Sorry for the long wait. Got pulled into Final Fantasy 14 and a few IRL things.
Reviews are welcome.
..==..
SenkiZesshō Symphogear
Howling Song!
CH.4
Old Friends Return and the Dangers of Rifts.
"Speech" normal human/translation
"Speech" Symphogear activation or talking, private thoughts, telepathy, and communication
"Speech" Gear attacks, song titles, god like beings
..==..
The remainder of the day was spent by everyone doing whatever they could to relax. The close call with Miranda, and Fudou on top of the Hive used to keep most of the hidden base busy left everyone uneasy. In the case of Artoria, her sister Fran, and Silva it was much worse. Scarlet told Chris to keep close to Artoria as she's seems to have the wolf girl under control. At the moment the two are on the beach near the hotel to get some fresh air.
Chris gently hugs Artoria close and can't help a small smile as the wolf girl snuggles into her shoulder. "You doing any better now?" She asks gently petting Artoria's back.
"A little bit. I'm still not ready to talk about it yet." Artoria mutters hugging Chris in return. "You've seen the scars, Chris. How can I even talk about it when it's so clear to anyone that sees them on us? What she did, I just can't."
"It's okay. You don't need to say a thing." Chris softly says as Artoria starts to cry. "For now, you just let out that pain out." She chuckles softly. "I never thought of myself as good support for anyone till now."
"A-all this time and no-one th-thought to tell me what they know?" Artoria says between sniffles. "Guess it d-doesn't m-matter I still h-hate her."
Chris gently scratches Artoria's left ear to try calming her down. It seems to work as the wolf girl relaxes in her arms a little. "Would you have listened if they said anything before now? As you just said, you still hate her."
"I-I don't know if it is hate for her or at her." Artoria says before just crying again.
Chris just lets the girl cry wondering if things would be different if she had cried like this around Hibiki and Miku. In truth they are her first friends, even if Hibiki drives Chris up the wall from time to time.
Far enough away, at a table under some shade, to let the two girls have their private moment on the beach, and still keep a close eye on them. Hibiki and Miku watch with Dwarf Shaman dressed in blue jeans, white shirt, brown boots, and tan leather jacket set to the side. Fran Redmoon, Silva, and Scarlet took the news from Marika about what her father, Captain Jack, thought happened to Miranda Redmoon about as well as Artoria. They each also started thinking of doing something about it.
"I'm not surprised those girls are working on plans to get that staff away from Miranda." Shaman says sipping his root beer. "Still it seems poor Artoria is having the hardest time with the news."
"They waited too long to talk her something that could have helped her get past some of this." Miku says taking a large bite out of her ice cream, and flinches hard. "MMM?! Brain freeze!"
"Please try to not take bites out of anything else, Miku. You're acting like a, well, angry cat." Hibiki says with a nerves laugh before letting out a sigh. "Still you're right about taking too long to tell her. I'm just glad it's Chris helping her through it." She looks into her soda really not seeing it as she thinks. "Chris-chan has been through a lot herself and would understand some of Artoria's pain, I guess."
Miku shakes her head to clear her brain freeze. "Yeah, I guess we both would know when she explained that one time. I wish she had let us stay when she started crying." She says taking a small bite of her ice cream this time. "This is still better than what I worried was going to happen. Now if only we didn't have to worry about other things." Miku says glaring at the guy that was walking toward Artoria and Chris. Only to quickly walk past the two girls while holding his cell phone away from his ear, and Miku's ears twitch hearing the person on the phone. "Wow. His CO sounds really mad about something."
"Think its orders from the UN to back off or lose the tech trade?" Hibiki asks with a knowing grin. "I'll bet everyone is more than happy about getting at those FTL units Marika brought with her. Just as long as they play nice with us that is." She frowns. "After we stopped Shem-Ha there are still so many that just can't see past their greed. Let alone just let us do our job without the monthly jerk trying to steal one of our relics."
"Some people will never learn from even resent history, child." Dwarf Shaman sighs. "Like changing the minds of everyone back home about how dangerous the goblins really are. If it doesn't affect them directly, it never happened at all."
Both Hibiki and Miku sigh as Artoria and Chris take a walk back to the hotel. "Looks like Artoria is doing a little better after all that crying." Miku says finishing her ice cream. "Shall we head back or just enjoy the afternoon sun a bit longer?"
At that moment both of the girls phones ring, making them sigh. "I guess we're going back." Hibiki says answering her phone. "Hello."
"We've got another RG unit that's active." Sakuya says as a truck pulls out of the underground parking area. "So far nothing has happened, but we need you and Miku to head over with Fran Redmoon. We'd send Artoria, but she's probably not feeling up to this."
"We just saw her and Chris go back to the hotel. I see the truck and Fran now." Hibiki says getting up and heading for the truck with Miku. "You want to come too, Shaman?"
"I don't see why I shouldn't, so sure." Dwarf Shaman says following the girls. "It'll be nice to see how you deal with this problem." He says getting in the passenger seat as the girls hop in back. "Uh, is this thing safe?"
"Just buckle up." Fran says with a chuckle as Owaga helps Shaman with the seatbelt. "I'll give you guys the short list of things. First up, as you know, we've got another RG unit that went active a few minutes ago." She explains as Owaga floors it for the docks. "It's where it is that's going to be a problem for everyone. I'm not a fan of underwater combat, even if Blood Claw has a setting for it. However, with my sister not feeling at her best and Silva is on guard for anything else. Mainly if another RG kicks on while I'm taking a swim."
