CHAPTER 52
LOYALTY
By afternoon the news of the surprise DRAGON attack on Arzenal had reached all the world leaders' ears. Alone in his office with no prying eyes to disturb him, Dutch studied the battle footage, his mood threatening to boil over every minute. Not only did Subject Alpha survive once again, but the former princess had managed to break through Villkiss' locks and use its ultimate weapon.
"Dammit." Dutch growled, a vain throbbing in his temple as he observed the DRAGONs' red unit use its own discord phasers. "How did those reptiles manage to replicate master Embryo's technology?!" Pausing at the point of when the two pilots began to sing, Dutch felt a slight shift in the air behind him. "You were warned what would happen if your plan failed." He said coldly.
"You're not the only one who's disappointed." Dutch spun his chair around to meet Riza standing in the open balcony doors, her wings folding in so she could throw the long crimson overcoat she was clutching over her half naked form. "You called."
"I thought I'd be expecting you after dark, knowing his holy Emperor would want to be at your breast at such a scandalous turn of events." Dutch sneered but Riza didn't even bother to acknowledge his remark.
"His holy Emperor is currently busy investigating the Dawn Pillar's unauthorized use." said Riza calmly. "No doubt the other world leaders will want to discuss the matter soon."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." said Dutch in a businesslike manner and Riza eyed him suspiciously.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Everything Julio is planning, discussing, his every move, you report to me immediately." Dutch commanded. "I held up my end of the bargain now it's your turn. Otherwise, your little secret will be made worldwide news."
"What are you planning?" Riza asked.
"Well, it's no secret the boy emperor wants his Norma sister dead, and you can't use another singular portal without exposing yourself with an investigation in place. So, I think his Holy Emperor needs a little persuasion to eliminate his sister and the Norma for good."
"So, the boy takes the blame and then what?"
"Once his holy Emperor's name is dragged through the dirt, no doubt the other leaders and my master will leave him high and dry for the people. I suspect if all goes well, we might see another hanging."
"You know that's not what I meant!" Riza snapped. "Who's to say you'll keep my secret once you get what you want?"
"Hmm." Dutch grinned maliciously. "Well, if we both play our cards right in getting rid of the boy first, I'll let you work by my side once I take his place. After all, I know what you seek and where it's hidden. Once our enemies are dealt with, I'll help you and your people reclaim what was stolen from you."
Riza held her tongue and Dutch saw her yellow eyes shift to the right where a single sword hung on the wall. Not just any sword, but the sword of the Ancient Folk whom Dutch took from their dead leader's son. "Go on what are you waiting for?" Dutch goaded softly. "Do it if you're brave enough." Riza looked as though she would like nothing more than to slash Dutch's throat with that sword but knew she was trapped no matter what. Without another word, she slipped off her overcoat and faced the balcony, allowing her wings to extend to their maximum length.
"I'll keep in touch." She said and scurried off under the cover of the woods back to the Misurugi Palace.
'Bothersome woman.' Dutch thought. Well; once Julio, Blackadder and Subject Alpha were out of the picture he'd deliver her to Master Embryo's feet himself. In the meantime, he had to act fast to get back in Embryo's good books and reclaim the Ragnarök to deal with the terrorists and the DRAGONs' Ragna-mail copy. But first he had to find a potential weakness in Subject Beta. Turning back to his desk Dutch unscrewed one of his ball point pens before opening his top empty desk draw. He slid the plastic ink tube through the tiny hole underneath, lifting up the fake bottom and took out the two files he had recovered in the Enderant mountain woods. Dutch pawed over the documents for almost an hour until he received a sudden call from his personal assistant.
"Hello Mr Villson." She greeted.
"Good afternoon, Miss Yung-si. How's your investigation on Subject Beta coming along?" he asked.
"Nothing good sir, I've gone through all the salvaged pages of both files and all the access codes and encryptions I've cracked through have led to nothing but dead ends." she revealed. "The Subject Beta file has turned up nothing. All the math and chemical calculations used for the subject's incubator are of unknown sources. And this Aura program used on the subject, I haven't the slightest idea what to make of it."
"Damn it." Dutch's fists tightened.
"But there is one thing I recovered just recently that might interest you sir." Miss Yung-si revealed. "From Trager's records one of the files access codes was changed, dating back a few hours before the original lab was destroyed in the fire. I managed to recover the original file, ran a scan on the physical page and noticed a difference between the original and the physical reprint." As she transferred the images Dutch, pulled open the two that stood either side of his Mana screen. There were a set of numbers in the top left of both pages, however the sequences were both different.
"The original was tampered with." Dutch realized. "But why and WHO?" Dutch peered at the original tampered numbers more carefully: '34, 59, 20, 106, 36, 52', "These are G.P.S coordinates." He said in surprise. "Quickly search up the location of these numbers on the worldwide map." Minutes later Miss Yung-si transferred Dutch a location on the outskirts of a place called Rockingham. The name sounded familiar to Dutch, but he could not put his finger on it. "Continue your work and call me if you discover anything new." He ordered before cutting her off as he thought vigorously, his throat becoming even dryer.
'Rockingham, that was the name of those old, abandoned ruins me and Donnie use to explore a few miles from our parents' farm when we were kids?' He remembered. The memory of those long walks and exploring with his young brother felt like a vivid dream long lost. It was like trying to keep water in his hands, spilling away in just a few crucial seconds. Then he suddenly recalled that undiscovered place he and Donnie stumbled across deep within those ruins. A small cave full of obsidian, the Palace of Black Glass he and Donnie used to call it. As far as Dutch knew, he and Donnie were the only humans in existence to know of it as no geologist or archaeologist had ever stumbled the cave and placed the tons of black glass in a museum.
Then it suddenly occurred to Dutch as his stomach turned over, that those G.P.S coordinates would lead to the cave which meant only one thing. 'Donnie was the one who tampered with the file?' And if so then that meant Donnie knew something regarding the conspiracy behind the creation of Subject Beta. Donnie had been in service to Master Embryo just before he died!
An overwhelming air of grief and loss loomed throughout all of Arzenal. From what Jill had gathered, roughly over a fourth of Arzenal's residents had been killed and a third had been injured, but Maggie and the others did what they could to treat the overwhelming capacity. Meanwhile the other surviving Norma did what they could to clear up the rubble, repairing Para-mail and vital systems, disposing of their dead and the carcasses of dead DRAGONs. The latter of which were dragged via forklift, tractor and bulldozer to a pit that had been dug out in the center of the massive crater caused by the red enemy's blast.
But despite surviving such a massacre it was all down to business as usual for the Norma who had escaped injury. And with the pilots' numbers seriously dwindled it didn't take long for Jill to gather them in the mid-level hanger after they had a chance to wash up and catch their breath.
"So, you lot are what's left of our pilots?" said Jill, surveying the broken state of the 12 Para-mail troops. "Starting today, you'll all be reassigned as one squad." She announced. "I'm placing Hilda as your Captain alongside Cal. Vivian and Ersha will be promoted as your vice-captains."
