Chapter 24: Linkage
After leaving the topside flat, Leon found needing to play ignorant about Arzenal's layout as Emma escorted him and Jill to the Commander's office was a bit harder than he'd expected. Even after ten years he found that his memory of its halls was still strong. Where each intersection would lead, the paths to each main station, even the way they were following to the office. He still knew each one like he'd only visited yesterday.
"Major, we could have someone take your luggage to the estate." Emma said, Leon raising a hand as he adjusted the duffel.
"I prefer to do things myself. I happen to have some personal effects in there, so I'd like them not to potentially be disturbed." Emma nodded in understanding and proceeded on. And Leon's remark was a half-truth. He'd actually brought a few items that would be useful to this infiltration, particularly surveillance devices he planned to distribute around Arzenal, mostly for keeping an eye on Emma. 'I'll have to see if I can't meet that Oginome girl. She'd be handy in helping out since Bronson won't be suspicious of her moving around this place.'
As they finally reached their destination, the Commander's office was still the way he remembered it. Even if now it was Jill who went to sit at the desk rather than Jasmine. Emma gave Jill a look since her place at the desk gave the Norma Commander something of a different position compared to her and Leon, but he paid it no mind as he took one of the other chairs.
"Let's continue from where we were topside." Leon gestured to the other chair, Emma sitting down. "Where we were… ah, yes. The group that attacked the Dawn Pillar to try and get Norma #1203-77 are thought to be linked to the same group behind the uprising ten years ago. I'm sure you've heard about it."
"Of course." Emma nodded. "I was only a teenager at the time, but it was hard not to remember. Especially since it came in tandem with the dissolution of the Solus Kingdom." The young woman spared a glance to Jill, who absently started smoking again. "But every report said the group which started that uprising was wiped out. Were there remnants?"
"It seems to be the case. This group calls itself CROSS, and we have reason to believe they may even have some agents within Arzenal." Leon spared a glance to Jill, catching her barely hide a scoff behind her hand.
"H-Here?! That couldn't… wait, the boy could…" Emma stopped when Leon held up a hand. "I mean, he's such an oddity! Couldn't it be possible he's a plant or…?"
"Unlikely. The records indicate like other Norma he was brought here as an infant the same as the others. The reason any other information is locked down is, well… think of how the public would react if it got out, even if it was just one, that a male Norma exists. It would paint quite the troublesome image in some people's minds." Emma threaded her hands as she mulled it over. Even if his role was to do exactly that, Leon couldn't help but feel a bit bad about making the young woman's head spin from everything he was telling her. "As for the General, he's tracking a lead we have. To maintain the integrity of the investigation, you're to report as if the General is here carrying out the inspection, to make sure in the event CROSS has some kind of tap into our information networks."
Of course, Leon already knew everything there was. Arzenal's secrecy was an utmost fact so most communications were done via older wireless methods whenever information needed to remain confidential. And if Mana communication were to occur it was done through secure channels between individuals. Emma was of course thinking the very same things. She knew how the role of Inspector had been passed around for some time in the ten years since the uprising until she practically begged her father to get her the station. Between those methods and her own presence it shouldn't have been possible for anyone to get into the base unauthorized. 'But if what the Major said is true, this organization could have more than a few means to get information. Could they have agents in the Management Board? No, impossible, the process of screening is too secure to allow such things.' However, she also realized that if she could help expose whatever faults had caused this mess of a situation, her own mistakes could likely be forgiven. And she wasn't going to rule things out when her career was at stake.
"I understand, sir. I promise you; you will have my full cooperation in whatever needs to be done to accomplish this."
"Thank you, Second Lieutenant. And now Commander, I can assume there won't be any trouble in us doing so will there? I plan to investigate this base top to bottom."
"So long as you don't get in the way of my subordinates and their duties, feel free to check every speck of dust you see." Jill ignored the cross look Emma gave her no thanks to her agitated tone of voice.
"Hmph, I was certainly hoping the Norma leading these soldiers had some measure of gusto. Do remember you can be shifted back into a combat role if the right report is given." Leon stood, hefting his duffel up with him. "Now, Bronson, I have a couple of requests. I have some files printed. And I want to speak with the male Norma after I make my announcement to the lot of them."
"Of course, anything to help. But… why speak with him?"
