CHAPTER 51

SONG OF THE ANGEL AND THE DRAGON

Streaking through the huge swarm, Salia set her sights on Siegfried and the red enemy Para-mail far ahead. Judging by the ferocity behind Cal's attacks, that one enemy had been responsible for decimating the entire second squad and almost a fourth of Arzenal. Despite damage to one of Siegfried's primary wings, Cal threw himself headlong against his opponent, sparks flying every time his and the enemy's blades met. And judging from how Cal's movements were becoming slower and sloppier, he was starting to get exhausted. 'Just hold on a little longer Cal.' Salia prayed as she fired Villkiss's assault rifle, cutting down a trio of Schooners that loomed before her.

"Oh great, miss high and mighty has arrived." Rosalie groaned as the rest of the squad saw her approach.

"About time you got here Ange!" Vivian cheered.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Miranda demanded.

"She's not!" Salia answered to their surprise. "Ersha, Miranda, continue holding off those Schooners. Third squad will be back to relieve you shortly. Vivian, keep that green unit occupied. Chris, Rosalie don't let that blue unit get ahead of you. Sync your attacks to throw it off. Cal, head back to base and refuel, I'll take it from here!"

"Salia, what the hell are you doing?!" Cal yelled in exasperation as he and the red enemy locked blades.

"Doing what I should have done the day you were assigned Siegfried." Salia gunned the accelerator, but instead of a boost in speed, there was only a weak sputtering from the engines. 'What's going on?' she thought frantically, gripping the controls harder. 'Why aren't you moving?' Go faster!'

"Salia above you!" Cal warned as a lone Schooner came swooping down from Salia's right who barely dodged it in time. 'Come on, we can do this Villkiss! Don't do this to me now!" She tried to shift Villkiss into destroyer mode, but it suddenly faltered allowing the same Schooner to regroup and pounce, sending her into a spiral.

"Salia!" Cal cried. A hard knee to the abdomen of the red enemy broke the lock and sent it crashing into a gang of its Schooners allies before he dived after Salia. As the G-forces pushed her back and the world spun around her, Salia clenched her teeth and with all the strength she could muster, managed to regain stability and shift to hover mode. "I don't understand, why is this happening again?" She gasped. She had the ring. It was the key to breaking through the locks to pilot Villkiss at its full potential. Alektra had told her so. A sudden screech overhead caught her attention as another trio of Schooners came diving towards her. Salia tried to flee, but Villkiss continued to struggle as if resisting her every step of the way. The Schooners were almost upon her when with a burst of red light, Siegfried spun in and decapitated all three with its dual blades.

"Cal behind you!" Salia shrieked as the red enemy darted in from behind. Before Cal could react, its long yellow arm blade thrust into Siegfried's side. Cal responded back with a heavy uppercut below the enemy's cockpit and managed to propel it back. "Cal are you okay!?" Salia gasped seeing Siegfried's gold pneumatic gears along its right flank hiss and erupt with sparks and smoke. "Cal, you need to return to base immediately, that's an order!" she pleaded. "You'll be killed if you continue to fight like this! Let me…"

"For god's sake Salia!" Cal shouted angrily. "You were supposed to release Ange and Hilda! Why are you doing this? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Meanwhile, the red enemy came charging back and Cal shot towards it. 'No!' Salia thought stubbornly as she drove Villkiss back around to assist Cal. 'I won't let you do this on your own! I won't let yourself get killed because of fear and revenge. I can't lose you too!'

With the northwest side of Arzenal completely destroyed, a great number of Schooners began to storm through the hallways. Four had already wandered into the med wing but were quickly put down by Maggie, her assistant nurses, and a few base personnel defending the area. They were holding them off for now but Maggie knew they were sitting ducks. Soon these hallways would be swarming with DRAGONs and they would be pinned down. Once she radioed Jill who gave the order to evacuate to the mall, the assistant nurses began to help Charlotte and the other injured as Maggie peeked across two junction hallways to check if the coast was clear and felt the air leave her lungs. A large pink scaly tail was swishing down a turn which led to…

"Their heading for the nursery." She realized. "The babies!"

"Mistress, wait?!" One of the assistant nurses called after her as Maggie kicked off her heeled shoes and zig zagged over the four DRAGON corpses, tearing across the hallway after the lone Schooner. With her heart throbbing in her throat, Maggie rushed down the turn and through a short cut that led down a flight of stairs which she took two at a time, across another turn until she came to the passageway that led to the nursery room. In her sights was the Schooner, sniffing around the door where the babies' distressed cries could be heard.

"Get away from them you monster!" Maggie yelled, emptying half her magazine into the Schooner, its dead body collapsing onto the floor with a thunderous crash. Maggie opened the nursery door and saw the babies were unharmed but behind her she heard loud trembling footsteps and the sound of a deep reptile-like snarl. Maggie whipped around seeing two more Schooners emerged down the corridor. She slammed the door shut, turned on her heel and ran for it. "Over here you monsters, come and get me!" she dared, keeping both their attention on her. She ran with the Schooners in hot pursuit when suddenly the door ahead of her opened and Mary the schoolteacher peeked out.

"Mary lock your door!" Maggie shouted as she whirled around to empty the rest of her magazine into the lead DRAGON, leaving just one left to deal with. Maggie began to fumble for another magazine when the other Schooner closed in and smacked her with its wing, knocking her hard against the wall. Ms. Mary came leaping out of the classroom brandishing a chair and began whacking it over the monster's back. "Get back you horrible beast!" She yelled in suppressed fright, but it simply swatted her back with its wing as though she was an annoying fly. Dazed, winded and tasting blood, Maggie looked up to see the Schooner towering over her. She crawled backwards, the children peered through the gap of the door and whimpering as the Schooner set its sights upon them, its livid yellow eyes filled with hunger.

"Get down!" came a loud, booming voice followed by a thunderous blast as a chunk of the Schooner's shoulder was torn away. It screeched in agony and turned around at its new target. Maggie's streaming eyes widened in both astonishment and relief, never believing she would be glad to see a human. "Over here you ugly bastard!" Corporal Lawrence yelled as he fired again from his shotgun, this time hitting the Schooner square in the chest and sending it falling backwards and dead onto the floor.

"Behind you!" Maggie yelled as another Schooner appeared. The DRAGON lunged and snapped its jaws at the Corporal. But thought the big man leapt back, before he could fire again the Schooner spun around and cracked its tail across the Corporal's stomach. The shotgun flew from his grip as the he was thrown across the corridor and almost on top of Maggie and Mary who had just regained consciousness. With a snarl of defiance, the Corporal sprang back up and heaved a giant Warhammer from behind his back.

"Come on you gruesome son of a bitch, come and get me!"

"Are you crazy, get away!" Maggie yelled as the Schooner charged.

"Cover your ears!" Lawrance shouted as he threw a silver cube from his utility belt at the DRAGON. Maggie and Mary clapped their hands over their ears and Maggie felt the inside of her head ring like someone was clanging a huge iron bell within her skull, her eardrums fit to burst. The Schooner screeched and spasmed in agony before the Corporal, who didn't at all seem bothered by the noise, raised his hammer and brought it down on the Schooner's head, bursting it in an eruption of blood, brains and bone. Finally, the horrendous sound stopped and Maggie felt the instant relief of released pressure from inside her head. "Are you both okay?" the Corporal asked as he pulled a pair of earplugs from within his ears and hurried to Maggie's side.

"You're bleeding." Maggie gasped, noticing a red patch forming above his beltline through his neat white uniform where the DRAGON's tail spikes had caught him.

"It's nothing." he said calmly. "Just a scratch." With the threat gone for the moment, the children braved themselves to gradually edge out and gather around Mary.

"Thank you for showing up when you did, sir." Mary sighed in relief as the children looked up at the bodyguard in pure awe. Maggie continued to stare up at him in sheer bewilderment. Why? Why did he save her? Why would someone like him, a human, save a Norma's life?

"Come on." He offered her his hand, his face radiating compassion and kindness as he helped her to her feet and Maggie felt weak kneed by his powerful, protective demeanor. "Let's get these kids, the babies and everyone else in this area evacuated."