Hibiki and Miku look at Fran like she's crazy before Gungnir and Shénshòujìng beep for a moment. Then Gungnir speaks up to everyone's shock.
"I'M SO SORRY, HIBIKI!" Gungnir shouts in a female voice. "I never meant to put you through all that pain!" The relic even sounds like she's crying. Guess Artoria isn't the only one with some problems after all.
"Sister, I think yelling an apology as your first words after hundreds of millennium is not the best first impression." Shénshòujìng says in a female voice with a sigh. "The weapon she is and who she is are so very much different. Forgive me, Miku. I seem to be rambling a bit, but it is a pleasure to finally speak with you."
"I guess the program was still going even after Watson blasted the Command Room." Fran says before shaking her head. "You'll have time to talk with them later, but it's great to hear you two are awake."
"We're also pulling ourselves together by subspace as well. It shouldn't be much longer before we're in one piece, or as close as can be given what damage time has done." Shénshòujìng says as Miku tries to help Hibiki calm down Gungnir.
"It's alright! Really, Gungnir I'm alright now and I've done so much to help others thanks to you. Please just calm down." Hibiki says gently holding the relic in her hands. "We can talk more about it if you still want too. Uh, what did you mean by 'taking a swim' exactly, Fran-chan?" She asks looking to the rabbit eared girl.
"I'm diving to the RG unit to shut it off and see if anything got pulled through a rift." Fran says flatly. "Did you think a visor was the only thing our friends could make?"
"To be fair, Fran. I'm pretty sure they don't really think about changing the form of their armors like you, Artoria, and Silva do." Blood Claw says to her wielder. "Even if they do so without really thinking about it most of the time. Still, it has been a few years since we used the 'Aqua mode'. This would be a good chance to rework it while teaching the others too."
Shaman sighs as Owaga stops the truck and quickly opens the door. "Well, that was a little more intense than I expected! Are all these metal wagons that fast?"
"There are some that are even faster." Owaga says as the group heads for a yacht that is waiting for them. "I hope you don't get seasick."
"Somehow I think I'll like this boat much better than the ones back home." Dwarf Shaman says with a chuckle as they run onto the yacht.
It barely took ten minutes at full speed to reach the RG units area. Fran already transformed and was making the needed changes to her armor. She checks the mask on Hibiki's face since the orange haired girl wanted to go along and found nothing wrong. Miku also looked ready with both girls shifting their armors into a more wetsuit like design. They even have webbing between their fingers as Fran goes with a pair of manta ray wings off her back with water jets. Hibiki also goes with a pack armor that's closer to a jetpack, and Miku uses a long snake like tail, since she's got the thrusters in her leg armor.
"A lama type design, Miku?" Fran asks working the wings on her back to get a feel for them. "Well, you can use the tail to turn a little easier in the water. Are you going to use your nekomata tails to control it?"
"That's the idea I'm going with." Miku says having shifted and is now using her tails to work the armor. "I can use this as training in a way since what was planned didn't work out."
"Artoria was looking forward to it too." Hibiki says spinning the turbine on her right gauntlet a few times. "I haven't done this since the fight with Shem-Ha's coffin. I'm really surprised we didn't try doing this kind of stuff sooner."
"To be fair, we kind of worried most of you would be as scary as Chris is sometimes." Owaga says walking on deck toward the girls. "We're about to stop above the RG unit. From what the energy readings are like, Watson thinks it's a medium sized unit."
Fran stretches to avoid getting cramps and warm herself up for the swim. "So, that should be a forty foot long unit by ten or fifteen diameter. A pretty big unit, but we're here to shut it off. Someone can pick it up later."
"It'll also have a full working command computer. I should be able to help since I've got the codes from the raid." Blood Claw says. "I just hope they work is all. Still it's better than nothing before having to hack the system."
"Or we just destroy the thing." Miku says still worried about trouble happening. "Knowing our luck we're going to have to trash the thing."
"Please don't be jinxing this mission, Miku. I've had enough crazy missions with sis and Silva to know better by now." Fran deadpans as the yacht stops and Dwarf Shaman joins them on the aft deck. "Before you ask about the RG units sizes, this is still on the 'small side' of RG units as well. Large class units are for the rift gates back in Auramyst where Mythwind is." She explains looking into the water. "You two ready?"
"As I'm going to be." Hibiki says as Gungnir lets out a nerves chuckle. "Gungnir seems to have calmed down a lot as well."
Miku pats her mask with a wink. "Let's dive on in!"
"That's the spirit, lass! You'd make a good adventurer with some training." Shaman says with a chuckle. "But I don't think our world would be the best with the damn goblins. We can talk about it later. For now you three be safe down there."
Fran turns on her heel with a wave. "I'll pass since I do hero work for a living." She says falling backward into the water.
Hibiki and Miku quickly dive in after Fran before they start making their way into the depths of water outside Tokyo Bay.
..==..
Back at the Mall
Yumi, Shiori, and Kuriyo were following Marika to her ship with Genjuro, Chris, and Artoria to oversee the last of the cargo unloaded. Genjuro sighs having gotten the other governments of the world to back off again. The promise of six FTL units to research seemed to be enough for even China to rethink things.
"I just hope it's enough to keep everyone safe till you girls leave." Commander Kazanari mutters lost in his thoughts for a moment before shaking his head. "This isn't the time for worries."