"Call it… a flight of fancy. He's one of a kind, so I'm curious to know what such a case as that presents." Jill hid the roll of her eyes. It was obvious to her Leon was planning to discreetly discuss things about this mission of his with Alain. And yet Emma didn't seem to at all catch a hint of it. 'He's a decent actor, I'll give him that much.'
"I understand. Just tell me which files you need and I'll ready them. Afterwards, would you like a tour of the facilities? I'm sure you wish to know just what Arzenal is like."
"Of course. And I have the list of files I need right here." Emma wondered why it was he handed her a folded slip of paper but figured such a thing was simply more secure than a Mana message. "Well then Commander, I look forward to this next week and reviewing your competency as well. We'll speak later."
"Understood, Sir." Jill stood and saluted as Leon and Emma left. And once the door shut, she sat back down with a heavy sigh, then slammed her prosthetic onto the desk. "Cheeky son of a… why did it have to be Leon of all people? Anyone else Dission sent, I could handle…"
Jill took a drag and let the smoke out with a sigh. From her desk drawer, she pulled out an old photo. It featured her, Leon, and several other teenaged boys and girls, including a young Zola. She wasn't sure why she kept the thing in there, in fact it wasn't even her photo. It was Jasmine's. The woman just never took it back after she was stripped of her post as Commander. Most of the girls in the photo were dead now, and she wasn't sure about some of the boys. Part of her didn't care anymore.
"The Libertus Squad…" but her eyes lingered on Leon. When she thought back on it, a part of her wanted to go back and hit her younger self. 'All that time I spent pining over someone I couldn't have, basically wasted… and yet I ended up somewhere else. I have terrible taste in men. No point looking back now.'
In the waters far and away from Arzenal, a submarine crested over the waves. Though perhaps submarine wasn't quite a fully apt description of it. The flagship pride and joy of CROSS, the Kestrel may not have had the reputation of the famed Aurora – supposedly lost during Libertus – but was no less a marvel of engineering. Capable of deploying a full flight of Para-mails, able to remain underwater for weeks at a time, and stocked with enough ordinance under the plating to make a battleship blush. But what it had going for it that the Aurora did not was its advanced surveillance systems.
Within the bridge's lower portion, Ray and several other intelligence operatives and hackers were working tirelessly at the consoles lined up through it. With Leon's mission at Arzenal now under way it was vital for CROSS to monitor all outgoing and incoming communications to both preserve his cover and buy what time they could for the Norma. All while also waiting for Tusk to get back to them with whatever information he could pry out in Misurugi.
"Feels nice to be on a big scale op like this again, wouldn't you say Bandog?" Ray leaned back and drank from a coffee mug as he watched numbers fly, glancing to the seat at his side as a gruff mutter was his response. His ever-helpful partner in crime, Reiner "Bandog" Fleisher, a young man with ever tousled blonde hair and short beard that scarcely helped in making him look less aggravated at times, with pale skin that emphasized his green eyes, was sharply looking over his own data.
"Better than some of the stuff Trigger's had come our way." Reiner said. "I'm surprised the Misurugi op didn't turn into a mess. Gotta hand it to Garuda, for a bunch of nuts they're always reliable. Half-expected Huxian to just kill the Emperor brat first chance he got."
"Ehh he's smart enough to know not to do things that'd cause too much trouble." Ray mused. He looked up when he heard steps on the platform above, Louis sitting down at the lip of the pit. "Hey Chopper, how's the guest sleeping?"
"Nice and tight. Dok's concoction worked wonders. Muttered some stuff about finally retiring and getting some tropical getaway." Louis said. Reiner rolled his eyes while Ray snickered. Dok's experiments may have been wild, but the results were quite interesting.
"SkyEye, we've got an incoming transmission." Another of the crew said. "It's the Inspector."
"Right on time. Patch it through." Louis cleared his throat as the line was moved to him. Time to take some cues from Chopper. It was quite helpful Arzenal's wireless communications were far easier to hack than mana lines. They still wondered how Wyvern's AI pulled it off.
"Coming in." a woman's voice spoke. "This is Inspector Emma Bronson contacting the Management Board with a priority one message."
"I read you Inspector Bronson." Ray put on his best business sounding tone. "We're ready to receive your report."
"At approximately 1050 hours, General Herman safely arrived at Arzenal, he is now currently residing in the Guest Villa." Ray spotted a couple of the other operative's fist bumping in the corner of his eye. It looked like their hard work in getting her psyche profile had allowed Leon to pull the wool over her eyes. Though they were also banking on her not knowing much about CROSS to begin with. It was risky for them to decide Leon should "inform" her about them at least a bit, but the gambit paid off.