"The Mall's storage room is our only hope in holding out this attack." Maggie told him.

"Good idea." Maggie smiled serenely at the bodyguard as she along with Mary and the children retraced their steps back to the nursery to collect the babies, meeting the assistant nurses along the way. Throughout the entire time, Corporal Lawrance put himself first in front of everyone in case a DRAGON showed up. 'Why are you doing this.' Maggie thought cradling baby Serra close to her, not making any sense of the guy's actions. For the past 3 months he had treated them all as being no less than trash. 'Why are you putting our lives before your own?'

Once Ange, Hilda and Momoka made it up to the upper levels and into the cafeteria they were met with a gruesome sight. The sweet metallic smell of blood hit their noses first as they saw several bodies of Norma and DRAGONs strewn across the hall. From behind the upturned tables, they saw the entire kitchen staff trailing their assault rifles at the cafeteria's main window.

"You better get your heads down girls, or they might get bit off!" one of the kitchen staff warned as more Schooners tried again to enter through the cafeteria's main window and the three girls quickly trailed around the barricade of tables and down the passageway towards the first squad's locker room. Once Ange and Hilda had changed into their flight suits, they rushed to the main hanger to see the remaining members of third squad, now restocked and refueled, rushing back out to battle as the armorers along with a few Norma inside the mall cleared any Schooner that tried to swoop inside the hanger.

"Ange! Hilda!" Zhao Mei called. "Why are you two here? Salia told me you two were out of commission." Ange then immediately saw with a flash of irritation that Villkiss was gone and had a very shrewd idea who had taken it.

"God dammit Salia, what are you playing at?!" she spat.

"What's the situation out there Mei?" Hilda asked. Mei sighed heavily.

"The red para-mail…" her voice became low and throbbed with sorrow, "…it destroyed the north-west section of the base and…and…" Ange's heart give a horrible lurch and Hilda looked very faint, both fearing the worst had happened to Cal. "It killed the entire second squad in one attack!"

"What!" Hilda gasped in outrage looking just as shocked as Ange who couldn't believe that someone as tough as Scarlett had been killed so easily.

"It seems to have some kind of powerful weapon built inside it." Mei told them. "Whoever's piloting it was able to activate it's weapon when the singing started."

"Then we stop whoever's piloting it before they do it again." said Ange. "How are Cal and the others holding them off?"

"Cal's completely lost it. He's not returned to refuel and is fighting the red unit on his own." Ange, Hilda, and Momoka gazed out of the hanger and saw Villkiss attempting to attack the red Para-mail that was currently fighting Siegfried. But even with Salia's supportive gunfire the red unit danced around the sky, avoiding Villkiss' gunfire and still managing to hold its own against Cal. Across the sky, they spotted Ersha and Miranda's units attempting to hold off the Schooners while Vivian's Razor clashed against the green enemy and Rosalie and Chris were barely holding off the blue enemy. As they watched, Villkiss attempted to transform again but faltered as a trio of Schooners pursued it. Cal, with his attention distracted by trying to protect Salia was caught off guard as the red enemy unit managed to stab the gears on Siegfried's leg.

"We have to stop that unit. At this rate Cal will be killed!" said Ange. She looked to Hilda who wore an expression of quiet fury, like she wanted to annihilate every enemy in her sight.

"No!" Hilda vowed through clenched teeth, her violet eyes burning. "That idiot isn't going to die on my watch. Mei is my unit ready?"

"It's already been fueled and stocked up." Mei answered. "You can go once the way is clear."

"Hurry up and clear it then!" Hilda ordered as she jumped onto her Glaive and plugged her chamber charger in place.

"Wait for me Hilda, I'm coming with you!" called Ange who hopped on behind Hilda.

"The hell you are!" Hilda snapped. "Take Salia's Arquebus!"

"The last thing I want is to owe her money. Besides I've got a plan to get that red para-mail away from him. All I need is Villkiss and my ring. But I need you to get me up close." Ange held on tightly to Hilda's waist, her breasts pressing into her back. Hilda felt herself blush but for some reason it didn't feel the same to her.

"Whatever Princess. Just leave one of those three to me. I really need the cash."

"I'll try." Ange grinned.

"Good luck Lady Angelise, Miss Hilda." Momoka waved, looking worried but hopeful for their return. "Please make sure Sir Cal is safe." With a flash of engine fire, Hilda with Ange holding onto her waist shot out of the hanger and into the chaos above.

As the battle raged on, the massive DRAGON horde continued to swoop down onto the remaining Para-mail. With Cal and Salia trying to fight off the red unit and Rosalie, Chris and Vivian busy with its two companions, Ersha and Miranda were beginning to pull back from their original position as the Schooners continued to rain down on them endlessly.

"There's too many of them!" cried Miranda as she clipped one Schooner that almost ambushed Ersha's right flank.

"Just keep firing." Ersha told her. "We can't let any more get past us or those inside Arzenal won't stand a chance." Suddenly, from within the singular above, four Corvettes emerged and dove straight for Arzenal. Ersha almost ordered a retreat until a burst of gunfire and artillery blasts tore through the swarm as Eleanor and her five remaining squad mates arrived to lend a hand.

"Looks like we made just in the nick of time." Eleanor called through the radio. "It's about time we show them what we think of those who mess with us!" Converting to Destroyer mode, Eleanor pulled her spear and skewered two Schooners in her path before picking off a few more with her bolt action TF-424 sniper. These bastards had killed her friends and now Eleanor was going to pay them back with interest. "There's 8 of us, that should be enough to take care of the horde before we move on to wiping out those 3 machines."

"You're Captain here and my superior so what are our orders?" Ersha asked.

"Hold ground here in Triangle formation." Eleanor ordered. "I want all Artillery units to knock those Corvettes out of the sky. Assault crew, concentrate all fire on the larger groups. Recruits, cut them down once assault crew separates them."

"What about you Captain?" asked Margret as Eleanor changed back to flight mode.

"I have a score to settle with their leader." Eleanor scowled, launching away to assist Cal and Salia. With a strategy established and their numbers increased, the other pilots took position and erected a wall of bullets and canon fire that prevented the Schooners from getting near them.

"Keep it up everyone!" Ersha called out as she and Tanya took down one of the Corvettes. "Once we've taken out their army, we'll split into two groups in order to help those clear out the ones inside the base." Through the frenzy Ersha spotted Siegfried take another hit from the red unit while trying to protect Salia when a dark blue unit suddenly darted away from their formation. "Miranda! Where are you going? Come back!" Ersha yelled.

"No!" Miranda's voice radioed back. "I won't sit back anymore. Cal needs my help!"

Around Jasmine, the rest of the mall staff held position against any Schooners coming down the hallways. "Girls, get over here now, we'll cover you!" she shouted across the hanger to Momoka, Mei and her crew who had just run out of ammo. Adjusting the aim of her sniper rifle, Jasmine tore through another Schooner that tried to sweep inside the hanger. Outside the right end of the mall, two of Jasmine's staff used a heavy tripod rotary gun to tear apart any DRAGON that came through the adjacent hallways. Once they ran dry, they began loading a fresh box of ammo when they suddenly ran for it. Vulcan barked in warning as a huge shadow loomed over them and Jasmine dove under the pool table just as a lone Schooner came crashing through the side of the mall's thin drywall. Chairs, jewelry, the basketball hoop and the ping pong table flew in every direction as the DRAGON flayed its webbed wings and tail around, knocking over Para-mail weapons off their racks as it broke through the mall staff's defense.

Some Norma retreated underneath the air hockey table while most ran through the other side of the mall behind the arcade machines. Setting her sniper over the pool table to steady her aim, Jasmine pulled the bolt back and hit the side of the Schooner's neck. She pulled the bolt back again but it was enough time for the Schooner to charge at her. "Jasmine! Get out of there!" Mei yelled at the mall's entrance as the Schooner raised its long tail over Jasmine who leapt out of the way just as its tail slammed down upon the pool table, crushing it in two.

"Stay behind me!" Momoka yelled as she formed a Mana shield in front of her, allowing the Norma trapped underneath the air hocky table to take cover behind her and get out of the way. Meanwhile, Vulcan snarled and growled, his hair standing on end as he held his ground to protect his owner.