Marika looks over her should with a knowing frown. "You say that when they had teams all over the place to try grabbing one of us. Still it is better for them." She chuckles weakly looking forward again as Silva runs up with Shirabe, both looking a little smug about something. "Most of us don't pull our punches and they could end up worse than hurt."
Kuriyo gulps getting what Marika was trying to say as Chris looks back at Silva and Shirabe. "So, who did you two put in a trash can this time?" Chris asks hoping she was wrong about the smug look they have.
"Nobody yet, but Tsubasa sure isn't going to be happy that we slipped away." Silva says with a big grin. "She should really know better than to out fox a fox." She giggles as Yumi leans close to her tails. "Don't even try, Yumi. We've got enough to deal with as is."
"Besides, do you really want turn out like Kiri-chan and me?" Shirabe asks with a grin as her three black fur fox tails wag. "Not that it would be a bad thing, but we're still trying to get Kiri-chan to stay in her normal human form. It's going to be hard enough at school with everyone as is."
"I still can't believe you're going along with it, Ruby." Kuriyo says getting a confused look from Artoria. "Your hair a lovely red like a ruby, so I thought it'd be a good nick name."
Artoria shakes her head sadly. "No nick names, please. I hate them." She says as they near the Python before Marika holds up her left arm with a blue hard light gauntlet and inputs a code. A ramp drops down and Artoria sighs softly. "They bring nothing but trouble."
Kuriyo is a little taken back by the wolf girl's words and looks to Silva for an answer. "What happened to make her hate nick names?"
"We're not fans since the reporters love to try making give us hero names or titles. It's gotten to the point we had to do a press release of our own to shut them up." Silva growls as they enter the cargo bay with a number of crates, but the six large black crates held down with chains take up the most space. Mainly for the chains anchored to the deck to protect the FTL units. "We're still not happy about how they tried to make us into 'sexy idols' because we were half naked after a battle. Who wouldn't be after dealing with hyper beam cannons from a Gundam?"
Shiori groans as Yumi gets stars in her eyes. "Geez, your world has all kinds of strange things on it."
"Not a bad thing, but I do wonder how some of those people got those weapons." Artoria says as the cargo rap opens and Genjuro watches a group of six droids start to unhook the FTL crates from the floor. "Of course, I think we know after Adam Blaze had sent that one merc out in a GOUF."
"Dumbest move ever with how the guy didn't know what he was doing either." Marika says waving the droids away from the medical crates. "Just get those FTL units outside for pick guys. Genjuro needs some of those supplies for his base and command sub." She turns to Kuriyo. "The point is, 'Don't be giving out nick names without asking first.' You got that?"
"Yes, ma'am." Kuriyo says sadly before bowing to Artoria. "I'm sorry. It's a habit of mine with close friends."
Artoria smiles softly. "You haven't even known me for a day and already think of me as a close friend? You've got a big heart, Kuriyo." She says sounding a little happier. "Maybe someday we can talk about a nick name? Now's just not a very good time is all."
"Okay, Artoria." Kuriyo says walking over and pats her on the shoulder. An alarm bell goes off making Kuriyo nearly jump out of her skirt. "What's that?!"
Chris and Artoria just give the most deadpan look as they're being hugged by the scared brown haired girl. "Marika? Why haven't you changed that alarm yet?" The wolf girl deadpans at her cousin. "You know damn well how it scares some people."
"I did change the alarm." Marika pouts. "It's much clearer now and is not scary!" She says turning to her cousin and sees Kuriyo still hugging both Artoria and Chris. "Fine! I'll get a normal alarm for the portal room."
"Just what is it about that alarm that is scary?" Yumi asks as she helps pull Kuriyo off Chris and Artoria. "Sounds like the one from the Ghostbusters movie to me, and I mean when Janine shouts "We've got one!" before hitting the button." Everyone just looks at her. "What? I like stuff outside of anime too. It's one of my dad's favorite movies to watch."
"So, that's where she gets it from." Shiori and Shirabe mutter at the same time.
Marika just shakes her head with a sigh. "Try meeting the real guys and see if you're still a fan. Geez! That was a crazy day at the beach for everyone." She giggles waving one of her droids over. A rebuilt B2 type that looked closer to an armored tank with thick legs walks over. "Tiny, I need you to make sure the cargo goes to the right areas for pick. Also keep an eye out for anyone dumb enough to try sneaking on board."
"Got it, captain." Tiny says in a shockingly deep voice and turns to Genjuro. "You want them alive or can I crush them like lighting?"
Genjuro just smirks at Tiny. "Alive if you can so we can find out where they came from."
"Right." Tiny say walking to a nearby sliding door and gets out some large trash cans. "We'll just "can" them for you."
Artoria groans pushing Chris and Yumi toward the hallway leading into the ship. "Let's get going before he really starts with the "trash" talk and I join in." She sighs with a small smile as Marika quickly takes the lead. "I'm surprised it wasn't Ravage you have along with you, Marika."
"He wanted to stay since dad and Silver since they're running around the ship pulling data from the scanners." Marika says with a hint of worry in her voice. "I can only guess what they're hoping to find with all that data. Well, that's for them to find out! I want to know who's coming down by portal."
Shiori bounces a little with excitement. "You guys use transporters like Star Trek? That's awesome!"
"Something a lot safer than those death traps Star Fleet use." Marika says almost deadpan. "We've got magic instead that's way safer than being pulled apart and rebuilt at the atomic level. How the hell they trust something that uses two-thirds of the room for just systems and power is beyond me." She leads them up a level and finds the door open to the portal room.
