Chapter 37: On the Other Side

Leon let out a groan as the blare of an alarm roused him from sleep. Though years of training had made him quick to rouse, he was still only human and hated getting up early same as anyone. The room around him was still cold, the metallic walls barely illuminating as he switched the lights on.

"And yet he still finds a reason to snooze," Leon sighed as he looked to the other bed, a rattling snore rising from the still sleeping Chopper. "Oi, Louis, get your ass up." When he got no response, his eye twitched before dropping a foot on the younger man's chest.

"Ack! I'm up… I'm up!" Chopper oofed, shaking his head in an attempt to keep his eyes open. "That time already? How much longer are we gonna be shoved in here?"

"Until we know we're not being followed back," Leon reminded him as he threw on some dark fatigues. He much preferred them over the flashy Rosenblum uniform he'd been stuck with before. "Thankfully it isn't like those blasted things can easily track us."

"Yeah… sucks we got separated from the Kestrel in that damned mess," Chopper stretched himself up and also got dressed. "I'm still surprised to find out Alektra had the Aurora stowed away in Arzenal the whole time."

"Well, they needed an emergency plan." Since the invasion of Arzenal, Leon, like all of the other Arzenal personnel who survived the attack, had retreated to the Aurora during the evacuation. Chopper and the rest of Garuda Team had been forced to board the submersible ship alongside Arzenal's surviving pilots. Now, the ship was making its way through the seas of the D Sector Arzenal had been sectioned off in. They had a destination in mind, though Leon had to admit getting Jill to agree to the idea had been akin to pulling teeth from a bad tempered crocodile.

"Still, we ain't been there in a while," Chopper agreed as they made their way down the hall. "I mean, sure it makes for a good hiding place but… that city's basically a graveyard. Why not head to the Wolf Pen? Wouldn't that place work out more?"

"Big Boss figured that base is a bit too obvious to return to now. Besides, we've bought ourselves some time with Misurugi no doubt being an utter mess since their Emperor died."

"Not like we ain't got our own problems," Chopper sighed, Leon nodding along with him. Along their path, they passed a number of the surviving Norma, who cautiously greeted them as they made their way through the halls. While they had been informed of the truth, it had still come as quite a shock to them that not only were there people out there trying to help them, but that Leon had been one of them. Much less the sudden presence of Garuda Team to go with it. It made some sense, at least. The only man many of them had known their entire lives was Alain.

But that wasn't their current concern. While they certainly had a destination, Jill was still being stubborn about actual cooperation. So Leon's primary objective was to fix that. Even if easier said than done.

By the time the two arrived at the bridge, the Aurora was already gathering more of a buzz as more and more people made their way out into the corridors. Jasmine was the first to greet the two men as they entered, the bridge girls glancing back from their consoles to nod their way.

"Mornin' you two!" Jasmine greeted. "The cabins treatin' you well these days?"

"Eh, not much different than the cots in FOBs or HQ," Chopper joked, leaning back against the tactical table behind Jasmine. "So, where's our intrepid Commander?"

"Right here," A rear door slid open, Jill exiting as she adjusted her cloak across her shoulders. "What is it you two want today, hmm? I said we were done discussing things until we arrived."

"And I said the discussion wasn't over," Leon added. "Let's be serious, Alektra." earning a glare as he said her real name, "with Arzenal gone, you don't have much of a choice anymore. CROSS has the resources and manpower to more than make up for your losses."

"As if that can replace war assets as strong as Villkiss and Wyvern," Jill countered. "Much less their pilots. Face it, without those two, we're doomed."

"Oh please!" Jasmine crowed. "Like those brats are actually dead! You know how stubborn Alain is, much less Ange! It'll take more than that to put those two down."

"I'm not saying they're gone," Jill growled. "Only that this one's an idiot for thinking CROSS can shore up for those two. Especially now that Embryo has pilots for the Ragna-mail."

"Fucking traitors…" Hikaru muttered under her breath. All eyes fell on her and the red-headed operator quickly got back to her console on noticing she'd been caught.