"Me?!" asked Hilda in surprise. "Captain?"
"That's right, you're the only one with leadership skills that survived. And I know you and Cal can work together just fine."
"Why her?" Rosalie argued. "She abandoned us!"
"Yeah!" Chris agreed. "Where's Salia?"
"As of this moment Salia has been demoted and serving time for insubordination." Jill revealed.
"But…"
"If you want to be Captain? Then go for it." Hilda proposed. Rosalie felt all eyes on her and fell silent.
"We'll organize what we have left, but for now you're all still on duty. I'll also be assigning new pilots to build our troop numbers back up." Jill told Hilda as she handed her a manilla envelope containing their files. "I've already had three volunteers so get them up to speed once Cal joins you."
"Where is Cal anyway?" Hilda asked.
"He's busy with an important task that needs taken care of first." Jill told her brusquely. "Once you're organized, you're all back on alert. So be ready for anything."
"Yes Ma'am." They all saluted as Jill dismissed them, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
'Seems luck isn't on our side.' Jill mused as she dragged out her cigarette. She had now lost Zola, Scarlett and Eleanor. Three well experienced pilots that would have been a great asset for Libertus and now she had lost faith in Salia as Captain. All her hopes were banking on Hilda to deliver. But if Cal continued to grow stronger, and master whatever power he displayed with Siegfried, then it could make all the difference now that Ange had unlocked Villkiss' Discord phasers.
"Hey." Jill turned to see Ange along with her maid Momoka had held back from the group.
"Something wrong?"
"I've served my time in solitude, right?"
"Your point Princess?"
"My point is I wanted to ask you something I never got the chance since your security cronies dragged me off back on the beach. I want to know the truth about everything you've been keeping from me. About Villkiss, Tusk, his friends, and everything else."
"Don't you think we're a little busy for that right now?" said Jill impassively but Ange stood her ground.
"If it wasn't for me then you'll all be dead. You owe me that much!" Jill glanced to Momoka, the little maid had proved very useful in exposing the human spy, so she owed Ange that much for having such a loyal ally.
"I suppose so," said Jill, "but it'll have to wait until tomorrow morning, we've got a lot to do today." Ange fixed her with a menacing look but walked away. 'Glad to see she knows when to toe the line.' Jill thought. With all that happened she would have told Ange the whole truth somewhere private now. But first she had to know just who Corporal Lawrance truly was, who he worked for, and what his real objective was.
4 hours had now passed since the aftermath of the attack on Arzenal, and the sun was beginning to set over the broken and damaged island. Despite the fierce workload of treating the injured, Maggie and her assistant nurses had finished their last major surgery involving a compound fractured leg, which gave them breathing room to help the other nurses deal with the moderate and minor cases within the mall. After a quick wash-up and a change into fresh clothes Maggie emerged from her private quarters to see Jasmine awaiting her. "It's time." she said ominously. "he's almost awake."
Maggie felt numb but knew what had to be done and brought along a certain vial kept under lock and key by Jill's orders. The two Norma made their way to the eastern private infirmary and Maggie decided to voice what was on her mind. "This is wrong, something just dosen't add up with the maid's story and the guy's recent actions."
"I know." Jasmine agreed. "But we have to be certain. We can't let a human bury us and Libertus." Jasmine also looked discomforted at the thought of what Jill had in stock for the human but Maggie knew the older Norma was more concerned about the fact that Cal was willing to get his hands dirty in this.
"Listen I know it's not an ideal situation but Cal's only doing this because he cares for Ange's welfare."
"That doesn't make it any more right." Jasmine said grimly. "Gaz never would have wanted this." Soon enough they arrived at the east infirmary, the same one used to treat Cal when he first arrived, where they were greeted by Head Security Captain Trudy. She gave them a curt nod allowing the two women to step inside the semi dark room that was lit only by the orange sunset through the tiny window. And lying handcuffed to the bed was Eric Lawrance. The human was still unconscious, his body covered in gauze and bandages, the navy-blue dye now washed out revealing his full crop of chestnut brown hair. Catching the smell of tobacco, Maggie turned her head and saw Commander Jill standing in the shadows. Across the room, sitting on a stool with Vulcan at his side was Cal who sported a vicious glint in his eyes.
"Are you sure about doing this in here Jill?" Jasmine cautioned. "What if someone hears?"
"I've got security patrolling the corridors around this area." Jill assured them. "No one will hear his screams if he decides to be difficult." Maggie then noticed Cal had brought along a sketch book that he had laid on the top of the chest draws. However, two blank pages had been torn out and scrunched into tight balls with the purpose of muffling the human's screams. And in Cal's hand he was unscrewing a pencil sharpener to remove the razor blade inside. The sight of this made Maggie queasy.
"Has the Inspector been dealt with?" Jill asked Maggie quietly.
"I gave her a sedative to calm her down. She won't be up until tomorrow morning." Maggie confirmed.
"Good, because the last thing we need is her calling for her father or the NMB?" Cal glowered. "The sooner we get this over with the better."
"Wake him up." Jill ordered. Without hesitation, Cal snatched up a bucket of icy cold water and dunked it all over the human who woke with a start as the cuffs creaked from the strain but held firm. Lawrance coughed and spluttered as his wide blue eyes locked onto the four Norma standing before him.
"Well, that's no way to wake a hardworking man up from his afternoon nap." He snorted. "I was having a nice dream about a girl I used to know. She also had me tied up, but I wasn't her prisoner if you get my meaning." He gave a painful chuckle as his broken ribs had only been partially healed by Momoka on Cal's request. Everyone else looked at each other in uncertainty. Maggie had expected him to shout or threaten them but his whole response and tone felt off, like they were speaking to a totally different character. "Have you got any water? Other than what you dumped on me?' Maggie reached for her water canteen before Cal cut in.
"He gets nothing." Cal said firmly.
"A little won't hurt…"
"Nothing until after he's told us what we need to know."
"You're not fooling anyone with the hard act kid." Lawrance countered. "I can tell you've never…"
WHAM!
Cal's fist connected with Lawrance's Jaw and from behind them Vulcan began to growl.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be." Jill threatened, her eyes like two balls of purple ice in the dim light. She then walked over to the bed and blew a huge puff of smoke into the human's face. "Your cover has been blown. Now tell us who you are and who you're working for, or you're going to wish that Corvette had finished you off in the hanger!" Lawrance did not answer and seemed to be contemplating his next approach as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Guess the gig is up." He sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you the truth. I was sent here by Senator Bronson to keep an eye on his daughter as you all know. But that wasn't my main reason for taking the job. I know this is going to be hard to believe but I only pretend to hate Norma." Nobody said a word though Cal and Jill shot Lawrence doubting looks. "For years I've witnessed the persecution and cruelty my kind has forced upon the Norma and I wanted to help you. Why do you think I ordered the best defense weapons for this place when no other human would? So all of you would have a better chance against the DRAGONs. And even when that was looking to fail, I decided to fight alongside you instead of protecting one human, because I…"
WHACK!