Chris, Shirabe, and Genjuro blink in surprise as a copper skinned woman with long purplish black hair, jade-green eyes, bronze scales, wings and tail looks at them. She's wearing a pair of white pants, black shoes, a red-black shirt with a white vest, and a red hair band just in front of her bronze horns. She gives a shy smile waving at the group.
"H-hey. Long time no see?" Vanessa Diodati says not really sure how to react seeing two of the wielders and their commander so soon. She's a little taken back when Shirabe runs forward and hugs her. "W-what?!"
"How are you even back?! Is Elsa and Millaarc with you?" Shirabe asks looking up before she gets a big hug in return. "You look good as a dragoness."
"Well, we got caught in some kind of energy collector that… I really don't get the details of how that thing works, but it saved us. So who cares?" Vanessa says picking Shirabe off the floor hugging her for a moment. "We're just glad to see our friends again!"
A young woman with dark teal medium hair in a high ponytail leans out of the room wearing a pair of red shorts, red low heeled pumps, a white-grey t-shirt, and a white ribbon holding her ponytail. A pair of dark teal fur bat wings come from her back as she gives a mischievous grin that shows in her red and yellow eyes.
"No Tsubasa-san and Maria-san to tease? Guess I'll just have to make do with you guys, da ze." Millaarc Cranstoun says as a teenage girl about Shirabe's age runs out and hugs the raven haired girl. "Elsa is here too. While I'm just a flying fox." She giggles stepping into the hall to show off a black fox tail and lets her fox ears pop up still grinning.
Elsa Bete just laughs with Shirabe as her light pink tail wags like mad. Her blue-grey eyes shine with joy in seeing Shirabe and turns to the rest of the group. She has her light pink hair in a braid that works like a hair band in front of her pink furred ears. The fox-wolf girl is dressed in black pants, grey sneakers, a red t-shirt, and fingerless grey gloves.
"It's so good to see you guys!" Elsa says running up and hugging Chris. "How've you been?"
"How do I even answer that with a simple answer?" Chris asks before hugging Elsa. "Oh my god! You girls look great! What are you even doing on the Black Pearl?"
"So, this was what had Steven working so hard. I'm so glad he did because you girls are looking so awesome!" Marika says before going into the portal room and seeing the large clear cyan lens in the wall glowing. "Shouldn't you still be in medical and not here?" She asks going to the controls to shut the portal down as a metal iris closes over the lens.
"Pretty Stargate like." Kuriyo says looking into the room. "How far can you dial out with it?"
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Marika says flatly but with a grin. "Let's just say is reaches far enough to save your ass."
Elsa giggles still looking very happy. "We told Steven we wanted to explore a little, but didn't tell him where we wanted to go. Well besides exploring the ship that is. De arimasu." She giggles as Marika groans keying her comms to let the good doctor know.
Genjuro was just happy to see something good come out of all this. "So, we get a new Noble Red, or have you put that behind you yourselves? Either way we'd be happy to have you as part of the team, if you want." He says before laughing getting a hug from Elsa. "It must be nice to have a new life."
"Even if we're not the "normal" girls like we wanted. I can't say the new bodies aren't a bad thing at all." Vanessa says scratching at her bronze scales on her neck and half of her jaw line. "I'm even tougher than before as fresh and blood too! Plus, I get to fly and use magic! It's really hard not to enjoy the new us!" She says before letting out a puff of fire. "Eck! I'm still getting use to that part though." She says blushing softly.
"Scarlet can give some pointers and flying lessons." Artoria says as Silva giggles. "I'm really glad it was Steven that helped you girls out. He's always going beyond for those in his care. I'm Artoria Redmoon and this is Silva Silvermist." She says shaking hands with Vanessa and Silva hugging Millaarc and Elsa. "You already know my uncle by now, and Marika's father."
Millaarc sighs as she lets go of Silva, only to have Yumi hug her next. "I would never have guessed we'd meet a Captain Jack like this. You're father is a rare gift in life, Marika." She says to the smirking blue wolf girl. "Uh, what's with the smirk?"
"Nothing, but you're right about my dad." Marika giggles. "You should meet my mom sometime too. Crystal wolves are kind of rare and as you can see I'm one." She points to her forehead and the gem. "I take after mom a lot."
Silva was about to say something when Genjuro's comm goes off. "Kazanari here. What's happening?"
"Fran, Hibiki, and Miku are at the RG unit, and report that a rift is active." Aoi says getting right to the point. "Fran is requesting backup with something trying to get through. Is Artoria with you?"
"I guess I can't really get a long bre… " Artoria starts to say before they all felt a shiver run up their spines. "What was that?!"
"The rift is moving to the surface is what that was!" Hibiki shouts over the comms.
..==..
Outside Tokyo Bay Underwater
"We could really use some help down here too!" Hibiki yells as she punches some kind of glowing zombie in the face a few times. The glowing stops as it is crushed by the deep water pressure. "I'm not going to sleep well after this for a long time." She mutters quickly swimming to Fran and Miku. "Can't you shut it down?"
Fran growls as she types in the override codes. "I'm trying but these codes are so damn long! Who the fuck thought long codes was a great idea?!" She slams her fist and the RG unit starts to shut down. "Finally!"
Miku looks up and points to the still growing rift. "Shouldn't it be closing instead of getting bigger?"