"Vulcan no!" Jasmine yelled. "Get away!" The DRAGON leered at the old yellow old dog and let out a hungry screech when twin roars from a shotgun blast exploded the Schooner's head. Once recovered from the shock, Jasmine's face slackened in bewilderment at the sight of Corporal Eric Lawrance standing in the broken gap of the drywall, shotgun in hand with Maggie, her assistant nurses, Ms Mary, the school children, and a few others holding the babies.

"Nice to see you in one piece." said Maggie as Jasmine pulled herself up right.

"It'll take more than a Schooner to end my miserable life." Jasmine said in a dignified manner, still gazing at the bodyguard. What on earth was he doing here instead of protecting the Inspector?

"Come on, we need to get the children and injured to safety where the DRAGONs can't reach them." Lawrance ordered. "And that means you too." He added to Momoka.

"The storage room doors are built with reinforced steel; no DRAGON will get through them." Jasmine suggested.

"You heard the lady. Get these kids out of here." He ordered Maggie and the others. "Anyone else who wants to stay, we hold our ground here."

"Why are you helping us?" Maggie demanded, baby Serra asleep in her arms despite the chaos around them.

"I'm a soldier, nothing more, nothing less. And I refuse to leave those in need behind." He said as he gently caressed Serra's tiny fingers and Jasmine swore she saw great pain behind his black sunglasses. It was almost like looking into a mirror from the past. It was the same way Gaz looked at Cal when he was a baby, guilt and regret for past mistakes. Jasmine had a feeling she was in for quite a story if they all made it out of this. "Just promise you'll take good care of her if I don't come back."

"Of course." Maggie said with a curt nod. "I am a doctor after all." As she, Ms. Mary, the children, and the injured made their way into the storage; Mei typed in one of the passcodes into the keypad on the wall next to the huge steel doors that closed shut.

"You're not going with them?" The Corporal asked.

"No." said Jasmine as her staff, Mei and her team along with a few of base personnel rallied behind her. "This has been my home for 40 years, and I won't abandon it to a bunch of overgrown lizards." Lawrance looked at her with the greatest of respect before reaching inside one of the utility belt pockets, pulling out a fist full black metal disks which he began tossing across the hanger. "Mines huh. That's smart. But will those tiny things be enough?"

"Trust me, they have enough power to blow a Schooner in half." Corporal Lawrance assured then began setting up trip mines at the two entrances to the hallways. "Don't worry, we cleared out the northwest section. Nothing but a DRAGON will try to get through here." No sooner had he finished then more Schooners landed on the runway and came running into the hanger. "Get ready girls!" Jasmine warned as she loaded a fresh magazine into the chamber and took position at the Mall's entrance. "Let's show these lizards what we do to intruders!"

"You sure you can handle that gun?" Lawrance wondered as she covered the two hallways beside the hole in the drywall.

"Who says old ladies can't handle the big guns?" Jasmine smirked. 'They didn't call me the 1000 DRAGON slayer for nothing.' She pridefully thought to herself.

Breathing hard and catching what little breath he could, Cal's lungs burned in protest for him to stop but he pushed it down. With Salia in possession of Villkiss, she was a moving bullseye for the red enemy. Every time Salia got clear of the Schooners tailing her, she would try to intervene by unleashing more gunfire at the red unit. And every time she got too near, the red unit would almost score a hit with its blade if not for Cal blocking or taking the brunt of the unit's attacks. Siegfried at this point was damaged, smoking in several places, out of ammo, and only had 15% of fuel left. 'No!' Cal swore, 'If I retreat now, it'll wipe everyone out. I won't let that happen!'

Darting around the sky to avoid another barrage of beams, Cal saw Salia trying to evade more Schooners, but still her speed did not increase. "Stay out of the way Salia!' Cal shouted furiously. "Something's off with Villkiss! Return it and come back with your own unit!" It was the only logical explanation he could think of. Villkiss had always worked perfectly fine with Ange so why was it different now with Salia?

"No, I can do this!" Salia argued as she spun around to clip two schooners, then tried to convert Villkiss to destroyer mode only to fail once again. "I'll make Villkiss work!" As Siegfried and the red Para-mail's blades locked together, Salia once again maneuvered around to try and hit the red unit from behind. But it saw what she was about to do and aimed its arm mounted beam cannon arm at Villkiss until a high velocity sniper bullet blasted through the blaster casing to take it out. From above, Eleanor's red arquebus dropped down like a comet and kicked the red unit towards the sea.

"I see you've got your hands full." she noted. "Tag out. I'll deal with this one, you keep those Schooners away from Salia." She tossed him her sniper as she pulled out her long spear and darted after the enemy unit. Cal was about to argue back but knew Eleanor had a much better chance of holding the enemy off until all the pilots regrouped. And with him dangerously low on fuel, he could do little but conserve the rest for flight only. And if the pilot inside the red para-mail started to sing again then its weapons would fire and they were all as good as dead.

Once he had caught his breath, Cal raised Eleanor's sniper rifle and took aim at the Schooners chasing after Salia. He hit one closest to her and managed to cut down two more when a sudden burst of machine gun fire struck down the rest. Cal looked round and smiled with exhilaration at the sight of Hilda's red Glaive speeding up to join the fight. And it looked as though someone else was riding behind her.

"Hey, get your elbows out of my chest!" Ange's voice complained over the radio to Cal's amusement.

"You're the one who asked for a lift so deal with it bitch!" Hilda barked back.

"Haha, are we glad to see you two!" Vivian beamed.

"Ange, Hilda!" Ersha said in delight.

"Oh, great. Just what we needed, the two traitors." Chris grumbled as Hilda pulled up near Siegfried.

"Cal, I need you to cover us while I get Villkiss back." said Ange as Hilda gave him a curt wink. "Once I do, we'll take it on together."

"Just get Salia out of there before she gets herself killed. That's all I care about." Now that Ange was back, Cal began clearing a path through the horde, sniping down Schooner after Schooner to clear the way.

Across the other side of the battle, the green enemy clashed with Vivian's Razor. The two units danced across the sky in a whirlwind of blades as Vivian slashed with her separated boomerang. The green enemy blocked one of them with its arm blade, but Vivian's second managed to sneak through its guard and slice through the underside of its cockpit, leaving a long shallow gash in its armor.

'Whoever is piloting this sweet machine, sure knows how to fight.' Vivian thought as sweat beaded her brow. 'Let's kick it up a notch and see if they can keep up with me!' Rolling around, Vivian spun and stabbed for the enemy's back only for the green unit to spin along with her to avoid the blow before striking its knee into the pink Razor's abdominal hull. The green enemy pulled back its blade arm to stab when Vivian countered with a knee strike, the impact knocking the two of them apart.

"You're getting on my nerves." A girl's short voice came from over the radio.

"I have a habit of that." grinned Vivian. "But you'll soon realize I'm full of surprises."

"Not for longer you won't." The mysterious girl inside the green unit threatened before they both rocketed at each other again. From the corner of her eye, Vivian spotted Miranda's dark blue unit in flight mode struggling to get through the swarm that pursued her from every angle. Vivian went after her to help, but was cut off by her green challenger. 'Sorry roomie, but you'll have to look after yourself until I deal with her.'

Soaring through the swarm, Miranda spotted Cal sniping at a mob of Schooners trying to target Villkiss and Hilda's unit. Miranda watched with a jolt of anger at the sight of her former mentor who along with Ange riding behind her was trying to catch up to Villkiss.

"Salia!" She heard Ange yell over the radio. "Give me back my ring AND Villkiss!"

"Forget it!" Salia snapped. "Villkiss is mine and I won't let you get in my way this time! Now back off!" Miranda wanted to help her Captain who was still having trouble with Villkiss but Cal was stuck in a very vulnerable position. Due to his low fuel, he was maintaining a low speed, making him an easy target and Miranda spotted two Schooners coming in from behind his back.

"Cal! I'm here to help!" Miranda called as she quickly took out the two DRAGONs before converting to destroyer mode and hovering right beside Siegfried.

"Miranda! Get back with the others, it's too dangerous with that red para-mail so close!" Cal ordered. But Miranda was having none of it. She was sick of being useless to her comrades and now she needed to protect those who still cared for her.