This time Cal slammed his foot down on Lawrance's left ribs causing him to inhale deep, struggling, agonizing breaths.
"Next time I'll break every one of them." Cal warned. "I'm not fucking around so stop bullshitting me and tell us who you really are and who you're working for!" Maggie and Jasmine watched deeply disturbed by Cal's outburst while Jill looked on proudly. "Momoka told us everything she heard. You were talking to that asshole Dutch Villson, weren't you?!"
"I don't know who that is, I swear." Lawrance swore hoarsely. But Cal was too blinded by anger and rage to let up.
"What were you planning on doing with Ange? To finish what her brat brother couldn't?!"
"You've got the wrong idea, I was only…" Cal suddenly sprang up and snatched Jill's cigarette out from her fingers before hovering the smoldering tip over Lawrance's face. Jasmine was on the verge of stopping him but one severe look from Jill halted.
"You haven't got the nerve." Lawrance said calmly though sweat was beginning to form across his brow.
"Try me." Cal said in a cold voice. "Now start talking, or this goes right in your eye. Now tell us who you're working for." Lawrance's face screwed up painfully, fighting with his every nerve to stay strong. "TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND WHY YOU ARE HERE!" Cal bellowed his face maroon with rage.
"Because I wanted to see my niece again!" Lawrance cried out. "So I could get Serra away from this hell!" The whole room fell silent, and Cal's eyes widened out of shock and confusion, almost falling back into his seat.
"What?" Maggie whispered.
"Your niece?" said Jasmine. "Serra?" Maggie felt as though she had been punched in the gut. The identical watery blue eyes and chestnut brown hair were the same as baby Serra's.
"Like hell we're gonna believe that." Jill hissed. "My ass you care for Norma because your niece is one! Cal, do it." But despite her orders, Cal did not burn Lawrance with the cigarette or even move but continued to stare at him.
"Okay." Cal said quietly to Lawrance, the anger in his face fading away. "Let's say Serra really is your niece and you wanted to get her away from here. Then who were you talking to regarding Ange? And why are you wearing a disguise?" Lawrance hesitated for a second before answering.
"Because I've been in disguise since my niece was born. For over a year I've been under a different alias within the NMB to protect her, to make sure she was never caught, but I failed her." His face was full of regret and Maggie couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "As for who I was talking to, it was one of the NMB council leaders, Head Minister Cody of Rosemblum. He was the one who recommended me to Senator Bronson. And because the former Princess caused a huge scandal with the Rosemblum princess, he wanted to make sure she never got off this island again."
"And why should we believe that?"
"Because the whole council and even the Inspector herself suspected Ange as well as Arzenal was associated with the terrorists after she escaped execution. But it was me who managed to convince them otherwise. I knew you were aligned with them the moment I saw them deliver Ange and Hilda on the beach."
"What!" Jill said loudly, her eyes bulging. Maggie herself was stunned by this revelation and even Cal was taken aback by this as the anger festering within him seemed to extinguish.
"You saw everything?" said Jasmine in disbelief.
"Yes, and I didn't say a thing, nor will I ever." said Lawrance now smiling not out of triumph but out of mutual respect. "All I wanted was to save my niece. But throughout my time here, I've come to care for the others, and I wasn't going to sit back and let you take on those DRAGONs without some help."
"My God." Maggie whispered.
"Could it be?" Jasmine muttered. Suddenly Cal stared at Lawrance as though he just understood something. Then he leaned in close and whispered something in Lawrance's ear, unheard by everyone else in the room. And as Cal drew back, Lawrance looked at him in amazement.
"You aren't seriously buying into his bullshit?" Jill growled. The two Norma looked at her incredulously.
"What other explanation is there, Commander?" Jasmine bit back.
"One of lies and deceit." Jill's eyes narrowed at Lawrence with disdain. "This piece of filth more than likely was going to use what he saw as a bargaining tool to force us to reveal the Sanctuary's position. That'll earn him a higher position with the council. He'll give us up the moment he's set free."
"Hey listen lady," said Lawrance affronted, "I'm a man of my word…" Suddenly Jill reached from behind and drew her revolver, pointing it directly at Lawrance's head.
"No!" Cal shot up stepping in front of the gun. "He's telling the truth."
"And what makes you think that?" Jill asked. "Move out of the way Cal. That's an order."
"For goodness' sake Jill." Jasmine cried out in revulsion. "This has gone too far!"
"Why are you trusting a human?" Jill demanded.
"Because I've seen firsthand what a human will do to protect a Norma they cared about, even if they aren't related by blood!" yelled Cal, the color in his face returned to normal. Maggie and Jasmine looked at him pityingly.
"He has a point Commander." Maggie said carefully. Jill gazed around at everyone coldly, her eyes lingering a second longer on Cal hoping he would support her decision or see sense in the matter, but she was on her own in this.
"Fools." She muttered taking her cigarette back from Cal and dragging out the last of it before flicking it in the empty bucket. "Looks like these 10 years have turned you both soft. And you," she addressed Cal, "did you lose your taste for this sort of thing even after scum like him took Gaz away from you?"
"JILL!" Jasmine snapped. Jill turned with a swish of her cloak to the door before stopping to glare sideways at Lawrence. "You're lucky these three are too soft hearted." She snarled. "It may have bought you more time. Since you three have taken a liking to him then it's your responsibility to watch over him. But if what we've done is discovered, it's on you three." Maggie saw Cal's jaw quivering in anger and before she could stop him, he stormed out of the room after Jill.
"Is she always this uptight?" Lawrance groaned and Maggie had almost forgotten he was in the room. Jasmine eyed him suspiciously and beckoned Maggie to talk privately outside.
"He may have saved our lives today, but I fear Jill is not backing down from this. It's out of our hands now."
"Do you really believe he told us everything?" Maggie wondered.
"I believe he's not going to rat us out, but we have to be sure Serra is his niece. Something tells me he's holding back information from us."
"A DNA test between them will only take a few hours, so it's a start."
"Good, in the meantime I'm trusting you'll keep an eye on him?" Jasmine requested. "See if you can get more out of him in a DIFFERENT way." Maggie grinned and once Jasmine left, she re-entered the private infirmary room again with just Lawrence for her company.
"You may have just escaped a lot of pain so behave yourself and you just might live through this." She advised.
"Well, at least I've got company, even if your bedside manners need work." Lawrance smiled warmly. "Though please don't check my temperature, especially if you've been on the booze."
"Hey!" Maggie frowned, saving herself from laughing.
"How about that water now? I'd say I've earned a sip."
"I have something even better to take the edge off things." Maggie grinned flashing the whisky flask within her long white coat.