"Affirmative. Continue to send reports as scheduled."
"And, one more thing. I need the service record of a one Major Vincent Snow. He is an assistant who arrived with the General, and I would like to confirm his level of authorization." It also wasn't like they were expecting Bronson to be stupid. Naïve, definitely. But they had been prepared for that one.
"Understood. We'll send you his file shortly."
"Thank you." The line was cut, and Ray clapped his hands. Their group's forgery specialist got to pulling up the file they'd crafted for Leon while the hackers got to doctoring the call. Now their job really got started.
Once Emma had received the requested files on Major Snow, she gave them a careful look over. Vincent Snow; Age 29, resident of Rosenblum's capital Gracemeria and graduate of the Rosenblum Officers Academy, in service with the Norma Management Board since graduation. Formerly stationed as assistant overseer to the Enderant Union's Norma colony, currently attache to General Grisha Herman. Recipient of the National Service Medal, and the Distinguished Norma Management Medal. Clearance level Beta.
'It checks out.' She thought. She hadn't been sure why, but as she'd been collecting the hard files the Major had requested, a suspicion arose in her. It wasn't out of the question she'd been fed false information as he'd said. Especially if this CROSS organization really did exist. But that she wouldn't have been alerted to the possible risk ahead of time concerned her. Plus, the Major had the same level of clearance as her, so why the secrecy? 'Unless it's the NMB protecting their public image.' She still remembered how shocked she'd been when Momoka first arrived and the Board had ordered her execution on her return to the mainland. As against the idea as she was, Alain and Ange buying Momoka out had been something of an odd relief for her. It made her think at least some sliver of selflessness existed in the Norma.
"Well, I may lose that thought soon." Emma straightened out the files she'd printed, slipping them into a folder and rising from her desk. "I'll have to see how they react to the Major."
Alain had wished he could be spending lunch without being as anxious as he was. Since the news about CROSS getting someone to infiltrate Arzenal had come, he'd been wracking his brain trying to guess who it could've been. He really only had one idea when he thought it over, but he also wasn't sure how that would pan over. Jill no doubt already knew, but he hadn't seen her at all since she'd dragged him to go talk with Ange and Hilda. But he felt better off trying to distract himself with the day's lunch.
As usual he was seated with Garm Squadron, whatever inane conversations the lot were having mingling with the rest of the lunchroom's sound. There was also the somewhat unusual addition of Momoka, considering for the time she had decided to stick with Alain until Ange's release.
But then there was Salia, who looked about as tense as Alain felt. Since she was another of the inner circle, he was sure she'd been informed of what was coming as well. And of course she would be, because now everything was at stake, and they had no idea if anything would work out. 'I'm not even sure how much Salia remembers about some of the people from back then.' He thought. And as he poked at his food, the passing conversation of a couple of base personnel caught his notice.
"You've got to be kidding?"
"I'm not! It was definitely a man that showed up! I heard it from some of the topside staff who saw him leave the estate. They said he was huge! Totally different from Alain!"
"Word gets around as quickly as usual I see." Alain hummed.
"Quiz time!" Vivian chimed in. "Who thinks the rumors are true?"
"They have to be." Chris said. "I heard it from the maid with Alain, some General from Rosenblum is coming here to case us out."
"So that's what the chatter about that transport that came in must have been about." Ersha realized.
"Miss Emma said so herself." Momoka confirmed. "I don't know too much of who it is, aside from that. She seemed quite panicked about it though."
"Guess what I heard!" Vivian leaned up on the table. "The ones who said they've seen him say he's tall as a Para-mail and as broad as a Galleon, with eyes that look straight through you! Some say even the Commander looked unnerved by him!"
"Come on, that's a bit too crazy." Rosalie said. "Besides, the Commander is way scarier than any man could be. Uh… no offense Alain."
"That's a compliment as far as I'm concerned."
"But do you really think it's true?" Naomi said. "I mean, most of the humans who come here are always women."
"It's just silly rumors." Salia cut in. "Don't take any of it seriously until we actually see something."
"We'll have to see." Right on cue, Alain spotted Emma descend the stairs at the center of the cafeteria. She looked about as high strung as he'd expected, yet there didn't seem to be any suspicions about her. 'The guys do good work after all. Now, to see the results.' He thought. He looked at Salia, and she gave a shallow nod in response.