"I never said that was the plan," Leon countered. "The Aurora doesn't have the resources to keep this many people on board for long, you know that. This ship is packed beyond capacity, and the supplies kept in it are barely enough to keep this many people going for a month at best. You need our help to keep these girls alive."

"Not to mention Para-mail parts," Chopper added. "I talked with Mei the other day. She said for everything they were able to load into the hangar, the damage done to the returned Para-mails used up most of the spare components and armor they could get aboard. Everything else got blown to hell during the attack."

"I'm aware of how tight we are on resources," Jill's growl was punctuated by her lighter flicking on as she raised it to a cigarette. Which was immediately met by Jasmine walking over and snatching it from her.

"Ah ah!" the old Norma snapped. "No smoking in areas like this, you know that. You should probably cut the habit anyway."

"Tch," Jill turned back to Leon and Chopper as she folded her arms. "My answer isn't changing. Until we arrive and meet up with the Kestrel, our discussion about cooperation is through. Now, if you two wouldn't mind, you can go bother someone else."

"Fine," Leon groaned as he shook his head. "Just keep it in mind Alektra. You can't fight a war with one ship and a couple hundred people stuffed into it."

"If you're finished..." Jill told him.

"Come on Chopper, we're heading to the hangar."

"Roger." As the two men departed, Jill sighed and leaned back against the tactical table, rolling her head around to stare at the ceiling.

"Leon's right, you know?" Jasmine said, looking back from the steering wheel. "Even if Alain and Ange were still here, we wouldn't be able to do this ourselves. Hell, Alain would be agreeing with Leon! This was practically his idea to begin with."

"Don't start," Jill grumbled. "Those two better get back here. Libertus can't happen without them. Especially without Villkiss."

"Eh who knows. Maybe when they get back, Alain will come busting in with Wyvern in better shape than even we had it in!" Jasmine laughed. "Maybe his luck held out and they met someone who could fix it up."

"In this world? Not likely."


The days since the Arzenal invasion had not been what Hilda would decide to call easy. Being packed into this ship, even as big as it was, was just one thing on a list of complaints she had to rifle through that occupied her mind. Another one of them was the sudden position she found herself in among the pilots. Outside of the ones who had been captured, shot down, or unable to escape the ground forces in time, their numbers were cut down hard. Garm Squadron as it had been didn't exist anymore, with her and Rosalie the only two members aboard.

Ange, Vivian, and Naomi were still MIA. And she wasn't in anything near a mood to think about Salia, Ersha, and especially Chris. Just thinking about the latter made something in her flare up, making the work she was doing on her newfound Arquebus, ironically enough the one that was formerly Salia's, hit a small snag.

"Dammit!" She cursed as she moved back from the engine panel, shaking her hand to get the sudden buzz in it loose. It was what she got for messing with electronics and losing focus. "To think she… but I know what I saw back there, so how did… shit."

Hilda sighed as she sat down on the machine. There was also the matter of those former MIAs. Alain was missing to boot, and that didn't sit right with her at all. She'd seen the state the Wyvern was in when it took off last. She'd been surprised Alain had been able to make it fly, much less fight. It seemed the AI was as stubborn as the pilot.

"Ahh, screw him!" Hilda slammed her hand on the armor panel that was her seat. "I swear, when he gets back… ohhh I am gonna make him pay for making me feel this way! Cocky little… acting all cool during that fight and then vanishing on all of us! God, I hate him!"

"Would somebody who hates someone be that mad over them vanishing on her?" Hilda snapped her head around and spotted Rosalie on the hangar floor. "Still in a mood about it huh?"

"Oh, don't tell me you're not!" Hilda huffed as she dropped down. "Seriously, he's such an ass. I swear I'm breaking his jaw next time I see him. Bastard deserves it."

"Well, it's not like Alain would mean to run out on us," Rosalie stated. "Though I can't say I'm not a little mad myself… but I won't know how to feel until I see him again. Him and Naomi… they've got to be okay. We can't lose anyone else."

"Please, they're fine. You know damn well how stubborn that bunch is."

"Yeah right," Rosalie mumbled. "Still, it's kind of weird being some of the only veterans around, isn't it?"