"Not if something is already coming through it!" Fran shouts before typing in a few commands on the computer. "We've got two ships coming in hot! One looks to be an old SR2-type while the other is just big. BC, can you tell us anything?"
"Just that it's from Mass Effect's part of the multiverse and likely hostile. We best get ready to fight and destroy it." Blood Claw says sounding like she's rushed. "Sorry I can't tell you girls more, but I think I can get a comm link. We just have to jump onto one of the ships is all."
"I'm on the way with Chris and Artoria now." Shirabe says over the comm. "We're near the sub HQ and can take a missile from there. How long till the ships exit the rift?"
Fran gets the RG unit to lock down before she heads toward the surface with Hibiki and Miku. "Not very long and the two ships might start shooting at each other as soon as they exit. Let's just count our blessings that it's facing away from Tokyo for now."
"The last thing the city needs is another building getting blown up." Miku deadpans as they break the surface of the water with the yacht nearby. "But there's nowhere for either ship to land out here. I doubt these ships are going to float for very long, or how we're going to keep them from leaking fuel. At least on land we could keep it all in one place."
"We'll deal with it later with a little magic." Artoria says over the comms. "This is kind of like being launched for orbit drop. Just in the other direction is all. Chris, you sure it's not too tight with Silva over there?"
"We're all good, but I'm not sure Elsa joining us like this is a good idea." Chris says with a soft sigh. "This is also why we're using two missiles for this. We're just lucky these were still ready to use."
Hibiki perks up a little hearing the name as the three of them land on the yacht. "Elsa? I feel like I'm missing something." She mutters as the rift pulsed once and a giant white ship that looks like a boxy wedge. "Whoa! That's a little bigger than I excepted it to be, and is it falling?!"
Fran shivers at the sight of the ship with the gold and black zero symbol on the side of the ship. "It's falling because it came right out of space. It takes a ship like that a while to switch over to flight in atmosphere." She says with a growl. "It just had to be a Cerberus battle cruiser. I hope you two are ready to just kill them out right."
"W-what?! Why kill the crew?!" Miku asks as another ship comes out of the rift as it closes. It's a sleek white, black, and blue ship with black wings toward the aft made from four engines, and the roar of those engines fills the air. "Whoa! That one is at least smaller and not going to crush."
The name on the side of the ship makes Fran relax a little with the clear "SR-2" on both engines closest to the hull and the forward area near the hanger doors as well. "It's the Normandy! I just wonder which Shepard we'll be meeting."
..==..
Commander John Shepard pulls himself to his feet using the back of the pilot's seat. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. Looking out the forward windows of the cockpit he sees the Cerberus cruiser as it stalls out. He smirks slapping the back of Joker's seat knowing they got a break with the target. But he still wasn't sure where they ended up as he looks to EDI.
"Where the hell did that gate send us?" Shepard asks as Joker and EDI keep the Normandy in the air. "More importantly, can we take that cruiser over before it crashes?!"
"I don't think so, Commander. However, it looks like most of its systems are still working and trying to switch over for atmospheric flight." EDI says before the alarms go off. "Two missiles are inbound for the cruise and high energy reads from below us as well!"
Shepard looks out the forward windows of the cockpit and sees the two missiles before they split open. What dropped out made his jaw drop as Artoria, Shirabe, Silva, Chris, Elsa, and Black Cat Fran drop toward the heavy cruiser. Since he didn't know who they are yet Shepard turned to EDI with a worried look.
"I need into their comms! NOW!" Shepard yells before something hit the other ship, blowing past the shields, and leaving a huge gash in the side of it. "What the hell was that?!" He shouts as the group of girl dive into the ship.
"I think they did that and one of them is requesting you on the comm." Joker says in shock before shaking his head. "Damn! That was crazier than going through the Omega-4 Relay!"
Shepard just nods to EDI to open the comms. "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy! Just what the hell were you thinking?!"
"Don't let this ship leave Earth for starters!" A young female voice shouts over the sound of gunfire that quickly ended with the screams of Cerberus troops. "I'm Artoria Redmoon and I'm taking the lead on this mission. I'll keep it simple: We're going to find out who they have on board and fee them. Take command of the ship, which we'll link you're people in to speed things along and let you data mind as well. Last, we make sure they can't dump the fuel and Element Zero into the area near, or above Tokyo."
"Okay, that's short enough." John says a little surprised as the sound of the group moving is heard over the comms. Soon a live feed is up for him to how the girls are doing. "You said Tokyo? We're back on Earth, but I don't think it's our Earth. Not enough Reapers attacking and all that."
The redhead chuckles turning around on screen with her eyes glowing a bright aqua color. "You'd be right, Commander. You got pulled to another Earth far from your own galaxy. Welcome to the Multiverse and the plan is to get you back ASAP. Sis, you mind telling him the good news?"
"Sure! I locked down the RG unit, Rift Generator to clear things up, into maintenance mood." Another young female voice says but no sign of her being with Artoria's group. "Before I did that and you guys came through, I got the time dilation between our two worlds set. Time is now on your side Shepard for ever hundred years that pass here, only a minute will pass in your galaxy."
"Does that help you relax any, Commander?" Artoria asks before snap turning around and cutting a trooper in half. The group started moving again as Wrex enters the cockpit with Garrus right behind him.
"Not much, but you can explain it later." Shepard says as the girls cut, punch, and gun their way through the hallway. "We need the data in their computers to see if they have anything, or anyone on board. Think you can help with that?"