"Ahem!" she announced. "All of you, could you stop eating for now? I have an important announcement to make!"
"What do you think it's about? These rumors?" Naomi whispered.
"Maybe she's getting transferred." Rosalie said. "After all it was under her watch the Breakout Sisters skipped on us." Despite the request, the Norma continued chatting amongst themselves and eating, Emma's face flushing red in frustration.
"All of you, quiet and at attention!" Jill's barking as she descended behind the Inspector got much better results, the lunchroom going silent immediately. "Good. This time actually do pay some attention, got it?" Emma gave a rueful look, but if it got the Norma to listen then she wouldn't object.
"Thank you, Commander. As I was trying to say, during the Festa – as many of you likely remember – two Norma, Ange and Hilda, escaped from Arzenal while using Lady Misty Rosenblum as a hostage and hijacking the royal transport to make their getaway. Thankfully, Lady Misty was not injured in the incident, and the two Norma have been recaptured and summarily disciplined. However, because of this incident the NMB has begun to doubt the quality of operations here at Arzenal and to that end have sent one of their officers to inspect this place over the next week. So, please welcome our guest, Major Vincent Snow."
"Major who?" Chris mumbled.
The echo of heavy boots on concrete carried into the room from the stairs. As Leon strode down, Alain had to fight against the urge to smile. 'They really did send him?!' To ensure he wouldn't, Alain pinched his wrist. Leon of course wasn't what the rumors had gone and made him out to be, but some in the lunchroom gave notable gasps. Where Alain was svelte – some would say outright feminine in build and face – and of an average height, Leon stood broad and tall, standing above evem Jill. 'Though of course he dyed his hair. And his eyes ain't half as scary when they're blue.' Alain thought.
"Wow, he looks like one of those guys in the pictures the mall sells!" Rosalie commented. Beside her, Chris inched closer with a fearful look. Alain was one thing. She and many other Norma had known him their entire lives. But for as many who were as impressed as Rosalie, many others had the same reaction as Chris, some blushed like innocent maidens, others had looks that could only be described as hungry. Leon didn't pay a mind to any of it as his eyes swept the room
"He's pretty hot!" At Vivian's chirp, the entirety of Garm, plus Alain, lunged at Vivian to shut her up. Thankfully, while Leon's gaze did turn to the ruckus, he played it off as if it wasn't worth his attention. Emma on the other hand nearly let her jaw hit the floor in aghast shock.
"Are you nuts?" Salia snapped.
"Vivian, please keep your thoughts to yourself right now." Ersha cooed, Vivian raising her brow like she was confused.
"If you wanna get killed do it in your Para-mail!" Chris hissed, Rosalie hastily nodding. Yet again not paying the commotion any mind, Leon strode down to the main floor, clearing his throat to focus attention on him, then speaking in a voice that boomed through the room.
"As the Inspector said, I'm Major Vincent Snow. Over the next week, my job is to investigate and identify any possible threats within Arzenal to this location's security." Having introduced himself, Leon began walking along the rows, the tails of his coat waving behind him as he held his arms behind his back. "During said investigation, if I find any of you Norma have committed acts of sabotage or treason to the Kingdoms you serve in any way, shape, or form, they will be promptly punished to the maximum degree. However," and now the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. "I believe myself a fair man. And part of me trusts you Norma understand your place here, compared to those two in lockup. I will have you know I value loyalty and honesty above all else. Show to me you can express those traits in doing your duty to the world, or you'll be quick to join the runaways in lockup post haste. That will be all."
Alain had to admit it, Leon could play the part. His presence would be disruptive enough, but he wasn't one to stir the pot more than he had to. 'But man he's putting in the work to come off as someone who's not fond of Norma.' As the man ascended the stairs, trailed by Emma, Alain caught him glance back towards him. He was already suspecting something from that. 'I'll have to be prepped on that. Next time Jill calls a meeting is going to be a time.'
"That was terrifying." Chris mumbled. "And I thought the Commander could have a harsh voice."
"I know right? Though… it's kind of sexy isn't it?" Rosalie got looks, the girl awkwardly putting a hand behind her head. "Well, come on it's true isn't it? Don't get me wrong, Alain, you're fine too, but there's nothing wrong with having broad tastes right?"
"Fair to say." Naomi hummed. Alain sighed and just shrugged. "On another note, Alain, I had some things to sort out with the Halberd. Would you mind coming with me to the Mall to sort that out with Jasmine? Just some minor tweaks I need done."
