned into a dance in the clouds. Wings both natural and artificial carved their way through the clouds as they climbed higher while exchanging attacks, bolts of energy colliding in the air and missiles leaving vapor trails behind them as they sought after speedy targets. And as he broke through a cloud, Alain's eyes locked on the deep blue expanse that laid before him. Behind him the clouds and the ocean below with whatever islands were scattered across its surface. The very world he wanted to leave behind.

But above? A blue even deeper than the ocean he flew above so often. An ocean he could actually explore.

"Carve you trail into the skies." His hand reached out, shaped like a plane cresting through that deep blue expanse. As Alain let Wyvern drop downwards, he closed his hand tightly. More words he'd forgotten, the phrase his mother would always tell him with a confident smile on her face. The Sloops, seeing what looked like a chance, gathered up and trailed behind Wyvern as it dove.

"Alain, attack incoming." Wyvern warned, Alain silently placing his hand back to the control stick. "I suggest…"

"No need!" Alain changed modes and wheeled around in the air, taking aim with his beam rifle. His gaze was steady as his targets lined up, the Sloops collectively charging an energy blast of their own. And as the moment edged on, Alain felt the world start to slow. Red trailed after Wyvern as it continued to descend, flecks of light flying past like feathers. "Let's go!"

A charged shot flew from the rifle, piercing one of the Sloops to send it careening off to the side and stopping the charge. As the remaining Sloops broke off, Wyvern glowed red as Alain shot after them, leaving a trail behind it. 'Why the hell did I forget so much? My parents loved the sky more than anything. Libertus wasn't just about finding a place in the world for them. It was about making one where they could be free to love these skies as much as they wanted. I still don't know just what I want, but I…'

"I love the sky too!" The declaration ripped from his throat as he blazed past the Sloops. "Fly faster! Fly further! Fly higher! Carve your trail into the skies!"

He pulled back and over as a storm of energy bolts flew his way, passing right over the Sloops and firing at them in turn. As the DRAGONs fell from the cleanly placed shots, Wyvern changed to Assault Mode and began to hover, its red glow dying down. Alain looked off as Snowbird finishing off the Brig, his breathing a bit heavier.

"Even if I have to fight for it… I'll find a reason to protect these things. I'll make a world where I can love the sky as much as I want."


After returning to the base, Alain snuck off to attend to something most of the residents, Alain didn't like the graveyard. For him, that spot of Arzenal carried a lot of bad memories. He'd spent so much time watching friends die, he had a hard time thinking of the spot as anything but a reminder of what the Norma were stuck with. Especially the failures of the past. Even if they weren't his own.

"I think the only times I'd really visit would be to help set new graves, and each year with Salia to put flowers at the graves from Libertus." Alain said as he knelt before one grave, a wistful smile on his face. "Pretty pathetic of me, huh Mom?"

On it's face was the name Monica Pasternak.

"Although you didn't like this place much either. What was it again? 'Because I won't allow anyone to die under my watch', right? Zola always said you were a pain in the ass as a Captain, but that's why everyone always came back alive. I hope you two have gotten to talk, wherever you ended up. I hope it's alright there, and I hope you're with Dad." Alain rubbed his eyes clear as they started welling up. "I finally remembered your favorite saying. I forgot it somehow, guess it had just been a long time. Some Ace I am. Can't even remember Keeper's callout. Things right now… well they aren't the best. It sucks knowing that it might get worse and that I can't tell anyone about it. But I want to… I want to so damn badly. Dammit… I wish you guys were still here so I could at least have some kind of advice on what to do. It's just way too much to keep carrying on my own."

"You're doing that thing again kid." Something leaned against him and Alain looked up to see Vuclan laying his head on his shoulder. He'd been so engrossed in his own little world he hadn't heard Jasmine approach. "You know that thing where you start taking all the problems in the world onto yourself for no reason. Haven't you been through enough to make you stop doing that already?"

"It's not that." Alain muttered, reaching up to pat Vulcan's head. "It's knowing as much as I want to, right now I can't share that burden. Hilda already drove it in for me. But… what else can I do when I'm in a situation like this? I barely even know why I'm fighting anymore."

"Well that's certainly one way you aren't like Monica." Jasmine said, kneeling herself. "That girl did things purely for the sake of them. Didn't need a reason in the world to decide to do something. She'd just do it. Did I ever tell you about how she and your dad got together?"

"Only a thousand times." Alain chuckled. "Dad showed her up in Wyvern first day he got here, and she kept trying to return the favor. And somewhere along the way, the rivalry turned into love."

"Ahh, spoilin' this old lady's fun now."

"You're barely forty. That's still pretty young."