"Tell me about it. Granted not like the other squads can say they got near wiped out, unlike us," It was more than a bit frustrating for Hilda to consider. While there had been losses all around, the other two Arzenal teams didn't nearly have the same losses by comparison. Pilots from the reserve unit who made it had to be shored up all around, but she and Rosalie had only gotten three. Much less said three being rookies who'd barely gotten in flight time out of training. 'Still, I gotta admit Rosalie is doing a pretty good job teaching those girls.' Hilda thought. 'But is it even enough? They've got those damned machines with them. As if that red guy alone was enough trouble for us before all of this.'

"So… what do we even do now?" Rosalie asked, fiddling with a strand of hair. "Just… run? Is that all we can do now?"

"Don't talk like that," Hilda said as she shut the armor panel, loudly. "You remember what Leon said. We've got a destination. We're only taking a while to get there to make sure we're not tracked the whole way. Heck, we may get lucky and have… them end up too busy to go after us. Those guys from Garuda said their people were catching some chatter from the humans, so who knows?"

"Let's hope some of Alain's luck rubbed off on us," Rosalie chuckled. But her attempt at levity fell away into visible frustration. "Why the hell did all of this have to go so wrong? We were doing fine, weren't we? I mean sure there was the mess when… you know…"

"When Ange and I were morons, yes."

"But other than that, we were doing great!" Rosalie continued, "So then why has it suddenly all gone to shit?!"

"It's not like we can blame ourselves," Hilda stated. "You heard what the Commander told everyone. People way, way above us making decisions that came right back down on us… Maybe Arzenal being attacked was inevitable. Not much we can do about it at this point anyway."

"Yeah but it's just all… shit!" Rosalie sat on the floor, burying her head in her arms. "I could maybe stand it if all of us were here but just… why? Why the hell would they do that?! Why would they betray us? I thought we were friends. Family for crying out loud!"

"Family, huh?" Hilda looked off with a wistful look. "When he gets back… how do you think Alain'll react when he finds out?"

"Depends, I guess," Rosalie sighed. "It's either we tell him, and he goes on about it… or he meets them before us and goes from there. Though… knowing Alain he'd insist on convincing them to come back. And Naomi will absolutely agree with him. But… could he? Do you think he could convince them?"

"Maybe."

"Finally! How hard can it be to find two people in a single ship eh?" The girls looked up when they heard Chopper's booming voice as he and Leon approached from behind the rows of Para-mails. "Holding up well?"

"As well as we can be," Hilda replied. "So? The Commander still being… herself about working with you guys?"

"Unfortunately… yes," Leon sighed. "She won't talk to us about it until we meet up with Dission at our destination. So we aren't going to get anything done until tomorrow"

"Terrific," Rosalie sighed. "But at least we'll finally get out of this ship. Where are we even headed anyway? You two talk about this "destination" like it's some big deal. Aren't we just headed to one of the bases your group has?"

"As much as one of our FOBs could work out… not when we've got a ship full of people and equipment on the way," Leon stated. "The Aurora needs more than a simple forward base to help manage it. So, we're headed to the same place the Kestrel stays docked, and where we decided the new emergency HQ would be… Farbanti."

"HUH?!" Hilda gave an audible gasp at hearing the name, Rosalie's brow raising. "The city you guys mentioned?! I thought you said it got blasted out ten years ago during Libertus!"

"Well, yes and no," Chopper said. "It's definitely not in what you'd call good shape, and nobody sure as hell lives there anymore. But… it's as good a hiding place as any. Embryo sure as hell isn't going to bother checking there again, at least so long as he doesn't have a reason to think we'd go back there."

"And if we're lucky, our newfound chasers will be occupied for a while if word from our infiltrators is good," Leon stated. "From what they've gotten through, it seems like they're preparing for something in the next few days. And we're well past the borders of Area D as well. They won't interfere as long as they don't have a reason too."

"Can we even trust that?" Rosalie muttered. "What if they do anyway? We'd be sitting ducks again."

"Last time, we were," Chopper said, an angry flash coming to his eyes. "We made the mistake of not preparing Farbanti for a fight the first time around. Not this time."