"No, Salia's right. We won't watch you throw your life away for us!" said Miranda defiantly. "I couldn't save Coco, but I'll save you by keeping you safe!" There was a loud thud above and the red enemy had slammed Eleanor, sending her crashing towards the sea before it turned its attention back to Cal. "No!" Miranda shouted ready to fight it off. "I won't let you hurt him, or anyone else!"

A short distance away, the blue enemy unit tried to separate Rosalie and Chris so it could pick them off one at a time. Chris, however, kept getting in close to prevent it from using its long beam rifle while Rosalie fired her shoulder canons. The blue unit, however, was too quick as it weaved across the sky and managed to dart around Chris, kicking her unit in the back and sending it crashing into Rosalie who at the same time fired her last RPG and missed. The two quickly broke off as the blue unit fired another energy beam at them.

"Our attacks aren't even phasing it!" Chris panted, panic beginning to rise in her gut. "What do we do?"

"Just hang in there Chris!" Rosalie argued. "If we take it down, think of all the money we'll get!

"You're right, but we have to find a weakness in its attacks." Chris acknowledged. "It wants to separate us, so let's give it what it wants." She could only hope this would work, but it might pay off. "Once it fires, we'll hit it from both sides and…"

"I have a better idea." Rosalie interrupted. "Let's focus all our fire power and drive it backwards before we swoop in with one of our freeze bullets." She grinned, narrowing her eyes greedily at the blue unit who aimed at them again. "On my word we go for it."

"Okay." said Chris, a little discouraged but deciding to go with Rosalie's plan.

"NOW!" Rosalie yelled as another crimson beam shot out to where they would have been as they both launched forwards and unleashed all their firepower at once.

Cal unloaded shot after shot at the red unit but it continued to avoid every bullet as Miranda launched towards it. "Miranda watch out!" He warned as the enemy raised its beam rifle to fire.

Miranda barrel rolled out of the way as she snapped out her blade out and plunged forwards to stab it through the cockpit. But in a flash the red unit whooshed past and kicked into Miranda's exposed back. Inside the cockpit, the young Norma was slammed headfirst into her console as her unit spiraled down towards the sea below, barely regaining control before she could crash into the surf. She felt the blood trickle down one side of her face and through her dazed, vision she saw the red unit above aiming its long rifle directly at her.

"You couldn't save me, and now you can't even save the others, Senpai, or yourself." Coco's voice echoed through her head and Miranda went numb from her impending doom as she jammed her eyes shut.

"Miranda move!" Miranda snapped back to reality and saw Siegfried shooting towards her as it suddenly flashed from blue to green. At the same time, the red unit fired. There was a blinding flash of green and crimson, a thunderous bang, and another crash right as Siegfried exploded in a shower of white smoke and fiery sparks that spat from every gear and armored plate. Cal had thrown himself in front of Miranda, taking the brunt of the beam head-on. And though Siegfried's power in its green form, had managed to prevent the beam from shredding them both to pieces, in its weakened state it wasn't able to block the shot entirely. And now Siegfried was reverting back to its normal mode, the emergency standbys keeping it hung in midair through hover mode.

"Cal!" Miranda screamed. "Cal! Speak to me! Please don't be dead! I'm so sorry!"

"Miranda!" Eleanor shouted through the radio. "Take Cal and get out of here!" Eleanor had reengaged the red enemy unit but with its main threat dealt with, the red enemy was now able to better focus on taking out anyone that got in its way. And it was taking everything Eleanor had just to keep up a defense. "Just go! I'll hold it off!" Miranda grabbed Siegfried and put her engines into full drive to support both their weight. 'Please don't be dead Cal. Just hold on and I'll get you out of this.'

Suddenly, a shriek from above caught her attention and she looked up to see five Schooners diving in around her. And with Cal weighing her down she couldn't move or even aim properly. The DRAGONs were almost upon them when a sudden wave of gunfire took care of the rest before a familiar looking red Glaive flew down to her flank.

"Just what the hell did you think you were doing?!" Hilda yelled, her former mistress's face a mixture of anger and worry. "You could have gotten the both of you killed!"

"I…It was…an accident." Miranda whimpered.

"I don't think he's dead, probably just knocked out." Ange said from where she rode behind Hilda.

"Ange, Hilda!" Ersha called out as she continued to provide cover fire with her Hauser's canons. "Whatever you're planning, do it quick." Across the sky, the blue enemy unit bashed into Rosalie's glaive and sent her spiraling towards the sea with Chris diving after her. Hilda's eyes filled with panic and quickly turned to cold rage.

"Ange switch over!" She ordered. "Ersha, look after Cal. As for you newbie, make yourself useful by helping Ange get her unit back."

"Wait what?" Miranda gasped.

"Miranda, just do it." said Ersha as she grabbed ahold of Siegfried and Miranda shifted to pilot mode, allowing Ange to jump on behind her. Now free of her passenger, Hilda zoomed off to help Rosalie and Chris while in the opposite direction, Salia was attempting to take on the red unit while still stuck in flight mode. Miranda however, even after handing Cal over to Ersha, felt her hands tremble on her controls. "I…I…only wanted…to help." She gasped through broken sobs.

"Listen Miranda, if you want to help Cal, then help me get Villkiss back." Ange told her firmly. "It's the only way for any of us to stand a chance of turning this fight." Taking orders from Ange was the last thing she wanted to do. But she knew if they had any chance then she'd have to swallow her deep hatred towards Ange and go along with whatever plan had been cooked up.

"Keep at 'em girls!" Jasmine encouraged over the roar of gunfire as more Schooners fought their way into the hanger as their numbers finally began to subside and eventually stopped. The entire place was full of debris, fires and the blown-up limbs and guts of DRAGONs from where they had stepped on the Corporal's mines.

"I think that's almost all of them!" Lawrence puffed a deep breath from where he stood amidst a small pile of Schooners. His shot gun had run dry so he had resorted to pounding them with his hammer that was now covered in DRAGON blood and brains. "I can't see any more coming through the corridors. Do you think they've given up?"

"I don't think so." Jasmine said suspiciously. "Keep an eye on…" Before she could finish her sentence there came the sound like a hurricane, the ground rumbling as something enormous and grey came flying in from the hanger opening. "Oh shit!" Jasmine grimaced. A lone Corvette had managed to get past the defenses and had now gotten inside, it's horrible amber eyes locked directly on them.

"Shoot it down!" Lawrance bellowed, but even with the combined efforts of a dozen base personnel, the mall staff and Mei's team emptying their rifles and submachine guns into the Corvette; being twice the size of a Schooner meant they could do little more than scratch its thicker scales.

"Get the grenade launchers from the storage room!" Jasmine shouted frantically to Mei who didn't think twice as the Corvette opened its mouth to form an orange sigil. A fiery ball of energy shot at the far end of the mall towards where the arcades and changing rooms stood, setting them ablaze and Jasmine saw in horror a dozen of her staff and Armorists who didn't get out of the way in time had been reduced to black twisted piles of ash.

Mei typed away at the keypad to open the storage room as the Corvette lumbered towards them and Jasmine caught sight of a silver cube hurtling through the hanger towards the DRAGON. Jasmine clapped her hands over her ears as the grenade exploded in a horrible buzzing noise that made her head ring painfully as the Corporal charged forward and swung his hammer against the Corvette's webbed wrist with enough force to break the bone.

"Is he serious?" One Norma gaped.

"He can't take a DRAGON that size on his own."

"What are you lot waiting for!" Jasmine yelled. "He's giving us the chance to retreat! Now everyone, inside the storage room!" The steel doors opened a small gap for them to squeeze in and Jasmine met Maggie and Momoka who gaped at the scene before them.

"What the hell is he doing?" Maggie gawked The Corvette howled so loud it shook the entire hanger and with one of its wrists broken it limped awkwardly after the Corporal who darted around its back. Realizing its opponent was too small and quick to chase after, the Corvette changed tactics and swung its tail to smack Lawrence clear across the other side of the hanger like a rag doll to slam against the wall.