"Oh, I need to get some stuff done on mine too!" Rosalie said. "I finally got enough cash for the new artillery units I wanted, though uh… I could use help comparing them to some other things Jasmine said came in. It'd be a big help if you showed me the details on them, Naomi."
"No problem. The more the merrier after all."
"I've got to talk with Jasmine about something too, might as well tag along." As Alain rose with Naomi and Rosalie, he caught Jill looking down at him with a glare that could punch through steel. "Don't get any funny ideas." That was what her eyes were telling him. 'Sorry Jill, but like it or not we need CROSS's help. And now that Leon's here, I'm not letting that chance pass us up.'
For Jasmine, a good day at the shop was a day that ended in the black. With Garm pushed down on the sortie roster due to Ange and Hilda's little incident, the other front squadrons were bringing in more money. And that came with some of them coming in to get the ever expensive upgrades for their Para-mails. So needless to say, Jasmine was raking in profits left and right.
"Hey, Jasmine!" Looking away from counting her recent sale, a smile broke Jasmine's face to see Naomi approaching, along with Rosalie and Alain. "Here to order those tweaks I needed!"
"Was wondering when you would show up." Jasmine greeted. "Got to be anticipating the next couple of days eh Naomi?"
"You bet." Naomi confirmed. "Gotta make sure Halberd's all ready to go. Just some internal tweaks I need checked."
"And I need to check the available artillery units." Rosalie added.
"Go and browse and just get back to me once you find what you need." Jasmine directed the girls off to the racks of weapons and armor, looking to Alain as he stayed behind. "Been hearing rumors. So, just who did Dission send to back us up here eh?"
"It's Leon." Jasmine lurched at Alain's confirmation. "I was just as surprised. But, if it's him, well, I think we got a chance at least. Jill's in a mood over it."
"Of course she would be. Those two had a… complex relationship when they were younger." Jasmine took a drag off her pipe, her eyes following the puff of smoke she let out. "But I can't say he isn't the best possible choice. Jill's gonna be huffy sure, but the guy knows what's up here. Just hope he can keep the Inspector from figuring anything out."
"I'm sure he'll do fine. Definitely laying it on with the act from what I saw. Nobody could seem to decide what they thought about him. That was for damn sure." Alain mused. His face then shifted from jovial to stern. "So, do you think something's just on the horizon for us?"
"Can't say. Dission told me Tusk is waiting to hear about anything in Misurugi. Something's got to be coming. We'll just have to be ready to weather the storm once it does hit us." As she looked over the Para-mail wares, a thought came to the merchant. "So, you hear about that thing Mei found out about Wyvern?"
"She wouldn't shut up about it." Alain said. "Twin Drive System; apparently it's possible to make those particle engines synchronize their outputs rather than just work in tandem according to the data she found. But the question is how we make that happen."
"My suggestion would be extensive testing." Wyvern said. "Output tests are what I recommend, and I can likely run the synchronization program through to the monitoring equipment. It unlocked alongside the data on this new system. I also believe the ND Drives were made with this function in mind."
"ND Drives… interesting name." Jasmine hummed. "Doesn't sound like anything that would've been produced in the Mana Nations. Shame we don't know just how old your frame is, Wyvern. If we knew what age the tech came from it would probably be a big help. Might be Pre-Mana of some kind."
"A reasonable assumption. I too wish I had knowledge on those parameters."
"I guess raw testing is all we can get to." Alain shrugged as the mall suddenly went quiet. It was always odd when it did, and the reason became apparent with the sound of boot heels clicking on the metal floor. Vulcan rose as Jasmine and Alain turned, his whine quieting when Jasmine put a hand to his head. Walking towards them, the Norma giving a wide berth, Leon strode through the mall with Emma on his heels as he scanned the place over.
"Well now, what can I do for you today?" Jasmine greeted. "Rare day when you show up here, Inspector."
"Hello, Jasmine." Emma responded. "I've been giving the Major a tour of the facilities. We came here so he can see what it is the Norma spend their money on." Leon's eyes swept across the merchandise, stopping at Alain before facing Jasmine.
"I take it you're the proprietor of this place?"
"You know it. Name's Jasmine. See anything that catches your eye? We sell everything from kitchenware to heavy ordinance. Even a few extras on the side that go under the books."