"Also, we could really use your names to keep things easy for us." Joker adds before flinching, with everyone else, at one Cerberus trooper getting kicking in the gut and through a wall by a black cat eared girl. "At least it wasn't lower." He mutters.
"It would make it easier. I'm Artoria Redmoon from Mythwind out of the Auramyst system. The one working the video is Silva Silvermist." Artoria says as the view swings around to show a girl with lavender/pink eyes, silver hair, and fox ears grinning. "We might want to let our gear do the camera work from here." Artoria sighs as the view swings back to her.
"Sounds good to me, Artoria." Silva says before two more holo-screens appear. "I've never been much of a photographer anyway. Luna, do you and the others have this?"
"I've got mine. What about you Duel, and Blood?" A female voice asks as a small silver fox appears in the corner of one of the screens.
A steel wolf appears on another as does a black rabbit on the last screen, each marking also who the screen is watching over as will. Shepard and his crew watching in the cockpit look between each other as each screen, from left to right, shows Artoria, Silva, and Fran's names. On top of each person on the screens is a marker with their names as well.
John Shepard slowly shakes his head seeing the display of the small battle. "Are they some kind of VI you girls use?" He asks as the group moves into a large hallway and Artoria pulls something from a white portal she made. "The hell is that?!"
"A data spike and the pocket dimension I use for a lot of my stuff." Artoria answers looking around for the nearest computer terminal, or the main computer itself. "I'm surprised no-one asked how we blasted a hole in the side of the ship yet. Where the hell is that main computer room?"
"What the hell is with all the cables everywhere?" Joker asks moving the Normandy closer to the larger ship. "Hey, that looks like a computer just sitting in the middle of the hall."
..==..
"Most of the cables run from it to nearly every door I can see too." Silva says as the group moves to the computer. "We might be in more trouble than we thought as well. This is right out of an old YT-1300 by the looks of it, but it's been heavily rebuilt too. Looks like a droid link is still working at least."
"I'll just spike the data port and we should get some answers." Artoria says kneeling down and hooks the spike to the data port. She grins as the port spins, pulling the spike in. "As for Duel Fang and his sisters, they are armor, weapons, and friends. It'd take too long to explain in full and I'd like to do so away from an oddly half dead ship."
Shirabe twitched her ears as her three black tails lowered. "It is oddly quieter than I thought it would be. Those troopers also didn't fire a shot either." She says as the only sound it the data spike hacking the computer. She takes a sniff and quickly covers her nose. "AAGHH! What is that smell?!"
"That would be the smell of undead." Fran says drawing her sword, Teacher also readies a few fire spells just in case. "We should leave. This isn't like a dungeon, and I could damage the ship with a spell."
"Good point, Fran. I think we want to make our way down to the lower cargo areas." Silva says before a long sword with the hammer of a revolver appears in her left hand. "I might need the old Gunblade for this."
Chris got out a double-barrel shotgun from her armor. "I'll just go with this and follow your lead, girls."
"Right." Artoria sighs holding her right ear for a moment. "Any luck in finding a hole to wake from down there, sis? We might need it to leave in a hurry."
The ship rocked gently before Fran Redmoon response. "Just made one and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. Before you ask it's a very large aether crystal that's giving off a ton of light energy." She says not sounding very happy, but very worried. "We're going to have to pull it off the ship, but we don't have a place to put it."
"We've got room onboard the Normandy. I just don't see how we can get to it easily." Shepard says. "Just how big is this crystal anyway?"
"You can see it on the video feed now." Blood Claw says as the crystal is highlighted. A glowing sapphire blue crystal, but only about eight feet could be seen. "I'm going to guess about twenty feet long and eight wide at least. You could use it for a hub in part of Dawnstorm City."
Artoria and Silva shared a surprised look while everyone else looked lost. "It's one of the oldest cities back home with a working aether network for teleporting around the city." The wolf girl explained.
"Just when I thought you stopped leaving us in awe about magic being real." Chris chuckles as the data spike fully sinks into the data port. "Was that a good thing to happen?"
"The Normandy should have full control and access to the ship now." Silva says as a loud crash is heard and moaning fills the far end of the hallway. "That would be our call to head for the cargo bay. Forget the plan we had and just get out fast."
"I second that." Shirabe says as the group starts moving away from the loud moaning and the smell of dead bodies getting closer. Only to run into someone in brass colored high-tech armor that the smell was coming from. "ACK!?" She covers her mouth to keep from throwing up from the smell.
"Jeez! How didn't we hear you?!" Elsa asks as she looks from the heavy boots to the welder mask like helmet with green light glowing behind metal segmented plates. "Let alone smell you sooner! I think I'm going to puke."
"Think how I feel after pulling my ass out of the main line from the restroom over there." The man says in a tired and nearly flat voice. "Name's Isaac Clarke. I'm not sure how I got here, but I do know we should leave."
"Pay up, Wrex!" Garrus shouts making everyone jump before a zombie walks into the light from the far end of the hallway. "Sorry about that."
The group just starts walking as the zombie takes a sniff of the air and starts coughing. "Oh, fuck no! I might be undead but I have standards!" It shouts before turning around and stomping away.
"Well, that just happened." Black Cat Fran mutters not sure what to even think as they move along.
..==..
Meanwhile at an unknown location.
"I see she's still fighting back." Fudou Kazanari says with a deep frown on his face. He turns to the crystal mirror as is follows Artoria's group. "It might not have been a good idea to hope she'd break again seeing the children."