"Miss Maggie please don't!" Momoka suddenly pleaded as the head Doctor lunged for the opening. With help from Jasmine, the two of them pulled her back as the Corporal shakily picked himself up and wiped the blood flowing down his face from the large gash across his forehead.

"Come on!" The Corporal goaded the Corvette, holding his hammer in one hand while keeping his Mana shield sustained with his other. The Corvette swung its tail again but Lawrence ducked underneath. The hit he had taken though slowed him down and the DRAGON turned just in time to snap its jaws at him. In response, the Corporal slid across the floor and smashed his hammer across its face, breaking a few of its teeth. The DRAGON roared and blindly lashed out with its wing, smashing the Corporal through the mall's drywall as he landed hard against the air hockey table.

"We have to do something." Maggie urged. "It's going to kill him!"

"Mei where the hell are those grenade launchers?!" Jasmine yelled.

"We're working on it!" Mei called back.

"Well hurry up, we don't have much time!" Jasmine said as she pulled the bolt back on her sniper. "Momoka, we're going to need your help on this."

"Okay." Momoka replied nervously.

Chris and Rosalie used every canon shell at their disposal to force the blue enemy back. The overwhelming firepower was enough for it to run off course and allow Rosalie's plan to fall into place. "Cover me Chris, I've got this one."

"Be careful Rosalie." Chris begged as she watched the yellow artillery glaive zoom in towards the blue unit. Rosalie was about to fire her freeze bullet when the blue enemy shot upwards and fired its beam rifle, successfully clipping Rosalie on her left flank and sending her spiraling backwards. "Rosalie!" Chris screamed as she raced after and caught the yellow glaive by the arm. "I've got you!"

"Chris look out!" Rosalie warned as the blue unit dove straight towards them, its yellow arm blade extended and ready to slice the two pilots in half until a red flash intercepted the attack.

"Hilda!" Chris gasped as she and Rosalie stared in stunned disbelief. Hilda had blocked the enemy's blade with her own and was forcing the blue unit back.

"At least you two can hold your own without me." Their former ringleader snarked as her blade opened up into an axe. "But I'll take it from here." Hilda yanked her sword around and parried the enemy's blows, the two then whizzing around the sky exchanging gunfire and sword strikes as they clashed.

"Should we help her?" Rosalie asked.

"No." Chris said bitterly. "She doesn't need the likes of us, remember?"

Salia tried to force Villkiss to transform, but it once again snapped back to flight mode. 'Fine, I'll just stay like this!' she decided, her focus turned back to the red unit. Salia then saw in horror that Siegfried had been hit by the red unit's beam rifle while trying to protect Miranda and now was not moving. "Cal! Cal do you copy!?" Salia tried contacting him through the radio but there was no response. "Cal please speak to me!" Behind Salia, Hilda had turned around to go after Cal giving Salia a clear path towards the red unit. Eleanor was now missing a leg and one of her wings had been dented badly, but she continued to fight hard. As she parried the enemy's blade, Eleanor jabbed her spear forwards, only for the red unit to catch it and in one swift movement snapped the spear in two with its elbow. Completely weaponless, Eleanor fell back to avoid the enemy's attack, but her busted wing was causing her trouble to move fast enough.

"Eleanor retreat now!" Salia ordered. But it was too late. The red unit flew after her and stabbed Eleanor's red Arquebus through the cockpit with the bayonet on its rifle before blasting her apart in a single shot.

"CAPTAIN!" Salia heard the rest of the third squad scream.

"No." Salia whispered in numb shock. They had lost two captains, Cal was down, and now she was the only one left. The red unit, with no one else distracting it, turned its attention back on Siegfried who was surrounded by Hilda, Ersha and Miranda's machines. "No, you don't!" Salia clenched her teeth and sped towards the enemy unit. 'I won't let you kill anyone else!' She vowed. As if sensing her will, Villkiss' engines suddenly roared to life, and it shot off in a burst of speed. The jade ring on her finger began to flicker with light but only dimly. 'Come on.' Salia pleaded, pushing herself beyond her limits. 'Come on. We can do this Villkiss!' With her drive restored, Salia continued to chase the red unit, the underslung assault rifle spraying the air as the enemy continued to avoid every shot, the light within the ring on her finger fading away as her speed once again decreased.

"Why! Why won't you work!" she yelled desperately. Why couldn't she control Villkiss? Why was it resisting her?

"Ange is the only pilot for Villkiss." Jill's harsh words plagued her mind.

She didn't care if Ange had a talent for flying Para-mail. She had been flying for far longer. She had the ring so why wasn't Villkiss working for her like it did for Ange?

"You can't do what you can't do!" Salia and the red unit whizzed across the sky, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't land a single hit as now the enemy unit danced out of the way almost out of mockery. 'All I wanted was to be just like you Alektra. To be useful for you and Libertus and to fly along Cal's side when the time came.' Suddenly the red unit changed direction. Before Salia could react, she and Villkiss were knocked out of the sky with a vicious kick.

Ange now holding onto Miranda from behind guided her through the horde carefully. The young girl had a nasty head injury but she held it together and flew on. As they closed in on Salia, the red unit suddenly kicked and sent Villkiss plunging towards the surf.

"Chase her, Miranda!" Ange ordered.

"What are you planning to do?" Miranda questioned as she nosed into a dive. "We might be able to pull Salia out of the water, but not a para-mail."

"We won't need to." Ange told her. "I just need you to get close enough for me to jump."

"Are you insane!" Miranda gaped.

"Just do it! It's our only chance." With no other option, Miranda gunned the throttle and charged in. With Ange's guidance, she flipped her Glaive upside down as they lined up directly above Villkiss. "Stay right on us if anything goes wrong!"

"Okay go!" Miranda yelled. Ange's grip released from around Miranda's waist and she slid from the seat, somersaulting as she sailed through the air until she grabbed onto the edge of Villkiss' hull and pulled herself behind Salia who was still struggling with the controls.

"Why won't you move?" Salia murmured to herself as though Ange wasn't there. "You have to move."

"Salia listen, just stop." Ange said calmly as she placed her hands over Salia's. "Enough is enough, you've done what you could."

"No its not over…I…can't give up." Salia argued as tears ran down her cheeks. "If I do then…I can't help Alektra…or Cal."

"Then let me take over if you want him to live." said Ange. As the truth of her situation finally came crashing down around her, Salia released the controls and removed the jade ring from her finger. Once it was returned, Ange quickly placed it back on her own and gripped Villkiss' controls tightly as a warm sensation ran up her finger and Villkiss's screen and systems lit up as the engines roared back to life. Ange kicked the throttle into high gear and the white Para-mail skimmed across the waves, carving a trench in its wake before rising back up into the sky.

"How…how is that possible." Salia whispered at a loss.

"Figure it out later." Ange said impatiently, eyeing the red enemy above with fury in her eyes. "We've got bigger fish to fry."

"Captain hop on!" Miranda called as she pulled up next to Villkiss. Resigned to her loss, Salia jumped over and Ange without hesitation burst forwards to deal with the enemy above. "Captain, are you okay?" Miranda asked but Salia didn't answer. In the sky above, Villkiss shifted into destroyer mode with all the fluency and elegancy as whenever Ange piloted it. It shot off towards the enemy and the red unit extended the blade on its arm before charging forward to meet its new opponent, the two units dancing around each other in a duet of gunfire and blades.

"Wow." gasped Miranda.

"I know." Salia sighed in agreement. "Both Ange and Cal are amazing. And I'm not."

"Let's just worry about surviving for now." Miranda suggested as she made her way back towards Ersha's unit and Siegfried which was still unresponsive. "Cal still needs us." Salia wiped her eyes, and felt some flicker of light build up within her. She might have failed Alektra but that didn't mean she had failed Cal as well. But as they turned to assist Ersha they both noticed the outline of a Corvette running across Arzenal's runway.