"Jasmine, please!" Emma grumbled. "We are here on official business, so please don't go about your sales pitching. We don't have time for frivolous shopping." Leon on the other hand didn't quite seem to agree as he turned and headed towards Para-mail section. "Major?" Alain snickered as Emma skittered after Leon, he and Jasmine following as Leon stopped at the weapons room, firearms of all kinds displayed in locked cases. A pair of Norma browsing the rifles fled the second they saw Leon.
"The Norma are allowed to purchase weaponry?" Leon asked.
"Yes sir." Emma answered. "However, anything of higher caliber than the standard issue sidearm or other similarly sized weapons are strictly prohibited from being carried around base. Weapons such as assault rifles and shotguns are strictly used alongside the Para-mail and are secured in the main hangar until the owner sorties."
"That seems permissible." Leon said, turning and eyeing the various firearms. He saw most of the standard mass production models, but a few caught his eye that were of more exotic variants, mostly in the handgun department.
"Some people have a better eye than most." Alain remarked, ignoring Emma's glare as he strode up to Leon. He reached into his coat and pulled out his own sidearm, spinning it around so the handle faced Leon. "It's not standard but I carry around this .45."
"I see." Leon took the handgun and angled it around. Its blocky, blue finished frame was quite heavy, the grip done in a carbon polymer, a silver engraving in floral patterns along the slide. "I recognize this model. Ho-o Mechanica Model 6, though most people call it 'Suzaku' since the model was almost canceled before being put into limited production. For a Norma you have good taste." Leon passed the gun back to its owner. "So, you're the male Norma so many speak about in hushed tones back home. I was hoping for a chance to meet you."
"Ohhh?" Alain hummed as he stowed the handgun. 'Saw this coming.' He thought. "And what do I owe the honor?"
"Blame my own curiosity. You're a one-of-a-kind specimen, so I figured I would take the chance to learn a bit about you during my time here." If it had been anyone else, Alain would have been restraining the urge to throw a punch. "Miss Jasmine, is there a place where he and I could speak privately for a few minutes?"
"Well there's the storage room."
"M-Major!" Emma stammered. "I know you wanted to speak with him, but is now really the time?"
"We can resume the tour later. I might as well take care of this business as soon as possible." Emma paused, then nodded, seeing the logic in that. Leon turned back to Jasmine. "We won't be disturbed if we talk there?"
"Not at all. Storage is off limits to anyone but me and the mall staff."
"Good. Alain wans't it? Follow me. Inspector, take a minute to relax." Leon strode out with Alain following behind at a casual pace. Storage was an easy enough location to find, indicated by the large metallic doors at the back of the mall, big enough for the various parts and equipment for Para-mails to be moved through with ease. The door was loud as Alain opened it up, following Leon in before shutting it behind him. And as they strode through some of the storage crates, the air immediately relaxed.
"Gotta say Leon, your act is incredibly convincing." Alain said, jumping up to a smaller crate to take a seat, Leon chuckling as he removed his officer's hat and spun it on a finger. "I wanted to throw a few punches here and there."
"Then I'm definitely doing it right if you think so. Though I hope I'm not causing too much of a ruckus."
"Not at all. Though some of the girls have looks that said they definitely wanna hit that."
"Unfortunately, I'll have to turn them down." Leon leaned back against another crate as he laughed. "I also see Jasmine hasn't changed much in the past ten years. Though she's starting to show her age like Dission."
"Well she's also one hell of a price gouger. New equipment for Para-mail costs millions in cash to net. And she charges extra for me since Wyvern hardly needs new weapons and armor that often. Though, I'm guessing you didn't want to talk to me just so we could catch up." Leon nodded to him. "Alright, whaddya wanna know?"
"To cut to the chase, how willing is Jill when it comes to the idea of working with CROSS?"
"Like I said before, she wants nothing to do with you guys. Should've seen the glare she gave me in the lunchroom." Alain shuddered as he grumbled. "If you ask me personally, we need CROSS's help more than anything. Not much we can do with the numbers we have here and the limited resources we'd be stuck with if we had to ditch Arzenal. Villkiss alone isn't enough for Libertus."
"Can't say I was expecting anything different." Leon sighed. "Though trying to convince her about that is part of why I'm here. Aside from keeping the Inspector from suspecting anything funny might be going on. I'll need to find time to talk with Jill, see if I can't get through to her."