"Oh you think so do you?! Well thanks for the heads up!" A female voice echoes through the room. Nearby Miranda Redmoon is growling as she pulls her hand away from the black crystal staff. However, it is very slowly like the crystal grew into her hand over time, and her hand bleeds slowly. "It won't be long before she is free of my control. I'll need a new puppet or an avatar to keep my plans moving. It's bad enough she got the keys to those other flesh bags."
Fudou raises an eyebrow, making a note of the words used by this being. "What keys are you talking about?"
"The book for one, and the scroll was a key to a place Palpatine overlooked. I need that scroll back to get a rare black crystal for my plans." The voice says as the mirror shows the girls clean Isaac with magic. Fudou couldn't blame them after seeing the Isaac drag himself out of the large waste pipe. "We also lost the belt as well. So, you don't get that power I offered you. That one is on me for not keeping it in a safer place."
Fudou just shrugs. "We'll get it back. Till then I can learn about these children by watching them from here." He grins. "I'm sure they will show us their every skill and weakness. Can you do anything about her growling?"
"It's taking everything I have in the staff to keep what hold I do have on her! It's not like you people have a manual for taking control of your minds and bodies you know?!" The voice says with a lot of anger and sass. Only for a Hive Knight to walk toward the staff as a pair of Cogs rush Fudou. "Now what!?"
"We're her Plan "B" for getting out of here." The Knight says swings his sword at the staff as Miranda screams out in pain as the crystal is ripped from her hand at long last.
..==..
"So, this giant crystal could lead to this "Etheirys" place?" A boy asks Fran R. as he looks at the aether crystal. His green eyes taking in the sight as Fran gently messes his brown hair. "Hey!" He chuckles.
"Ten years old and already got the weight of your world on your shoulders as its hero? It must be hard being the one with power, Ben." Fran R. says as she keeps her left hand on Hibiki's right shoulder. "Your cousin and grandpa must be mad about you coming up here."
"Not as mad as Miku seems with Hibiki hiding she turned into a cat girl too." Ben Tennyson says crossing his arms. "However, I think it was more likely she didn't hide it at all. I mean, she didn't even show any signs till next to this crystal, right?" He says nodding his head toward the aether crystal.
"It would explain the pain she's in as well." Fran R. says leering at Miku and making the girl look down in shame. "We'll talk about this a little later. For now, I need you to help Hibiki to her feet and walk around for a bit. I've done what I can with healing chi for now."
"Why not use magic?" Joker asks finding the idea a little more interesting thanks to seeing Isaac get cleaned up. "Unless it would hurt more, I guess?"
"I think I'm going to be sick." Hibiki says weakly covering her mouth.
Fran R. sighs rubbing the new Miqo'te girl's back. "In a way, Joker. We call it "Mana Sick" which is just too much mana in the body." She explains as Hibiki tries to stand up but is caught by Ben. "It's like a cross between being motion sick and the flue."
"Okay. That just sucks." Ben says pulling Hibiki away from the crystal. "How about we move you away from the big magic crystal before you're too sick to move?" He says, or more like tells, Hibiki before looking to his watch, the Omnitrix. "I don't think I have anyone that can lift that thing. Got any ideas, Fran?"
"It's not like we can catch it if you guys just pushed it out." Joker says thinking aloud. "What about your, uh, armor?"
Blood Claw hums for a moment as pieces of Fran's armor come off and quickly change from and size. "I'll need the others to help, but we can hold it in the air for a short time."
"Long enough for you to fly the ship in and scoop it up." Wrex says eating popcorn. "That ship hasn't moved up or down since we got here. I wonder why that is."
EDI checks the now fully hacked systems for an answer. "It would seem a backup system keeping the ship roughly two hundred feet in the air. However, with it being over the ocean it can only do ninety feet. I've also found that the ship is, in fact, empty of any element zero for fuel or ship core. They crew refitted the ships with something else I can't fully understand. Also, the internal scanners aren't showing any signs of the crew. It's a ghost ship."
"One with a few zombies that can talk and act very snooty." Teacher says, thanks to Duel Fang helping out so others can hear him. "Uh, you can hear me, right?"
Shepard sighs pacing back and forth in thought. "We can hear you, but I'm not even asking what you are at this point. Just grab the crystal and whatever else you think can get us some answers. I'm really not sure having a bunch of kids on a ghost ship is a good idea."
"To be fair we didn't even know it was a ghost ship." Ben says taking a moment to think. "Which brings up the question of, who flew the ship into the portal in the first place?"
"The kid has a point, Commander. It ran from us the moment it saw us and I don't think a VI was doing the flying. It looked too rough to me." Joker says making Fran R. think as she rips the clamp holding the crystal open. "I'm looking at the scanners for the inside of the ship and a lot of them are offline. That includes the bridge too."
"Thanks again for the earpiece, Fran. I just hope it keeps up when I go hero." Ben says gently patting Hibiki on the back. "You don't any better, Hibiki?"
She nods her head weakly. "I little bit, but I'll feel better once we're off this ship and I'm as far as possible from that crystal." Hibiki says glaring at the crystal. "Do we have any ideas other than dropping into the ocean to get it off this ship, Fran?"
Fran R. shakes her head. "Not really if we can't safely move it to the Normandy. You having any luck on your end, sis?"
..==..