The Corvette roared in frustration as it continued to lunge its jaws at Corporal Lawrance who kept sliding and dodging across the runway by infusing his Mana with his movements, giving him an extra burst of speed to avoid been ripped apart. Inside the storage room, Jasmine and the others franticly opened crate after crate searching for the big guns as Maggie kept watch through the gap in the steel doors. "Come on, he can't keep dodging that thing forever." She urged

"We're looking!" Jasmine panted as she, Mei and a few other Norma pried another weapons crate with crowbars. "Why can't the humans label these before delivering them?" Meanwhile another smack from the Corvette sent the Corporal flying against the wall and knocking his hammer from his grip. Struggling to his feet, his uniform in tatters and bleeding all over, Lawrence drew his machine pistols and dodged out of the way as the Corvette charged head first into the stone wall. He fired for its underbelly, but the bullets weren't powerful enough to break through its tough skin. The DRAGON turned to face him and formed another energy sigil when the Corporal managed to score a hit in one of its eyes. Half blind, the shock of the wound made it snap its head upwards and shoot its fireball into the hanger ceiling. Chunks of concrete where the blast had hit rained down upon the Corporal who dropped his pistols and raised his Mana lit hands in the air to shield himself. In doing so, he gave the DRAGON an opening to tail whip him once more into one of the support pillars. Eyes wide with horror, Maggie thought the blow had killed him until his battered body began to stir as the Corvette closed in to finish him off. That was it. She couldn't just stand back anymore no matter how little difference it made and readied her assault rifle.

"Got em! Maggie move!" Jasmine called out in triumph. Maggie jumped out of the way as Jasmine, Mei and a handful of the surviving armorers ran past her. By now the Corvette was standing right over the Corporal and was about to chomp down on him when several powerful explosions blasted across its back.

"Yeah that's right, how do you like them apples, you ugly lizard!" Mei's voice boomed as she and the others shot another wave of grenades.

"Keep it occupied!" Jasmine shouted as she rested her sniper on the air hockey table. "Spread out and hit it from all sides at once!" Mei and the Armorists kept at a distance as Maggie, her staff and a few base personnel moved in from the sides to unleash a barrage of gunfire from their rifles. The bullets did little more than irritate it but it gave Jasmine time to steady her aim until she fired and managed to hit its second eye, blinding it completely. "Momoka now!" From between Mei and Maggie's groups, Momoka channeled her Mana, lifting the rubble that had fallen from the ceiling to send it flying into the Corvette's face, forcing the blind DRAGON back onto the open runway. The DRAGON now blind and confused screeched and flayed around, backing away further across the runway. "Don't let up." Maggie roared. "Force it into the water for one of the pilots to finish it off!"

"I'm out!" Mei revealed in a panic.

"Girls stay back!" Jasmine warned as the injured Corvette was ready to charge again. "Run back to the…" Jasmine's words failed as she saw to her astonishment Corporal Lawrence limping across onto the runway. One hand dragged his massive war hammer behind him, his other hand half raised in a javelin-like hold, lit by the light of Mana as Salia's Arquebus' blade hovered 12 feet in the air behind him.

"Eat this you son of a bitch!" Lawrence shouted as he threw his arm forward with all his might and the gigantic blade planted straight into the DRAGON's chest. The DRAGON screeched and flailed along the runway as something whooshed above them as Miranda's unit flew over the Corvette, riddling its body with gunfire before she took off back up into the swarm. The DRAGON's body shuddered and spasmed in a final defiance before finally collapsing on the tarmac. With the threat eliminated, Lawrence let go of his hammer and wobbled as his legs began to fail him and Maggie ran forwards to catch the huge man before he collapsed.

"You damn, stupid, brave fool." Maggie scolded, trying to support his weight, one of his thick arms across her shoulder.

"Are you…alright?" He asked in weak shallow gasps and Maggie suspected a few of his ribs were broken.

"In better shape than you." Maggie said with a smirk.

"Yeah…" he panted, coughing up blood. "Where's Serra?"

"She's fine. Can you walk?"

"I'll try…" Maggie was close to tears when Jasmine placed the Corporal's other arm across her to help support him. "Up you get. Come on, get ahold of yourself." She told him as they heaved him back into the mall before more DRAGONs decided to show up. "We're still in a war zone and you're no good to us dead."

By now more than two thirds of the DRAGONs numbers had been depleted and despite their exhaustion, the pilots were starting to gain the edge. Miranda, Irma and Ginny broke off to help deal with the Schooner's still attacking the base while everyone else grouped around Cal who was still unresponsive. Inside his cockpit, Cal lay awkwardly against the back of his seat, the back and side of his head covered in blood, the ruby gem on his wrist flickering slightly. And in the darkness that smothered him from all sides, he could see the floating figure of Scarlett, who sunk in the void. Suddenly, her body was snatched by another figure who held her in a chokehold.

"No, leave her alone." Cal's voice floated out in a rasp whisper.

"You are nothing boy." The figure of a man in a long roma coat came into focus and Cal's mind became filled with rage at the sight of Dutch Villson. "Even with that machine of yours, you'll always be weak." Before Cal's eyes, Scarlett drifted into smoke to be replaced by Coco. Cal tried to rush towards her but it was as though an invisible force was holding him back. Just like Scarlett, Coco disappeared to be replaced by Zola, followed by Naomi and then Gaz.

"Let them go you monster!" Cal, his anger erupting like a surge of heat that loosened the darkness holding him back, fighting with all his power towards the man who ruined his life.

In the sky above, Ange and the red enemy unit continued to duke it out, neither one giving the other pause. "Is that all you got?" Ange growled, using all her experience and strength to keep the enemy away from Cal, the others and Arzenal. "You wreck my home and you hurt my friends; you're going to pay for what you've done." As the two locked blades, once again a girl's voice came from the unit's radio.

"Why do you continue to fight for the humans?" she asked. "After everything they did to you."

"Shut up!" Ange snapped breaking off to kick the enemy unit back as the two put some distance between them.

"Princess what are you doing!" Came a voice from the green enemy unit. "Finish them off while we still have time." There came a sigh from the red unit as it directed its long beam rifle right at Siegfried bellow.

"No! Don't you dare!" Ange warned.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this." She told Ange in a regretful tone before firing a single beam that headed straight for the defenseless Siegfried.

"CAL!" Ange cried at the top of her lungs.

Within the void, Cal kept his gaze locked on Dutch Villson and fought with all his might against the force holding him back as Dutch coldly smirked as he twisted Gaz's neck, the crack cut through the air like a gunshot as his body vaporized into black smoke. "You couldn't save them and you still can't save anyone." Behind Dutch appeared all his friends and comrades from Arzenal and the Sanctuary. All were all lined up on the knees like they were at some execution.

"CAL!" Ange cried out first, her voice echoing out to him before all the others joined in.

"Cal! Cal! Cal!" It was like a choir ringing in his ears that threatened to split his head wide open.

"Stop it!" He gasped. "Everyone just stop!" He was tired. So tired. All he wanted to do was lie down.

"Ah and here comes another guest?" Cal looked up and his eyes widened in horror at the sight of Eleanor's red Arquebus, split in half and falling and flames burning all over its armor. While he was here, they others were still fighting and dying.

"No." He said. "No more. No more!"

Cal, a gentle fatherly voice whispered. Don't give in to hate.

"Are you still clinging on to that weak old fool's way of thinking?" Dutch mocked. "I've lived on nothing but hate and it got me everything I wanted. It allowed me to live while he died. No wonder you can't do anything." Dutch was right. Determination wasn't enough. If Cal was going to win, he'd need something more.

"You want me to hate you?" He asked. "THEN TAKE IT!" A surge of hot electricily surged though Cal as his eyes snapped open and the inside of Siegfried's cockpit blazed red and silver, the ruby gem shining hot on his wrist as the light burst out of the cockpit.

Watching the battle through her binoculars, Jill kept her eyes on Villkiss' battle with the red enemy when a crimson light blinded her vision.

"What was that?" Pamela asked as she, Hikaru and Olivier looked out of the bunker.

"Is that Cal's unit?" Hikaru gasped.

"What did he just do?" Olivier wondered. Jill snapped her binoculars to the disturbance and her jaw dropped. Siegfried and Cal had somehow reawakened. It was still wrecked, sparks and smoke erupting from its damaged gears and armor, but now it was shrouded in a burning aura of crimson and silver flame. As if not even feeling how, it tore across the sky faster than Jill could keep up. Lowering her binoculars, she watched Siegfried dart around the battle, hacking apart every Schooner in its path in wild fury. Whatever this new form or power was, Cal was taking charge of the fight and finishing off the last of the DRAGONs' invasion.