"Not for Arzenal. I'm practically ancient." Jasmine put a hand to Alain's head. "I'm beyond lucky for a Norma to get to be alive this long. You think I don't feel a bit bitter over watching so many of these girls grow up only to die young? Calling kids who're barely eighteen old. It's enough to make you sick sometimes."

"Not like it can really be helped." Alain mumbled.

"Well you and Ersha are the closest thing to actual parents the girls in the education group have." Jasmine said. "You two are barely even eighteen but she treats those little girls like they were her own. I wanna see those kids have long, nice lives where they get to do what they want. And they can't get that being stuck in here."

"And that's what Libertus is for." Alain sighed. "Though I'm not sure we can do that without help. What's Jill's issue about all of this?"

"I wish I knew that as much as you." Jasmine stood, stretching her arms out. "We'll just have to see how things play out from here. If old Dission can get his boys in order I'm sure something will happen before we know it. That man always knew how to get around things."

"Man would I like to see you two working together again." Alain mused as he stood up. "Anyway, I've got one other grave I want to visit."

"Oh… you haven't been there in ages. A lot of you kids haven't." Jasmine gave a sigh and looked off. "I can only hope the ones who still aren't with us are back with their parents now. Probably a lot happier than we are. Anyway, tell that brat I said hello."

"Will do." Alain turned off to the far end of the yard, a hand tightening up before he set off. The hidden area he'd told Hilda about was well out of the way. It had to be to make sure it wasn't found by anybody who didn't have a reason to know about it. Past the edge of the upper cliffs, all that was left was a large gate, which Alain pushed through with a bit of struggle due to the aging hinges being covered in rust. Behind it were more rows of graves. Like the graves for the Norma, each one was marked with only but a name. But beside each was a black helmet. And some still had long dried-up flowers by them.

Alain moved through the rows until he reached the middle, gently brushing his hand along the tops until he reached the headstone for Marcus Pasternak. As he knelt in front of the grave, he couldn't help but tug at his scarf. It was one of the few gifts from his father he still had. And he could still remember the day he'd had it wrapped around him for the first time.

"You always did say I'd grow into this one day." Alain mused, taking a seat as he picked up the helmet by the grave, running his thumb along it's cracked visor. "Dad… I don't know what to do anymore. I… I ran into the Siegfried. And I lost. I lost badly. And now I'm scared. Scared that I don't have the strength I need to overcome it. That I won't be able to protect everybody I love. Wyvern and I… neither of us know how to fight at our best the way we should. I used that system again today, but I still have no idea how I did it. But… something about it made sense. When I fought because I love the sky… because I wanted to save something… something just clicked. Revenge… it's not the reason I want. You and Mom… the others… I can't fight for the sake of avenging you. I don't understand it right now, but I'll figure it out. I have to."

"Alain, I do not mean to sound insensitive, but might I ask what purpose there is to doing this?" Wyvern asked. Alain set the helmet down and drew out the terminal. "Wouldn't speaking to someone who can actually respond be a more productive way to resolve these troubles of yours?"

"That's one of the weirder things about people." Alain said. "Even when people are gone, sometimes all we want to do is hope they can hear us, wherever they are. It may not help much, but sometimes it's the best we can do. By the way, do you have any new data from when the ARISE system triggered today?"

"I can confirm the authorization to activate it is tied to your mental state." Wyvern said. "However there is still information that I am processing."

"My mental state huh?" When Alain thought back on it, each time that system had activated, it had all been in situations where he had one thing on his mind: Winning for the sake of others and not himself. 'After Zola, Coco, and Miranda died, when we fought that Bighorn… and today because I want to change this world.' All situations where anger and revenge were the furthest things from his mind. "Naomi was right. It all made sense once I was up there again. Sometimes it feels like the only place I can clear my head is when I'm flying."

As he stood to leave, Alain was met with a surprise as he turned to the gate and saw none other than Chris strolling into the yard and looking just as surprised to see someone else present. 'She almost never comes here.' Alain thought. Chris probably had to be the one person who disliked the graveyard more than he did, so seeing her present at all, much less in this hidden portion of it, was a rare occurrence indeed.

"Uh… I… I think I'll go." Alain moved as soon as Chris turned to leave.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" He called out, closing the distance between him and her in an instant. Chris shot around with wide eyes from shock. "You already came this far already, no point turning around now if you're here to visit him right?"

"I… I wasn't expecting someone else to be here." Chris admitted. "I don't even know why I came."

"Will it help if I go the rest of the way with you?" Chris nodded and held her small hand out to Alain. As he took it and lead Chris along, Alain glanced back at her and could read the troubled thoughts spelled out all over her face. 'It's weird… I'm so used to seeing the girls when we fight. But at times like this I'm reminded of how small they are. I think I get why Ange charmed Tusk into fighting again.'