"Trust me, it'll be safe there," Leon assured them. "And hopefully we can get the time we need to plan our next move. With Arzenal out of commission, things have changed. A lot of plans that were in the background have to be scrapped now that we can't use it."

"So, things have gone tits up for everyone, fantastic!" Hilda sighed.

"Ah, there you are!" A chipper voice sang as Momoka trotted down the rows of Para-mail to meet them. "I was looking everywhere! I said I was going to make lunch and you both just vanished on me."

"Well, we got maintenance and training to do… whatever we can anyway," Rosalie said. "Still, you seriously wanna stick around? Ange isn't even here!"

"I know, but I'm certain that Lady Angelise will find her way back here!" Momoka's unyielding optimism was something of a welcome change to the otherwise dour mood. "Along with Sir Alain and Lady Naomi. After all, we didn't find anything when we searched Arzenal so they can't be dead."

"Or they got totally annihilated by that weird ass weapon that black Para-mail had," Rosalie grumbled. "Though I'd rather hope for that. We said they're MIA for a reason. But… where the hell did they go?"

"Villkiss can do a surprising number of things," Leon said, "You all saw that red light it made, right? As far as we're aware, that isn't the only odd thing Villkiss can do."

"Ange also used that weapon during the DRAGON attack," Hilda noted. "Considering Villkiss isn't technically a Para-mail, being able to do weird stuff makes sense. So, what? Do you think Villkiss warped Ange, Alain, and Naomi off to god knows where?"

"It's possible," Leon nodded. "Villkiss may not have an AI controlling it like Wyvern, but it does have something resembling a will of its own. It can respond to the pilot and react accordingly to what they desire. In that way, it's what makes the Ragna-mails special. Considering how those things are, being able to teleport is the least surprising thing I could imagine Villkiss pulling off in the heat of the moment if it would save its pilot."

"And now there's five of those damn things chasing us… wonderful," Rosalie gave a dragging sigh. "You think those traitors can also use those special systems, or are we safe from that?"

"Considering they just got them, I doubt it," Chopper said. "But… we should definitely be worried if they do. All of the Ragna-mails have Discord Phasers, and if those girls can learn how to use them… well let's just say it won't end well. I've seen what those things do to people… to the world when they hit. It's… not pleasant. You'll see for yourselves when we get to Farbanti."

"What kind of unpleasant?" Hilda asked.

"Think of the damage that DRAGON Para-mail did to Arzenal," Leon said. "But worse. Enough that whole sections of a city were reduced to glassed marks on the ground." Hilda's eyes widened at even trying to imagine it. What had happened to Arzenal seemed sparse, hell they'd been spared something even worse thanks to Alain's timely use of one of Wyvern's subsystems. Trying to imagine what could have happened worried Hilda enough as it was. But to have a weapon like that fired on an entire city? The tone Leon said it with didn't conjure a pleasant image in Hilda's mind. Utter devastation and nothing but scorched ruins. If just ONE of those things could do something like that… what the hell could all seven do? Even just thinking about that possibility made Hilda's stomach churn. Just what had possessed someone to even make weapons like that? And if that was the case, then what did it mean about Wyvern?

Knowing what the real situation was now, Hilda only found herself with even more questions about some things. And Alain's ever mysterious "partner" was absolutely one of them. She'd gotten the run down from Mei about its functions and looked over the data herself but couldn't make heads or tails of what it meant. It was as if Wyvern had just dropped into their world from another. Even with what she could dig into, nothing even resembling what Wyvern was came up. Like Ange with Villkiss, Alain just kept unlocking new things it could do. And then there was what happened during the invasion. What was that? That moment when light just went everywhere. What did Alain do?

"Hilda?" Leon saying her name drew Hilda out of her thoughts. "Sorry if what I said gave an… unpleasant image."

"Forget it," she assured him. "I'll save it for when it actually happens. For now, we just have to manage. If there's a chance for Alain and Ange to get back, then I'm sure as hell not going to let them come back to us getting our asses kicked again. So, aside from shacking ourselves up in a graveyard, what can we do to hold those damn things off?"