Anger pounding in his ears, Cal stormed out of the infirmary room after Jill, finally catching up to her halfway up the corridor. "What the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Cal. "What more could that guy have to say for you to see sense?"
"It is you that has lost sense!" Jill whispered madly. "You've spent too much time with the humans at their base that you've lost sight that they are not to be trusted!"
"That's not fair." Cal frowned. "You weren't there when those humans you don't trust went out to save Ange as well as me and Hilda in those woods from Dutch. Not to mention some of those humans have Norma for wives and children."
"You can't seriously believe that guy's cock and bull story? Have you forgotten what bastards like him did to you? Trust me, humans like him are always hiding behind a mask. Then, once you let your guard down, they'll take everything you hold dear in the blink of an eye." For the first time Cal saw a glimmer of pain and shame behind those stone-cold purple eyes. "Are you trying to tell me, you of all Norma here are trusting a human who's lied to us and is possibly on a mission to kill Ange, our only hope in tapping into Villkiss' full potential?"
"Yes, I am!" Cal raised his voice in defiance. "When Ange went missing it was that guy who told me not to give up on her, back when I hated her guts for getting Coco killed, and he was the one who showed me I was wrong. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have gone looking for Ange. So why would he want Ange dead if he wanted me to find her in the first place instead of leaving her stranded? Because as far as we were all concerned, she along with Villkiss had drowned." Jill shook her head in disappointment. "And speaking of Villkiss, why the hell didn't it work back there for Salia?"
"Villkiss is a special machine like I told you. And it takes the right pilot to use it." she answered curtly.
"Yeah, I know all that, but why didn't it work for the Ancient Folk and other Norma before you and Ange?" Cal repeated.
"Don't ask things that don't concern you. All your focus should be on Siegfried not Villkiss." Jill responded as she lit another cigarette.
"It is my concern because Salia was almost killed." Cal said through clenched teeth, frustration pumping through his veins. "If I find out there is more to Villkiss' then what you've told me, you and I will have it out."
"I'd be careful where your loyalties lay." Jill warned as she walked off. "Because you may have to make a choice between the turn cloak humans and Libertus if things go south."
Cal didn't know when he reached his bedroom quarters but with his temper at the point of exploding, he slammed his door hard enough to shake the walls and kicked the side drawers before slumping on the side of his bed with his fists visibly shaking upon his knees. After everything he had done in his power to keep Libertus alive Jill still doubted his loyalty to the cause. Meanwhile, the impact from the enemy red para-mail's vortex blast had turned the room upside down but Cal didn't care. He could not stop shaking. How had everything gone so wrong in one attack? Books that had fallen from the shelves upon the wall were scattered across the floor and one black one had been flipped half open showing a red eye peering up at Cal who picked up his sketchbook and flipped open the portrait he drew of Scarlett. Her warm elegant smile always brought comfort and reassurance and she was now gone forever. The tears leaked from his eyes uncontrollably, splashing onto the page. And what was the point in wiping them away when a piece of him was now forever gone without the woman who was like an older sister to him. Then the overwhelming grief turned to anger and a wrath that was growing stronger every waking minute.
'I swear to you Scarlett,' Cal vowed, 'I'll kill them all. Not just the DRAGONs but the Humans, Dutch and Embryo. Every last one of them' Then Cal spoke in a voice that was not his own, all the emotion disappeared and replaced in a bone chilling slither and for one crucial second as the anger reached to its limit, the whites of his eyes tinted with black and his pupils turned to slits. "This world will burn!"
Back in Misurugi the sun was nearing its end over the horizon, silhouetting the Dawn Pillar against the blood red sky. From inside his office, Dutch Villson kept pondering over his latest discovery of the G.P.S coordinates to Rockingham and the secret cave within those ruins. It was clear Donnie knew more about the truth and conspiracy behind Subject Alpha and Beta's creations and may have hidden something within that cave before his death. Dutch knew his brother better than anyone and Donnie wouldn't have gone behind Trager's back if he wasn't scared of something.
'Just what the hell did Master Embryo want with you brother?' Dutch thought desperately as he emptied half of his whisky from his glass. 'What did he promise you in return for helping him create Subject Alpha's clone?' Turning the file's pages, Dutch paused at the image of the black scaly deformed fetus of Blackadder inside of the green incubator. The sight was sickening to look at. It was clear something went wrong with stabilizing Blackadder's cell structure, but the Aura program set his complications right, giving him an otherwise perfect body.
'Maybe there could be a potential weakness with that little snake if Aura's energy was used to stabilize him.' Dutch considered pacing over to the side of his office where Lucas' sword hung. 'Maybe one day, I'll cut the head off the snake myself.' But Dutch's thoughts were intruded by the arrival of Jeffry.
"Commander." His protégé saluted before walking towards Dutch's desk. "I've received word that Sargent Brawl has pulled through his coma, but it's unlikely he'll return to service with only one arm."
"Just because we may lose an arm or a leg dosen't mean we're out of the fight." Dutch muttered. "Did you know the mechanical limbs we send the Norma in case of an unfortunate accident are only the prototypes from thousands of years ago? Don't you worry about Brawl, the next time we see him, he'll be a new soldier." Dutch then noticed he had left Subject Beta's file open, and the sight of those slit pupil blue eyes caught Jeffry's attention for half a second before Dutch grabbed the file and placed it back in his secret compartment draw. When he turned back to the young soldier, his face had gone very pale. "There's something on your mind Corporal?"
Jeffry breathed deeply and shook his head. "It's nothing Commander." But Dutch wasn't convinced.
"Never bottle your emotions. It will only lead you into trouble."
"I…I…just don't know if…" Jeffry was struggling to find words. "If I'm doing my father proud." Jeffry said shamefully. "If I had just taken command then maybe the men in my care wouldn't have met their demise by the former Princess and Subject Alpha. I should have done more, but he escaped us twice and…"
"That's enough." Dutch told him firmly. "That responsibility ultimately is on my shoulders." Dutch stood up and placed his hand on Jeffry's shoulder. "I know what it's like being a disappointment in a father's eye. But after what you've done and achieved, Standall would be proud of you." Jeffry smiled back but before he could respond the office door opened unannounced and Dutch saw with displeasure it was two of the NMB council members. Vice President Boris of the Endurant Union and Dutchess Caitlyn, cousin to the Velda Dynasty queen. Then to his surprise, Jadis entered behind them looking on edge as if something big was about to occur. "I'm busy." Dutch said shortly. "I hope you both have important reasons being here when you could have called."
"You are correct Mr Villson." said Vice-President Boris in a business-like tone who took a seat while Dutchess Caitlyn remained standing. "You may leave." He ordered Jeffry.
"Commander?" Jeffry said nervously also sensing something was wrong.
"No, he can stay." Dutch refused their request then slowly leaned into Jeffry's ear and whispered. "Whatever happens, don't intervene under any circumstances." Dutch returned to his seat at his desk to face his two colleagues.