'That kid sure is something else.' Jill grinned to herself. She didn't know what Cal had just done, but it was effective and that was all she cared about. 'Just you wait Embryo. My Cal will be a force to be reckoned with.' She just hoped once this attack was over, she could crack through Ange next.

Weaving across the sky Hilda returned fire as she continued to dodge the energy bolts from the blue enemy unit's arm cannon. Equally matched in speed, they raced back and forth, occasionally closing the distance to clash blade to blade. Hilda's ability to match the blue unit's pilot move for move was starting to frustrate them and their moves became more reckless. They rushed in to stab Hilda and end the fight, but Hilda easily ducked underneath and spun to cleave off the enemy's left leg with her blade.

"Ha, don't like it when you pick on someone your own size huh?" Hilda mocked.

"Damn you!" Came a girl's voice over the radio. "You're going to pay for that!" Hilda raised an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting a person of all things to be the pilot. Not that it made any difference. An enemy was an enemy be they DRAGON or human.

"You're the one who's going to pay." She snarled back as she rushed in, causing the blue unit to retreat. "Coward!" Further ahead Vivian was managing to force its green companion to back off as it too retreated alongside the blue unit.

"Nice work Hilda!" Vivian cheered. "Glad to have you back!"

"Thanks." said Hilda, actually surprised that she had missed Vivian's excitable personality of all things. "What about Cal? Did they get him back to base?" As if in reply, a surge of red and silver light burst across her canopy.

"Woah!" Vivian suddenly awed and Hilda looked up to see Siegfried burning with a crimson and silver aura as it darted back and forth, slicing apart the last of the Schooners. But the way his unit moved was different. It wasn't like the radiant aura from when he had fought Dutch Villson's machine over the sea. It was wild and chaotic, almost a berserker state. And the way it sparked and smoked almost seemed as though it would fall apart at any moment. And watching him slaughter the remaining DRAGONs with such ferocity…Hilda found herself getting a little afraid.

'Just what the hell is that machine?' Hilda wondered. What was it about Cal that allowed him to perform these feats? Was it merely the unit itself? Or maybe both? By now the last of the Schooners had been killed and Cal was now in pursuit of the blue and green unit as they retreated back to the portal where their red leader stood its ground.

Though the red unit tried to put some distance between itself and Ange, the latter proved to be too fast for them to handle as she continued to dodge each shot from their beam rifle. As Ange closed in again for another clash of blades, the last of the Schooners along with the red unit's two companions came rushing towards the singular which was now starting to shrink and close.

"Princess!" The pilot of the green unit called. "We're out of time. We must retreat."

"Kaname, Naga." The pilot of the red unit answered. "Take the survivors and fall back. I will cover our escape." 'What are you planning?' Ange thought as the familiar singing she had heard just minutes ago started again.

Hoshi ni toban El Ragna

Banri o koete kanata e

'That song, she wondered. 'What is it doing?' Ange watched as the red unit suddenly began to glow with a golden light just as Momoka and Mei described. Was that how it triggered the weapon? And why did the song sound just like the melody of the royal family? The enemy was too far away to shoot and even if Ange dodged, Arzenal wouldn't survive another hit. In the distance behind her, Siegfried was coming in fast, still wreathed in red and silver flames. It was then that Ange recalled the Lucas and Lucia's conversation inside that cave at the extraction point.

'Even with Villkiss, without Siegfried we're at a major disadvantage.'

Ange always wondered what made Villkiss special and the superior machine to Siegfried from the way others like the twins, Jill, and Salia talked about. Especially since it had never showed any special power like Siegfried had. Then it clicked to her. The song of the royal family. The same melody as that sung by the pilot of the red machine. It was a million to one shot but it was also her only chance to save Arzenal and everyone on it.

'Mother,' Ange prayed knowing exactly what she had to do, 'guide me as you always have.'

Hajimari no hikari

Kirali...kirali

As Ange sang, the ring on her finger began to pulse and something within Villkiss began to awaken.

Hajimari no hikari

Kirali...kirali

Owari no hikari

Lulala lila.

Ange's eyes widened in awe and surprise as the three screens on Villkiss' console lit the inside of the cockpit, their faces shining a bright emerald green as the white outline of an angel appeared in the center.

From the command bunker Jill stood transfixed in disbelief. "My god." She gasped. As the two melodies began to flow and combine into one, Villkiss began to shine and glow with the same golden light as the enemy unit.

Iku oku amata no

Inochi no honoo

Sururi

Ochite wa hoshi ni

Its shoulders opened up, and Villkiss's own Discord Phasers began to pulse with the accumulating charge. "I can't believe it. That spoilt brat has actually awakened Villkiss' true power!" Meanwhile, Siegfried was rapidly closing the distance between them, intent on slaughtering every enemy in its path when the song finally reached its climax.

Nagare nagarete wa

ustukushiku

Mata sei to shi no

yuri kago de

Yawaku awadastu

The two units fired, the same twin vortexes of energy erupting from both their shoulders as the impact from the colliding blasts erupted in a ball of light that seemed to consume the entire world.

When the blinding white light washed over Ange, only a dead silence followed. There was no sense of air or gravity, almost as if the world itself seemed to have faded away. Ange was sure she was dead but forced herself to open her eyes whereupon she found herself in a place like no other.

Where once was the battle filled sky was now a pulsing void that sparkled with millions of stars that filled the air with ringing chimes as their lights flashed and twinkled against the black emptiness. Ange looked around hoping to find Cal and Siegfried in when the red Para-mail suddenly appeared before her.

"How?" the girl's voice asked. "How does a false human such as yourself know the True Star Song?" The canopy of the enemy's cockpit opened and a girl emerged. She was thin. Even more so than Ange but just as proportioned. Her long ebony black hair draped down her back to clash with her pale skin and she was dressed in a short pink tunic robe that left her flanks exposed. White thigh high stockings and arm length handless gloves complimented her look, and in her hand, she grasped a slightly curved sword. A decorative crest of some kind framed both sides of her face, giving the appearance of a pair of antennas while a red jewel hung on her forehead. But what was even stranger about this individual was her long thin tail swishing behind her, along with a pair of small DRAGON wings that stuck out between her shoulder blades. Triggering the cockpit to open, Ange stood up to meet the mysterious girl face to face and looked straight into her bright blue eyes that rivaled Cal's.

"Tell me who are you," Ange demanded. "And what is that song?"

Before the mysterious girl could answer, the void suddenly flashed and a carousel of images began to play around them like flickering pictures in a book. Ange saw herself, Cal, Tusk, her squad mates, Lucas, Lucia and the renegade humans in a hundred different scenarios. Dressed in animal skins fighting reptilian beasts, engaging each other in gladiatorial matches, as soldiers fighting wars in times long past, as rival classmates, and even as teammates in a sports competition. In each vision, Ange saw herself playing a different role with different characters she had never seen. One was of herself flying Villkiss along with a skinny tall boy, with long spikey dark blue hair done in a long braid, who was flying a magnificent unit that looked like a Wyvern. Another was of a tall, lean but muscular young man, his blonde hair swept back who was arm in arm with Hilda. Except her usual twin tails were done in a single ponytail and she looked happier and more at peace than Ange had ever seen. There were even some visions with Ange and the black-haired girl together, some as friends, others as enemies, occasionally even as lovers.

But the last image was the scariest. It was Cal, his messy spikey short black hair now shocking white and neatly jelled back. But his eyes were what truly haunted Ange. They were the same bright sky blue in color, but the whites of his eyes were jet black and his round pupils were slits like a cat's. His snake-like grin was chilling and behind this evil version of Cal stood a massive dark tower that served as the axis upon which these different worlds and times rotated nonstop.

Suddenly, an alarm sounded from within the red unit's console and the girl smiled in resignation. "I'm sorry to leave like this, but we've run out of time." she announced as she withdrew back into her cockpit. The canopy closed and her Para-mail began to pull away from Villkiss.

"Hey, wait a moment!" Ange called but the machine was already vanishing into the void.