"Well you two were close back then." Alain hummed. "All I can really say is good luck. Odds are she's calling a meeting of our little inner circle tonight. I'd show up for that and see what you can do. Also, you might be interested in looking at this." Alain pulled out a USB dongle and tossed it to Leon. "It's got all the data we've gotten out of Wyvern recently. Believe it or not, we've actually made progress in learning more about him and just what he can do."
"I'll be sure to give it all a good read over. Any cliff notes?"
"ARISE System, ND Drives, Twin Drive System."
"Gotcha." Leon pocketed the drive. "Well with that, how are things anyway? Anything of note going on aside from the business with the two runaways?"
"We're waiting for word just like you are. Though, in a couple days there is gonna be Naomi's redeployment flight."
"She was… right, she's Michael's daughter. Wish he was still around. What happened to her that demanded a redeployment?"
"She was kind of in a coma for a couple of months. Test flight went wrong. She woke up a couple of weeks after Ange got here. Spent pretty much the entire last month and a half training herself back up. Heck, her being around is the only reason Garm Squadron wasn't shoved into standby."
"Speaking of, I haven't seen Zola around. She off…" Leon went silent as soon as he saw Alain's expression drop. "I see… I can only guess it's the same for some other faces I haven't seen."
"Yeah. And, well… after everything that happened, Zola wasn't exactly the best person. But… yeah, good leader if nothing else. She cared about everyone, sometimes in her own weird way." Alain sighed. "Salia's taken over as Captain for Garm since then. It took a while, but she's shaping up to be a fine Captain in her own right."
"Salia? Heh, I remember when she was a squirt who'd always follow Jill around the base. Her folks joked about it all the time. Did she recognize me back in the lunchroom?"
"Pretty sure she did. She's also part of the little inner circle, same with Mei."
"Fei-Ling's sister? She's what, 14 by now?"
"Yep. And she's Head Armorer." Leon gave an impressed whistle. "Anything else you wanna know before we go back to acting like total strangers?"
"Not really. Though, if there's a chance, I want to meet Oginome. Bronson won't be suspicious of her, so I was hoping to get some help from her while I'm going about this 'investigation.' Not going to be any trouble?"
"Not at all. Far as I care Momoka's free to do what she wants. I'll bring her to meet you at the Villa tomorrow. I'll tell her about you and CROSS in private, so she knows the gist. Also, you planning to chat with Ange and Hilda?"
"That's the plan once I finish this tour." Leon stepped off the crate, Alain dropping from his own perch as they started out of the room. "I want to learn a bit about Villkiss's new pilot. And I'm sure the other girl wants some answers. Jill hasn't told them much I'm sure."
"She's not planning to tell them until they're out of confinement. If you want to avoid ticking her off I'd go light on the information you give out. Besides, not like I'm not waiting to tell the others everything either."
"Of course." Once they passed back into the main mall, Leon shifted right back into the stern expression he'd been carrying before. A good thing too, as Emma was waiting just by the door. "Thank you for speaking with me. It was quite informative to hear the experiences of a male Norma. I'll be watching to see just how you perform in combat later this week."
"Yes, sir." Alain gave a salute. Emma looked quite confused as she neared the two.
"I do hope he didn't say anything… uncouth while you were talking. He didn't, right? This one is… a problem child." Alain hid his hand as he flipped Emma the bird.
"Not at all. I'm actually surprised to meet such a courteous Norma. Seems the Commander knows how to teach her soldiers to respect authority, at least somewhat. Now, where to next? Perhaps the hangar where the Para-mails are kept?"
"Of course. This way."
"Have fun you two." Alain waved as Leon and Emma left, turning on his heel and heading back to the Para-mail area, Naomi and Rosalie already leaving. "Already done?"
"Got everything figured out." Naomi gave a v-sign. "Where've you been?"
"The Major wanted to have a chat, so we talked in storage for a few minutes." Alain said, both Norma going wide eyed. "Relax, it was just some questions about what it's like for me here. Barely anything at all, really. By the way, Rosalie, could you help me with something?"
"Something?"
"Yeah… I uh, I kinda want to get a gift for Chris. Could you help me pick something out for her? It's not gonna be much, just, something."
"Sure!" Rosalie beamed as she took Alain by the hand. "She's been in that funk of hers for way too long. A gift would be perfect to cheer her up."
"Thanks Rosalie." As he was led off, Alain caught Leon looking back for just a moment, a smile on the man's face before he turned back to Emma. 'It might be hectic… but we can both hope for this to work out the way we need it to.'