"Okay then, by all means your underling can stay." Vice-president Boris said with a satisfied smile. "We're here to talk about your resignation." Dutch's eyes narrowed dangerously. "When you exterminated most of the Ancient Folk and Norma in their rebellion 10 years ago, I thought, here's a man who understands how to get things done. The attitude, the dedication, the instinct. You were the whole package. Always ten steps ahead of those who came before you as Commander, despite being from a family of horse farmers with no ties to politics and power. But it seems your limits have finally been reached." Dutch didn't even raise his voice but simply ran his index finger across the rim of his half empty whisky glass and shifted his gaze at Caitlyn.
"You and the rest of the council agreed to this?" He said in an empty tone.
"You screwed up Villson!" She snapped coldly. "You conducted an unwarranted investigation without our knowledge or approval towards the Male Norma whom you failed to mention to the rest of us had escaped. Ordered Lieutenant Jadis and half her men to aid you, resulting in the Galia Labour Camp to be overthrown by its Norma prisoners. And to top it off you were attacked by the terrorists and tried to cover it up as the Male Norma escaped you a second time!" She looked grief stricken, fit to burst with emotion. "And then my eldest son was killed, and you covered up your whole operation in interfering with Julio's trifle display. Not just to us, but the world leaders as well!" Dutch swigged the last of his whisky and glared at the two with deliberate malice.
"You all at the council never truly understood what was at stake 10 years ago, leaving it to me to take care of the problem alone. We could have lost it all, civilization, stability and even Mana itself. You know what bore me through those times?" Dutch spoke calmly but Vice-President Boris scoffed. "LOYALTY." As he spoke, Jadis's eyes turned to him and she slowly began to walk to the back of his desk. "Brothers and sisters back-to-back against whatever threat was thrown at us. Now I'm forced to share the air with privileged parasites like you, who leach off their parents' legacies and especially MINE." Jadis reached the back of Dutch's chair, and it was then he noticed the Ancient Folk's sword was missing off the wall where Jadis had walked past. He saw her tall shadow tower over him, the missing sword raised in her hand. The two council leaders' eyes narrowed longingly at Dutch then nodded to Jadis.
"Today's the day you retire, Villson." Boris smirked. Jeffry's eyes were wide with horror, his trembling hand drawn to his holster but Dutch shot him a severe look to stand down.
"That's a risk I've known all my life." Dutch said shallowly, as he finally looked them in the eyes and a malicious grin curled his lip. "But I still believe in LOYALTY." There was a swishing sound like a powerful wind had swept through the office, all was silent until Caitlyn gave a horrified shudder, touching a small cut upon her cheek. Boris' eyes widened but remained unresponsive before his head fell limply with a dull thump upon the desk, blood gushing from his slashed open neck.
"I would have had your son killed for this. But I suppose we're ahead on that account." Dutch said callously to Caitlyn, transfixed with horror at Jadis who stoically glared back. With a simple click of his fingers two guards came rushing in and without hesitation or questions to the dead body cuffed the Dutchess of the Velda Dynasty and dragged her past Jeffry out of the room. "Were you tempted?" Dutch asked.
"Not for worms like them." Jadis replied placing the sword back on the wall before shoving the dead body to the floor and taking a seat. "But they won't be the last."
"What's going to happen?" Jeffry gulped. "The other council members will know about this eventually. Shouldn't we call one of the world leaders?"
"No." Dutch ordered. "None of you will say a word of this."
"I assume you have a plan to deal with this matter?" Jadis supposed.
"Exactly right." Dutch nodded. "But for the moment I need you two to be on alert. I'll call you as soon as I am ready to make my move against the council." Jadis and Jeffry looked at each other in uncertainty before saluting their commander. "You may go, but make sure you take out the trash." As casually as if carrying groceries, Jadis hurled Second Lieutenant Cody's dead body over her shoulder and left with Jeffry.
'Pitiful, insignificant fools.' Dutch seethed. 'Did they really think they could get rid of me that easily.' But how was he to get rid of them without drawing suspicion from the world leaders and Master Embryo? And there was still the case of something potentially hidden in the cave of the Rockingham ruins. He didn't have the Ragnarök to help him with his problems, and starting a civil war with the council was too dangerous. He could use Riza to kill them for him. No. He needed her alive to get rid of Julio and Dutch had no other power to deal with his surrounding enemies.
'POWER.' Dutch repeated in his head. Power never came to those, fastest, strongest or smartest in this world. It will only come to those who are willing to do anything to achieve it. Dutch replayed the recovered footage of Riza's confrontation with Subject Alpha on the Misurugi palace roof. She was a DRAGON, but she was still able to use her powers and abilities despite the limitations in her human form. And they all came from those pills she kept.
A grin spread across Dutch's face. If he couldn't get his power back and reclaim the Ragnarök, then he'll carve his own path to power on his own terms without Embryo.
News of the attack on Arzenal had traveled fast to the Sanctuary and once their intel team hacked through the NMB system, Jacob and Hosea were able to observe the whole battle. Both were in a state of dread that the DRAGONs had replicated their own units but also relief that the Ange girl had unlocked the key to Villkiss' true power to turn the tides.
It took a while before they heard word from Jill who contacted them close to the evening. The Commander of Arzenal seemed agitated by recent events as she gave them a rundown of the Normas' situation. "A fourth of our residents are lost, mostly pilots and almost half are injured." Jill explained grimly, her face glitching away on their table screen. Clearly the attack had knocked Arzenal's vital systems. "But rest assured we'll do what we can with half our numbers to getting the Aurora prepared within the next 2 weeks."
"I hate to say it Jill but if those 3 machines show up again then you all at Arzenal might not see the day Libertus launches." Hosea said skeptically.
"Are you doubting Ange and Cal's abilities?" Jill accused. "She's finally unlocked the key to Villkiss' true power. All she needs now is practice to unleash that power before she's ready to take on Embryo."
"Jill listen," Jacob urged, "please reconsider my offer in sending my people to help you all at Arzenal. If they keep within Aurora, you and the rest of the Norma can leave that god forsaken island in less than a week and not fight the DRAGONs anymore. Leave Embryo and his subordinates to deal with them. It will give not just Ange but all of us a better chance against the bastard when the time comes."
"Out of the question." Jill refused. "I will not have any human inside Aurora on my command. Not every human who saves a Norma is like Gaz. Press the subject again and I'll do this by myself." Before they could argue any further, Jill had already cut the line.
"What is it with her?" Jacob sighed.
"She's not the lively young woman we once knew." said Hosea understanding Jill's suspicions. "But most of the Norma at Arzenal's hatred towards the humans run bone deep. Now I think Cal and Jasmine won't be enough to convince them to trust those on our side."
"You know I trust every man and woman here." said Jacob. "They've all lost something or have something better to fight for. A better future for their families, their children, their comrades. I just wish Lucas could do the same. I should have done more for him, but his drive for revenge is too powerful to let go. Now I fear it'll put us all in jeopardy."