"You decided not to bring Rosalie with you?" Hopefully some small talk would probably help as they weaved through the rows.

"I wanted to try and come here alone at least. Guess that's not working out." Chris's heavy sigh brought Alain to chuckle. He knew they were getting closer to the grave when Chris's grip on his hand tightened. It was impressive she'd decided to even attempt to visit this secret portion of the graveyard after so many years. 'Not even Zola negged her about visiting here.' Alain thought as they finally stood before a grave marked with the name Brett Grimm.

"Definitely been a while." Alain remarked, Chris nodding as she knelt, picking up the dried flowers laid before the headstone. "Guess we're gonna have to take over for Zola on arranging the flowers this year huh?"

"Yeah." Chris nodded. "I don't really know what to say at all. I came here to at least try and figure something out but… just thinking about it makes me angry. There isn't a damn thing for us outside of here. And Hilda still left us to find something that ended up being pointless? What the hell… what could be out there when it's those people who're the reason my dad and mom are gone?"

"That's a pretty good question." Alain said. "All I can tell you is just talk with her once she's out."

"That's what I've been trying to do all this time!" Chris snapped. "I could tell something was bothering her but she would never tell us! And just when I had it in me to ask her myself, she up and vanishes!And now she actually wants to talk to me about it?!"

"Again, it's not my place to speak for Hilda. Just give her a chance after she gets out of the hole."

"Why should I? She left without saying a thing. Probably never thought of us as friends to begin with."

"I wouldn't say that's true." Alain said. Chris's fuming expression told him she wasn't letting go of this one easily. He could only guess how much it hurt Chris to have someone she considered a close friend – even a lover – seemingly betray her to go somewhere she hated. "Chris, I've said all I can. This is something between you and Hilda, so it'll just have to be sorted out once you can." 'If they even get the chance to.' As he was deep in thought, he was caught off guard when Chris suddenly hugged him. "Chris?"

"Promise me… promise me you won't abandon us… that you won't abandon me." Chris said. "I don't want anyone else to leave again. So please promise me you won't."

"I'd never do that." Alain said, gently putting a hand on Chris's head. "I could've left a long time ago. But I chose to stay here. I'm not going anywhere Chris, I promise. I'm still around because of all of you. Though I can't always be the steadiest one in the room."

"I don't care. Just never leave. You and Rosalie… you're all I have for a family." Chris's hold on him tightened, and Alain returned it to try and comfort her a bit. "I don't like this world… I don't like that it keeps taking things from us. I hate that we can't change it."

"Well… there might be a chance. Maybe." 'This is why…' Alain thought. 'This is why I want this world to change. I hate this, seeing them talk like there's no chance for anything better for us. It's not just making a new world for me. It's making one where I don't have to see people I love be in despair about everything. I will change it, I have to.'


Mei had been busy with work ever since Snowbird and Alain had come back. With the report of the Wyvern using the ARISE System again she had to look into it. Villkiss was her pride and joy sure, but the continued mystery of the Wyvern was a project she'd invested a lot of time into. Ever since it had arrived at Arzenal, her family had been hard at work trying to figure out its secrets.

And ever since Wyvern had started opening files with each "stage" Alain passed on whatever blocks its system had, her interest in the truth only grew. She'd also made sure to record every bit of it herself to painfully look it over to the last detail. Alain definitely wasn't going to do it.

"The more we dig into these files the more confused I get." Mei said aloud, cocking her head as she scrolled down the data pad. "Information about places that don't exist anywhere in the world, something called Draconium and ND Particles…"

"It is a lot. Unfortunately, with the blocks that remain I cannot answer where it came from." Wyvern said.

"Ah no need to be disappointed. You're doing what you can, big guy."

"I do not have the ability to be disappointed anyway."

"Well hey, we'll figure something out." Mei said. "Hmm… ARISE System release mode… we've been over that… ND Particle Shield… we need to run some tests on that during drills… hm?" her scrolling stopped when she reached an unfamiliar file. "Is this one new?"

"I believe so. It became accessible after today's activation."

"It says… Twin Drive System…" Mei opened the file, and as she went over it, her eyes widened by the word, until a loud scream made the entire hangar flinch. "This is it! This is what we've been looking for! Oh man oh man, I have to get this to Jill right away! Someone finish the maintenance on Wyvern for me!"

Whatever discovery she had just made, it was enough to send Mei sprinting out of the hangar at full speed. The ones who saw the girl pass did see she wasn't just excited beyond belief; her eyes had a spark of hope in them that could be considered rare on Arzenal.