"Honestly not much besides fight them off as we would any other enemy," Leon said. "Our other problem is how Mana Humans are shoring up their own forces. Those mana-controlled Para-mails are concerning. Even if there wasn't that many during the battle."

"Do they even matter?" Rosalie asked. "I mean, we've got a whole squad of machines like the Villkiss and then there's that guy in the crimson machine! And you all talk about that guy like he's some demon."

"Because frankly it's what fits that guy best," Chopper remarked.

"Considering how badly he beat Alain the first time they fought, yeah," Hilda pointed out. "Why do you think he was in that funk for like a week straight? It was the first time I'd seen him act like anything other than a cocky ass and I didn't like it. At least, not like that. Weird way for me to realize I actually don't like seeing him not showing people up when he flies."

"So you've seen a side of him some of us haven't huh?" Rosalie gave a bit of a wistful look. "I think that puts you on par with Naomi and Ersha in who's seen Alain be a bit more vulnerable. Makes me feel a bit left behind."

"Don't imply anything weird!" Hilda snapped, glaring at Chopper and Leon when they chuckled. "Should I remind you I'm the only one he hasn't been in bed with? So what if I saw him like that? You'd still be ahead of me!"

"So you admit it then!" Rosalie laughed, Hilda's face almost coming to match her hair. "I mean… look at us. We can't even go a few minutes without bringing him up. We're hopeless."

"I mean not like we don't all use that idiot as a measuring stick," Chopper chuckled. "Who else can we use as a bar for checking other pilots over? Or hell even just gauging how strong the enemy we're fighting is? Part of me gets why you girls have that phrase. What was it…?"

"Stick with Trigger, and you'll make it," Hilda said. "I thought it was stupid at first… but I get it now."

"Well if you two lovestruck maidens can stop worrying long enough to think of something else..." he joked, earning glares from both girls. "I want you two keep something else in mind: Be cautious with Alektra."

"Huh?" Rosalie tilted her head. "Why would we be cautious? I mean… she's kind of the only person we can trust now."

"Maybe, but…" Leon clicked his tongue. "Right now, I don't have the best feelings about things. You can always expect a person to change a bit after not seeing them for around a decade but something about the way Alektra acts doesn't feel right to me. She's too driven for Libertus, if you get what I mean. She won't even discuss cooperating with CROSS. And you've likely seen how insistent she is on making sure Ange pilots Villkiss."

"Considering who the priority was when Ange and I escaped, definitely," Hilda noted, a slight hint of bitterness in her voice. "So, what? We watch the Commander like hawks to see if she does anything weird or just… off? I mean… yeah something does feel off with her lately."

"What do you mean?" Momoka asked.

"You heard her speech after we escaped," Hilda reminded them. "I can get her enthusiasm, but something was just… off-putting. Holding our lives in her hands? Something about that didn't sound right to me."

"Even if it did what other options do we have?" Rosalie countered. "It's not like we have anywhere to go, even if these guys are offering to help us. And in terms of people we can rely on she's all we've got right now."

"Just… keep it in mind," Leon said. "Don't let her use you like the Mana Kingdoms did. For now, keep up the work. Louis, let's go. We need to check in with Dission."

"You have fun little ladies!" Chopper saluted as Leon walked off. Hilda gave an annoyed groan as she turned to Momoka who was setting up the picnic basket she'd brought.


By the time Leon and Chopper arrived, the rest of Garuda Team had also assembled to meet with Dission. The situation of the rest of the team could certainly be said to vary since they'd ended up stuck on the Aurora. Shamrock had done everything in his power to avoid the Norma like the overly curious girls were the plague, while High Roller was all too busy relishing getting to regale them with whatever (exaggerated) stories of Garuda Team's operations he could spin. And Huxian had simply made it clear he had no time for any of the Norma and stuck to himself helping check equipment with the Armorers.

"Ahhh, who'd have thought being stuck on a ship could be so fun?" High Roller chuckled, yelping when Huxian hit him on the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For acting like an idiot." Huxian replied, High Roller giving a playful scoff. "Anyway, let's get to business. Shamrock, get us through to the Kestrel."