"Yeah, we've found a research area of some kind." Artoria says as she smashes a stone vampire mask with snakes for hair. "They picked up a lot of really cursed items. I'm sure JoJo will be very happy about that one being turned to dust." She drops a small fireball to make sure the mask it destroyed before moving on.
"I'll just put this away for later." Silva giggles as she puts a box of round gems in her pocket dimension. "You never know when you'll need a good surprise. Oh! Chris, grab that scabbard on that table. The rest of this we can leave."
Chris looks over the scabbard before picking it up. "It's very pretty and kind of hums with magic. Where have I seen this before?"
"Saber's summon relic." Shirabe tells Chris as she puts away a pair of daggers. One blade is white and the other black. "How's your head, Isaac?"
"Much better now that I can get the helmet off. I still can't believe something teleported me across the multiverse." Isaac sighs looking over a heavy rifle with a chainsaw on it. "I don't even want to know where this came from, but I'm using it." He chuckles pulling on the starter and feels the chainsaw rumble to life. "Oh, yeah. This is just what I needed for those damn monsters."
"Let's hope you don't need it." Grandpa Max says over the comm. "I'm with Commander Shepard on your kids getting off that ship. It's just a matter of how at this point."
"Agreed, and we may have an answer." Genjuro says after being silent for a long time. "Sorry for the not joining in sooner, but I had to give a report to the UN before anything happened. Artoria, your mother is on the way to us right now. We've got to find a place for a three-and-a-half-mile long ship to land is all."
Before Artoria, Silva, or Fran R. can say anything, another voice joins the comms. "We can land on the water, Genjuro. There's nothing else to worry about but where can we land. I hate to block any shipping the city needs." A female voice says making Artoria jump in joy hearing her mother's voice. Morgana Redmoon huffs softly. "I'm letting my other girls out in their mobile suits to help out. Flay, you make sure to get the RG unit."
"Way ahead of you, mom." Another voice says with a slightly softer tone than Artoria's voice. "Did anyone tag it?"
"Yeah but be careful. I'm not sure we got all the glowing zombies." Fran R. says with a sigh. "I did put it in lockdown mode. It shouldn't give you too much trouble."
"This is one big sword." Elsa mutters looking over a sword with glowing purple energy on the edges of the blade. She looks at the computer screen next to it and sees the name. "Fallen Guillotine? Kind of fits seeing how the blade ends square. Should I grab this as well?"
BC Fran puts the blade in her pocket dimension. "It's not as good as Teacher, but I can make use of it."
"You do know they get say on you keeping it, right?" Elsa asks BC Fran as she points to Artoria and Silva.
"Don't care." BC Fran says looking around. "Can we go now?"
Artoria and Silva mutter a spell before throwing black balls of light at a large piece of power armor. "Yeah, Mordred and Lilith can help get that crystal out of the ship. We'll head for the starboard side to make an exit." The wolf girl says as the armor is crushed into a two-inch ball of metal. "Also, Black Cat Fran. You're not keeping that sword till we're sure you don't need ammo for it."
"Why would you need ammo for a sword?" BC Fran asks starting to think the Guillotine isn't worth keeping.
"Depends on the sword, but it can be anything from doing damage inside a target as it cuts. Too just keeping the edge of the blade covered in energy." Silva says as the group leaves to research room and turn to starboard. "No reason for you to have a weapon you can use to its fullest if you don't have ammo."
"I think we can let them do us that little favor, Fran." Teacher says as Jet licks Elsa's face. "It'd be awesome if we could use it on a dungeon boss! Not that I'd be feeling a little left out or anything."
Isaac rolls his eyes. "Relax a little, Teacher. We haven't seen the thing in action yet, so now reason to be getting jealous." He chuckles. "You're a talking sword that uses magic! If anything, that sword should be jealous of you."
"I guess you're right. It can't even talk from what I can tell." Teacher lets out a sigh before shouting. "Something's coming!"
Everyone quickly readied themselves as a rush of energy filled the hallway. In a few seconds a few people were dropped into the hall before the energy faded. It was so quick barely anyone could tell which way the energy came from. The outside of the ship even rippled with the energy and force behind it.
"Is everyone alright!?"Shepard yells over the comm as the video feeds go out for a few seconds. "Artoria? Silva?" He panics for a moment before the video comes back. "Thank god! We've got video again, but is anyone alright?"
"Yeah, we're alright but we've got guests." Artoria says slowly walking toward one of the people. "I think I remember this one from way back when. Gilgamesh? It can't be."
The being in red samurai armor groaned as he slowly sits up and rubs his face. His six arms flexed as his light grey face gives a soft grin. "It can be, little wolf. It's been too long since I last left the realms of Final Fantasy. You've grown up a lot." Gilgamesh says softly getting to his feet and stands a stunning ten feet tall. "I just wish it had been under my own power we ended up here. Warrior of Light! You and your friends alright?" He asks turning to look at the few others with him. "We've survived whatever that was. Warrior of Light?"
"She's not here." A woman with white hair, silver eyes, and wearing a black dress with grey fur on the collar says. "Artoria and Thancred got everyone clear of the rift." She looks around before seeing the wolf girl Artoria and Chris. "Or did she? Who's that next to her and the other ones?"
Gilgamesh chuckles as he gently pats the woman's shoulder. "Some children I once looked after when they needed someone the most. We're in good hands, Y'shtola. I'm sure Morgana will know how to help."
"Mom." Artoria says holding her left hand over her ear. "You're not going to believe who's back."