"The truth lies with Aura." she answered as another flash filled Ange's vision and the world as she knew it returned to her. From her position in the sky, Ange watched as the red unit, its two companions, and the Schooners withdrew back into the singular as it closed behind them. With the attack finally at an end, her attention was immediately drawn to Siegfried. During her encounter with the pilot of the red machine, the shock of the blast had knocked Cal out of whatever frenzy had taken him and he now hung motionless, surrounded by all the surviving pilots and supported by Ersha and Chris.

"Cal, speak to me." Ange begged as she flew up to Cal's side. "Are you alright."

"I'm fine." Cal groaned back to Ange and everyone's relief. "Just get me back to base for an icepack. My head is killing me." Shifting to Flight mode, Hilda pulled up next to Siegfried's cockpit.

"Hop on, you'll get there quicker if I take you back."

"Go on, we'll take Siegfried back." Ersha urged as Cal opened the canopy of Siegfried and weakly jumped behind Hilda.

"You know, I'd prefer to stay in Siegfried. You stink." Cal joked, earning him an elbow in the ribs.

"Jerk!" Hilda sulked. "Keep it up and I'll drop you right here."

"When are you two going to break the tension?" Tanya snickered. "We all can leave so you two can have some private time."

"Shut up!" Cal and Hilda both snapped back in embarrassment as they all roared with laughter. Everyone that is, but Salia who rested the side of her head on Miranda's back. As Ange and the others returned to Arzenal, she couldn't help but think about what that mysterious girl had told her. 'Truth?' she wondered. 'What truth? And what is Aura?' It was time Commander Jill gave her some answers.

As the pilots made their way back to Arzenal, the dread in Salia's stomach seemed to grow worse, knowing the wrath that awaited for disobeying Jill's orders. Now that the battle had been won and everything was calm, Salia kept replaying what went wrong over and over in her head. 'What is it that Ange and Alektra have in common to controlling Villkiss?' She thought gloomily. Why was it that she, the Norma and countless Ancient Folk before her all lacked?

Once they all landed back inside the base Hilda began to help a dazed Cal from her unit. He looked in pretty bad shape, the back and one side of his head was a bloody mess and Salia ran over to help support him to the infirmary.

"Cal, are you okay?" Salia asked timidly as he shot her a severe look. "Let me help you."

"Leave him alone." Said Hilda. "Haven't you done enough damage already?" Salia's face burned with anger. Hilda of all people had the audacity to criticize her when she had escaped and put Cal through hell to save her and Ange.

"I just wanted to help."

"Help?!" Cal snapped, stopping in his tracks to glare at Salia. "You almost got me killed! What the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea how much damage you caused? Or how many of our friends died because of that stunt you pulled?" Cal's face was full of anger and Salia's heart sunk at his harsh words. "You had one job Salia. Get Ange to Villkiss. And you couldn't even do that. This isn't a game. And you're not some hero in a manga. You're a soldier. And if you can't understand that then you have no place flying alongside me!" Cal's words cut into her like a knife and her chest tightened as if her heart had been shattered. Even Hilda was taken aback by his outburst.

"All I want was to save you." Salia said with tears glazing her eyes and looking up at Cal almost pleadingly.

"I don't need to be saved! I don't want you or anyone else dying because of me! Do you want to end up like Naomi?!"

"Cal that's enough!" Ersha scolded but was cut off by the arrival of Commander Jill along with Trudy and her security crew.

"Get any injured to the mall." Jill ordered. "I'll call upon you all shortly to address our new predicament." She then snapped her gaze to Salia, her eyes like purple ice. "Arrest her." Trudy and her team cuffed Salia who didn't even struggle. She had expected this and so did the others. Salia had disobeyed orders and no one, not even Vivian, was willing to risk arguing with Jill about it. Security led her away and Salia didn't even look back.

"All you rest for now, you've earned it." Commander Jill dismissed them and Cal suddenly found himself gazing out towards the sky as though waiting for Scarlett to return. But she was gone just like the others and he angrily wiped his eyes so as to not appear weak in front of the others.

"Miranda. Front and center." The young recruit gulped and stepped forward.

"Yes Cal." She answered.

"You deliberately ignored my orders to keep away." He said in a cold firm voice. "Do I have to repeat what I said to Salia?" Miranda hung her head in shame.

"No sir."

"Good. Now come on. We need to get patched up." Miranda meekly followed after him as the others watched on in pity.

"I thought she was pretty brave." Said Rosalie.

"Brave but stupid." Said Hilda. "She could have gotten both herself and Cal killed."

"I didn't see anyone asking you!" Chris snarled before storming away with Rosalie following after. As the other pilots went their separate ways, the third squad mourned for their captain and fallen squad mates. Margret however, glared daggers at Miranda's back. If the little twerp thought she could get Margaret's captain killed and not pay the price for it she had another thing coming.

With the battle now over, everyone began to help the injured to the infirmary but with the number of injured exceeding the capacity the nurses could take, Jasmine had her half destroyed mall converted as a second infirmary.

'What a day.' Jasmine though exhaustedly as she helped those in need with bottles of water and pain killers until Maggie could see to them. Zhao Mei and her crew were busy putting out the many fires with the extinguishers before tending to the Para-mail. Siegfried was in the worst state and had been given top priority by Jill but Jasmine's thoughts were more centered on what had transpired with Villkiss. 'At last, the final lock has been broken. And who would have thought the key would be a young girl's song.'

Across the many makeshift beds, Maggie was checking on her patients and had just finished patching up Miranda, applying a few stitches to the cut above her brow before dismissing her. Then she turned her attention to the unconscious Corporal whose top uniform had been cut away to check his more serious injuries. "How's he doing?" Jasmine asked.

"He's stable at least." Maggie admitted stroking his hair. "Brave fool. The blows he took should have killed him, but I guess he used his Mana to form some sort of protection around his body." Maggie began to lift the Corporal's eyelids and shined a surgery torch into his hazel eye to check his pupil. "I'll still have to take him to X-ray to check for broken bones."

"Or we could ask Momoka to heal him." Jasmine suggested. "Gaz always said it was the quickest way for other humans to…" Jasmine words caught in her throat as Maggie lifted the Corporal's other pupil, this eye was bright watery blue! "What on earth?" Maggie checked his other eye again and very carefully removed a contact lens, revealing another blue eye behind the hazel.

"What is this?" Maggie gasped as a dry smudge of navy blue was on her hand. "Give me some water." She whispered as Jasmine handed her a bottle and Cal wandered over, his head covered in gauze and two ice packs, curious to what was happening.

"What are you two doing?" He asked, but he fell silent as Maggie poured a trickle of water over the Corporal's navy-blue hair and began to rub and wash away what looked like blue dye that now formed a patch of chestnut brown. "What the hell"?" Cal breathed, completely baffled.

"I…I don't know?" Said Maggie.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Even Jasmine was lost for answers. "Why would the NMB send someone in disguise?"

"Because they didn't." Announced Jill who appeared with a nervous looking Momoka. "The maid just shared some very interesting news with me."

"Regarding what?" Cal asked.

"I overheard a conversation this man was having just before the attack started." Momoka murmured. "He was talking with a man and they both have something intended for Lady Angelise. Like they intended to capture her or worse." The look on Cal's face was of suppressed murder, his hand balled up into tight shaking fists, holding back the effort to strangle the unconscious man.

"Maggie, have your girls get this piece of filth to your private medical room and cuff him to the bed." Jill ordered. "Let's see who this guy truly is and who he's working for."

"Momoka." said Cal, his voice trembling with rage. "Heal him, but not too much. Just enough to wake him. Leave it to me Commander." Cal cracked his knuckles. "I'll get him to talk."

"That's my boy." Jill said proudly placing a hand on Cal's shoulder. "I knew I'd be able to count on you. I'm proud of what you've done for us."

Jasmine however did not share Jill's enthusiasm. 'I hope you're proud of yourself Alektra.' Jasmine thought bitterly. 'You've turned Cal into the soldier you wanted, the thing Gaz never wanted him to be.' She now feared more than ever that the deep, burning rage and hatred within Cal was now bone deep for the rest of his life.

TO BE CONTINUED…