"You didn't fail Lucas." Hosea told him sternly. "He made his choice to leave this place. Lucas alone will have to deal with the consequences of his actions. I hope his thirst for revenge against Dutch was all worth it if he comes back alive." The prospect if Lucas fell to Dutch's hands troubled him deeply and he knew it would only fuel Cal's own revenge against Dutch.
"I never would have thought Lucia of all people would have gone along with this, but Finn, Dolton and Frenzy too!" said Jacob in outrage. When they had discovered the five had left Jacob wanted to immediately go after them but was talked out of it by Hosea, who reminded Jacob he was needed here as their leader. Suddenly, one of the intel hackers rushed into the office holding a radio.
"Captain! We've managed to link coms with the skyhook Lucas took but we are still unable to pinpoint their location."
"Give it here!" ordered Jacob frantically and began calling into the radio. "Lucas! Lucas, do you copy?" There was no answer, but Jacob could sense Lucas was not responding deliberately. "Lucas, turn back around and return to base. I know it's been hard on you especially after losing your father, but this mission of yours will only get the people in your command killed. Do you want to lose Lucia too? What are you trying to prove?"
"What you were too weak to do." Lucas coldly answered through the radio and Jacob's half burnt face reddened.
"Lucas, I'm warning you, turn around now. We'll get Dutch one day but going after him in the heart of Misurugi is reckless!"
"It's too late for such things, I have to see this through, for my father."
"Do not head into Misurugi! Lucas, do you hear me! That's an order Lucas!" Jacob shouted.
"Sorry Captain, your signal's breaking up."
"Lieutenant if you don't…" The radio went dead silent with static and Jacob slammed the device hard on the desk. "Stupid kid!" He roared.
"Hurry and find his coms again." Hosea ordered as Jacob and the hacker rushed along to run a diagnostic with the intel team to find Lucas and the others while Hosea stayed behind in the office. 'Dammit Lucas, you've really gone too far this time.' Hosea fretted; fearing they all would meet their end once they arrived at Misurugi. He could only hope Tusk wouldn't deviate from his mission and help Lucas. Maybe the kid would even be able to talk some sense into his former older brother figure.
Upon Jacob's desk a single photo frame caught Hosea's eye that made his heart ache. It was a picture of Xeon upon its long beach with Jacob, Zolton with Lucas and Lucia, Istvan and Venessa holding a 4-year-old Tusk, Jasmine in Gaz's giant arms, Hosea himself, and Alektra. Hosea had lived for 65 years and even in these troubling times, those fond memories of Xeon never left his mind for a single day. How he missed those simple happy times when he and his people found some peace living with the Norma. Alektra and Lucas were always so full of life. But now whatever was left of them both was slowly chipping away.
(13 YEARS AGO)
Enjoying a nice mango smoothy Hosea lounged his aching back in the chair set upon the cliff tops overlooking the island of Xeon. Two years into his 50's and he was beginning to feel his age. Even his shiny black hair was beginning to grey. But Xeon's evolution and how far they had come would always take his mind off such trifle things. The island was now booming with its many wood cabin houses built among the trees to house the Ancient Folk and Norma setters while a fully operative factory complex had been built along the western coast to construct Para-mail and weapons. On the opposing eastern side, many soldiers were vigorously training in the combat areas and obstacle courses while others were testing out the new simulators within the main base built inside the central mountains. Thanks to Gaz's help, they were able to enjoy the simple things in life most Mana humans took for granted, yet for them had long been an unobtainable luxury. If all worked out with Libertus then they all had a home and future to return to.
As he took another sip, a sudden gust of wind ruffled his hair and the surrounding vegetation as a dozen skyhooks led by Villkiss and a black double armoured Arquebus came whirling across the island before making their way into the hanger atop the mountain peak. It looked like the Falcon ops teams was back from their two-day mission, so Hosea rose out of his chair and went to greet them. By the time he arrived, Alektra and the others had just disembarked while Zhao Fei-Ling and her team of armorers hurried to tend to their vehicles.
"Show off." Istvan commented, removing his helmet to flash an annoyed grin.
"Hopefully you can keep up with me next time, old man." Alektra laughed.
"Welcome back." Captain Zolton greeted them all. "How did your mission fare?"
"We managed to snag a good cache of supplies across the mainland, but we encountered a Category 3 Sortie along the way back here." Sargent Jacob explained as he ruffled his spikey hair. "We've already contacted Arzenal who've agreed to alter the footage. Alektra's really improved handling Villkiss. She took out over half the DRAGONs by herself."
"Well done soldier." Zolton smiled at the young Norma. Hosea had known the man all his life and it was a rare, almost nonexistent scene to see the broad, stoic leader of the Ancient Folk actually express himself like that. "You've given my people our hope back when we thought it was lost all these years."
"We are in your debt Alektra." said Hosea proudly.
"By the time Libertus is ready, she'll be an unstoppable force with Villkiss." Istvan noted and Hosea caught the young Norma trying to hide her blush that was even redder than the red gemmed ring on her finger.
"Shame that we only have one Ragna-mail." Jacob noted. "But I guess it's a moot point since we only have one royal Norma to pilot them anyway." Zolton and Hosea looked at each other in agreement.
"Actually," Zoltan said, "we may have found a solution to that problem. Hosea, escort the pilot of Villkiss and her knight to the lower south chamber. Commander Jasmine awaits their presence before she takes her leave for Arzenal. Sargent Jacob, with me. I need your help training the young recruits."
"Hey Istvan!" called a small voice and out came Lucas from the shadows. "Will you let me ride your unit again? I've gotten more practice on the simulators."
"No Lucas." said Zolton in a stern tone. "You've got extra sword practice soon. Your last performance wasn't good enough." Lucas looked disappointed but obeyed his father and ran off to join Lucia who waited for him at the hanger exit.
"And when were you a swords master at 11?" Hosea asked. "You're too harsh on the boy."
"He has to learn to be strong if he ever wants to be Istvan's Paige. One day he might even have to lead our people and I can't pass down my sword and bow to him if he isn't ready." Hosea supposed Zolton had a point and saluted as the Captain followed after his twin children.
"Give these to Jasmine." Jacob whispered placing a box of pills in Hosea's hand. "She told me Gaz's kid is under the weather." Hosea noticed how sunken Jacob was of late. It was common knowledge that he harbored feelings for the Commander of Arzenal when they first met, but he never had the confidence to tell her how he felt and now she was with Gaz. And though Jacob had tried to move on, his relationships with other women never lasted and his most recent breakup had been hard on him.
"Don't worry I will. I'm sure both Jasmine and Gaz will appreciate it."
"Yeah I know." Jacob sighed as the young Sargent left without another word.
"Poor Jacob." said Istvan as he and Alektra followed Hosea into the lower levels. "The clan still has one bachelor."