"Been doing that," Shamrock replied, tapping away at his comms terminal. "Annnd through. Kestrel, this is Shamrock. Status?"

"Same as yesterday," Bandog's voice replied. "We'll be pulling in the Kestrel to dock in Farbanti in the next few hours. How're things looking on Aurora? Any luck getting Alektra to work with us before arrival?"

"Unfortunately, none," Leon said, Bandog letting out a curse. "She's stubborn as always. Anyway, patch us through to Dission would you."

"Yeah yeah. Big Boss is already here anyway. Hey, they're on the line!" They could hear some shuffling around from the other end, followed by a cough and Dission's recognizable gravel.

"It's unfortunate to hear Alektra won't hear it until arrival," said the elder man. "But, we can save it till then I suppose. She may be more willing to cooperate if she has a full idea of our resources and connections. Though considering how Alain has mentioned her refusal to even acknowledge us before…I worry Alektra will remain stubborn in her refusal. It's a far cry from the girl I knew before."

"There's got to be a reason behind it," Huxian said, currently fiddling with his handgun's parts. "She wouldn't be this stubborn without reason. You think this has anything to do with what happened ten years ago? Didn't she go missing sometime before the first Libertus operation?"

"That happened?!" High Roller yelped. "I mean, I heard about it, but like, I thought that was just part of how much of a mess that was!"

"She did. And she came back different," Leon grumbled. "Something happened to Alektra when she went missing. And honestly I can't help but feel it has to do with Embryo. That reminds me. Didn't you guys say that when Alain encountered the Siegfried during the invasion, something about it seemed off?"

"Well, yeah," Chopper nodded. "For one, the thing captured it, EMP net and everything. Until it set off that weird burst of light, the Wyvern was totally immobile. Didn't Alain mention anything while you were in Arzenal?"

"Hilda mentioned to me that Embryo seems to have some kind of interest in the Wyvern, so kind of," Leon confirmed. "Which is itself concerning. It at least tells us Embryo must know what Wyvern can do and what its true nature is. Why else would he want to get his hands on it?"

"With or without the pilot is the question," Dission murmured. "We still aren't sure of the full nature of Wyvern and its unique engines. Those particles it emits. If Embryo does know of their true nature, then he knows what a machine like Wyvern is fully capable of. And if he has reason to believe the pilot can draw those abilities out…"

"He would have reason to want to take the machine and its pilot," Leon concluded. "Which means if Alain is able to get back he's gonna have one giant ass target on his back. But…"

"He might be able to manage it now," Chopper noted. "I mean, we all saw what Wyvern did after that light showed up. It was beat to hell but he took off one of the Siegfried's dang arms! Imagine what he'd be pulling off with Wyvern in top condition performing like that."

"But then he'd have to meet someone who could fix it," Shamrock added. "And there's no way in hell we have the materials to repair Wyvern properly. Alain himself said like half of its parts might as well come from an Arquebus. Whatever state Wyvern was in before, we can't replicate. Especially after it lost its weapons during that battle."

"And then there's Ange and the Villkiss," High Roller added. "Embryo's probably gonna be wanting his last Ragna-mail back now that he's got pilots for the other five. What're the odds he's going to be targeting both if they come back?"

"For now, let's focus on the objective at hand," Dission decided. "Once we're in Farbanti and able to plan what our next move has to be, then we can ponder these ideas. Let's just hope Alain and Ange ended up somewhere they can get some help. And if we're lucky, with people who can do a better job fixing their machines up than we could hope to."

"Considering their luck, they probably did end up in a situation like that," Leon mused, "Anyway, see you when we arrive. We'll update you if anything happens on the way." The line was cut and Leon leaned back with a sigh. "For now, we need to act as if the odds of Alain and Ange returning are low. We can't rely on them coming back to fix everything."

"Agreed," Chopper nodded. "So we gotta hold the line and push where we can, even if we have to deal with those 'Angels' along the way."

"Then we do just that," Leon said as he stood. "Regardless of whether Jill is going to cooperate or not. From here on out, we can say Libertus has started again. No more slinking around or staying in the shadows. The war against Embryo is back on. And this time, we're going to win."