"And you're lucky you haven't joined him yet." From around the corner came Istvan's wife Vanessa with their son Tusk in her arms. "Keep me waiting this long coming back from your missions and you'll be sleeping outside." She teased.
"A bit of stargazing sound nice, if you care to join with me?" Istvan joked as the two shared a passionate kiss.
"Yucky!" little Tusk complained.
"Hey you've hogged mummy for a while, does daddy not get a turn." Istvan joked as he tickled his son's cheek.
"No!" Tusk giggled, burying his face on his mother's shoulder.
"I better get this little one to bed." said Vanessa. "Don't keep me waiting too long." As Vanessa left, Hosea thought he caught a glimpse of Alektra turning her head with an oddly glum expression, but decided he must have imagined it. After all, Istvan was a happily married man and almost twice her age. Continuing on their way to the lower chambers, they finally found Commander Jasmine.
"Glad to see you made it back safely you two." She saluted the two of them. "Did all go well during the mission?"
"We hit a minor setback encountering a sortie, but we took care of it." Alektra reported.
"So what's going on?" Istvan interrupted. "You said you needed to see us?"
"Indeed." Jasmine beamed. "All thanks to our pilot of Villkiss here. Ever since she broke through Villkiss' locks we've finally been able to analyze and reverse engineer Embryo's technology."
"Wait, so that means we can start making our own Ragna-mail?" Istvan gaped in awe.
"Correct." Jasmine answered as she gave the signal with her two fingers and lights shined the back wall of the chamber to reveal the skeleton of a para-mail under construction. Naked of any armor, it was a head taller than Villkiss and had the same identical gold gears. "Now with the knowledge we have on the Ragna-mail, the pilot of this machine will be able to draw out it's power with your own ancient gem, just like the royal ring." From out of her pocket, Jasmine pulled out a black bracelet with a stunning pigeon egg sized gem set in the center.
"The warrior's heart." whispered Hosea. The ruby was as ancient as his people, passed down through the generations of leaders of the Ancient Folk, the jewel that united his scattered people across this false world in the hope to one day bring Embryo down.
"And now it's your turn to do the impossible." Jasmine placed the black bracelet in Istvan's hand, his face having gone slightly pale.
"I'll do my best Commander." He saluted.
"What's its name?" Alektra asked, transfixed by the unfinished unit.
"We haven't got a name yet." said Jasmine.
"Well, a Magnificent machine should have a name to instil fear into Embryo himself." grinned Hosea. "A name for all to remember."
"Like the ancient folk hero that killed a DRAGON with his bare hands. The same name as the one who first united our people against Embryo." Istvan suggested. "Siegfried he was called."
(PRESENT)
Evening had now arrived over Arzenal and with the day growing short Hilda, quickly finished off her battle plans for tomorrow's training. Calling upon Ersha and Vivian, they told Hilda they had found a suitable place for their first squad meeting as most of the empty rooms were a mess or occupied. Making her way to Cal's room, Hilda couldn't help but feel concerned by what had happened between Cal and Salia in the hanger. He was so angry, but she couldn't blame him after what he had been through. Still, this sudden change in attitude and demeanor was unsettling. Hilda didn't even have to knock when Cal suddenly emerged from his room with his own notes and drawings of formations and battle strategies. "Oh hey, I was just coming to look for you."
"Good, then follow me, the new recruits need to be brought up to speed." She said handing Cal the envelope containing their files. It turned out the three volunteers to be reassigned as Para-mail pilots were in fact the young armorists Mary, Nonna and Marika. The same three who always hung out with Margret.
"Guess this is the best we can do." He frowned as he flipped through the files.
"Could be worse." Hilda shrugged as they walked off together. "Retraining someone older like Ange again would be a pain in the ass. I'm going to have enough of a headache trying to win over the others after that mess I caused."
"I know you didn't mean any of it, but don't let past grudges with the others hold you back as Captain." Cal told her seriously. "And I've got your back if they decide to..."
"I'm not six years old, I don't let snide comments get to me. I can handle myself." said Hilda indignantly, turning her head away so Cal wouldn't see her appreciative little smile. Inside though she was feeling a new kind of pressure she had never felt before. She had always mocked Salia's attempts to lead, but now with the responsibility on her shoulders she didn't envy her former Captain. "I see you're combining Zola's old formations with your own." Hilda noted, looking over Cal's notes and strategy sketches.
"I've got to make adjustments if those three para-mail ever show up again." said Cal as they reached the entrance to the gym where the rest of the pilots awaited them. Cal suddenly halted in his tracks and bit his lip as Hilda gently laid her hand on his back.
"Hey, take it easy." Hilda tried to calm him down. "You've had a rough day. Why don't you get some rest. I can handle it my…"
"I'll be fine." said Cal with a dead look in his eyes, not looking at Hilda. Clearly the loss of Scarlett was hitting him hard. Cal took a deep breath before opening the door to see his and Scarlett's regular hangout in a wreck. The huge wall mirror was cracked and most of the gym equipment was toppled over. Across the room, the remaining members of the third squad were sitting on one of the three long benches. And all were busy comforting a sobbing Margret.
"Easy, everything is going to be alright." Irma soothed, rubbing Margret's back softly.
"When I first arrived…I was so little…and…and Eleanor looked after me." Margret wept through trembling breaths. "She wasn't perfect but…she was always there for me…and now she's gone." Cal stepped forward to place a hand on Margret's shoulder.
"Look I promise all of you, those three machines and their pilots, we're going to hit them back. They're going to regret ever coming near Arzenal."
Margret sniffled and wiped her eyes. "If Eleanor was here, she wouldn't cry. She'd find a way to fight back." Margret swallowed just before the rest of first squad, including Ange and Momoka, arrived with Mary, Nonna and Marika who were still in their orange jumpsuits.
"Hey, we checked in with Jasmine and she said she'll have the three new recruits' uniforms and pilot suits by tomorrow morning." Vivian told Cal and Hilda as Rosalie and Chris wheeled in two mobile whiteboards. "The simulators are still down but the Zhao Mei said she'd send some mechanics over as soon as she could spare some."
"Let's hope it all works out." said Cal. "Because there's going to be huge changes going forward." Hilda agreed as she examined her neighboring squad mates. Irma, Tanya, young recruit Ginny, Margret, and Holly; a skinny blonde curly haired girl with glasses whom Hilda recognized was one of the first girls to ask Cal as their date for Valentine's Day; were all looking grief stricken that they were the only ones left out of their old squad. Then there were her own squad mates. Ersha and Vivian looked as if they were willing to put the past behind them but Hilda caught more than a few dirty glares from Rosalie and Chris. Then there was Miranda who had her head rested on her arms looking thoroughly guilty. 'Poor kid blames herself for Eleanor's death.' Hilda realized.
"Alright everyone listen up!" Cal called them all to attention. "Starting tomorrow we'll be training longer and harder now there's only 14 of us left. Hilda will be in charge while I provide support so pay attention." Hilda was slightly apprehensive addressing so many people but one reassuring look from Cal pushed her doubt away.
"Now that we're one squad we'll be practicing new training exercises and battle simulations that'll strengthen us as one unit." Hilda addressed. "But for the next couple of days, we'll focus on showing our three new recruits the basics before we move on to the more difficult formations."
"I want everyone to give your all in exercising the fundamentals in the next week," Cal continued. "It's essential we put the past behind us and work as a team. This is no longer a matter of who gets the most kills. It's survival. Pure and simple." Half the room murmured in agreement, but Rosalie, Chris and Margret weren't impressed. Hilda knew she and Ange weren't forgiven yet after their escape while others were arguably uncertain about working with those they didn't get along with.
"Now that there are more of us, our formations and battle strategies will need a few adjustments. But the only way for us to succeed is to work as a team from now on." Hilda told them.
"And who thinks we'll listen to you, traitor." Chris spat.
"Yeah, you and Ange will just run out on us during battle?" Tanya agreed.
"More like leave us for dead." added Irma.
"If you've got an issue working with me then that's your problem." said Ange coldly.
"You're the one who always looks out for herself and hogs all the prize money!" Rosalie snapped back.
"That's enough all of you." Cal spoke but his voice was drowned out by more arguing.
"Now, now, ladies, let's not fight amongst ourselves." Ersha said, trying to calm the situation.
"Cal's right." Miranda spoke up. "We can't start off by turning on each other. We have to work together."
"You're one to talk! You're the reason our Captain is dead!" Margret said nastily.
"Margret!" Holly gasped and Miranda sank lower into her chair. By this point the three volunteers looked extremely nervous.
"Well, its true. It's what everyone's thinking! "Margret said heatedly. "If that idiot hadn't almost got Cal killed then Eleanor would still be alive!"
"Hey that's mean!" Vivian yapped.
"Hey! Cut that shit out!" yelled Hilda. "You're all acting like idiots!" The whole room became a shouting match until a sudden loud bang caused everyone else to leap out of their skin. Cal had picked up one of the dumbbells and chucked it hard enough against the wall to crack the stone. The whole room fell silent as his sky-blue eyes scanned the room as though daring anyone to start again.
"I am your Captain, and we are all what's left of Arzenal's pilots." He said in a tense calmness, looking as though he was fit to explode. "Do you not understand how many people we've lost today?" Every face in the room turned to guilt and grief. "All your past grudges towards each other means nothing. The only thing that matters is we work together because those outside of this room are counting on us to protect them from what's out there. If you can't find it in any of you to have each other's backs now, then we might as well give up now!" Cal's voice shook slightly but kept his hard exterior as he gave them all a deadly look. "And if you can't then there's the door." Nobody moved or spoke as it looked as though Cal was fit to burst with anger, but they seemed to agree with his statement. "If any of you are going to blame anyone for the way things turned out today…then blame me. I'm your Captain and I should have taken charge instead of fighting those three para-mail by myself."
"Cal it's not your…" Ersha tried to speak.
"It doesn't matter, we move forward, and I'll make sure it never happens again. To any of you." Cal's words seemed to be final as he pulled over one of the whiteboards and he and Hilda with Ersha and Vivian's assistance began teaching the basic use and controls of the Para-mail to the three volunteers. Next, he and Hilda started drawing up the newly formed squads' battle formations and tactics, analyzing and going over every detail and making adjustments with input from the others.
"But if we ever come across those three DRAGON para-mail again, me and Ange will lead the charge and cover you from the first waves while you lot stay in formation 'echo.'" Cal finished up as he wiped the white board clean. With their meeting now over everyone began to take their leave. Miranda especially went off in a hurry.
"Psst. Let me deal with preparations for simulations and drill exercises for tomorrow." Hilda insisted which Cal allowed.
"Thanks, but make sure to get some input from the others, especially Chris. She's been a great help of late. I'm gonna go and upload Siegfried's data to the simulators. Hopefully I'll get some practice in before tomorrow." Cal was looking paler by the minute and Hilda felt his forehead to see it was burning to her touch.
"Go and take some rest." She advised. "You're no good to us if you keel over."
"I can't, I've got stuff to do." Cal said impassively about to walk away before Hilda grabbed his arm, fighting the urge to slap him.
"Are you planning on working yourself to death?" The rest of the first squad also held back to talk some sense into Cal.
"We appreciate what you're doing, but you've been through a lot today and past week. You're exhausted and you need to take a break." Ersha pleaded.
"There could be another attack any moment." Cal pointed out. "There's no time for a picnic."
"No, but it is time to get everything in order." said Rosalie.
"What do you think I'm doing?" said Cal ruthlessly.
"Your absolute best but…" Chris spoke.
"Don't patronize me." Cal told them all impatiently as he stormed out of the gym.
"We're not." Ersha urged. "Cal please, you're under enough stress as it is, and we need to talk about…"
"About what?!" snapped Cal.
"About Scarlett." Ersha's lip quivered and Cal's eyes turned red from holding back the effort of breaking down in front of them.
"Look, just drop it. I'm doing everything to keep you all alive, isn't that enough? Now leave me alone so I can get some work done." None of them spoke as Cal walked away but Hilda knew they had touched a nerve and Cal was blaming himself for not saving Scarlett and her squad. 'Keeping you all alive.' Hilda noted sadly. 'Not us all, you all.' He was undervaluing his own life. It was like watching Zola all over again.
"What's going on with big bro?" Vivian weakly asked.
"He's not himself Vivian." said Ersha wiping her eyes.
"What the hell have we missed?" asked Ange. "What happened to him while me and Hilda were locked up?"
"It's been a nightmare Ange." Ersha sighed. "And we don't know what to do. Cal refuses to talk to us about what's bothering him. Ever since he returned with you and Hilda he just seems to be getting colder."
"Because of Dutch?" Ange guessed, causing everyone to stare at her. "Yeah, I know everything. Hilda told me about his past and the man who killed his Gramps."
"It's been awful seeing him like this, though I don't blame him." said Chris. "I would want to tear the face off the human who did that to me."
"Yeah, and he wouldn't be such a pain in the ass if you all weren't too soft with him." Hilda scolded. "That guy needs to hear the truth sometimes instead of thinking everything is his fault and that he needs to protect us all the time! And if you all haven't got the balls to tell him some hard truths then I'll do it!" Hilda knew firsthand with Zola what happened to those who gave up on themselves and she wasn't going to let Cal lose himself over revenge against Dutch. "What are you looking at me like that for?" Hilda said uncomfortably as everyone looked at her in a mixture of amazement and bemusement.
"I always knew deep down you really cared about that pervert." smirked Ange. "That's why you kissed him after all."
"You got to kiss him!" Holly shrieked.
"Oh my." Ersha blushed.
"Who says I care about him?" Hilda said rather quickly, feeling the heat rise on the back of her neck. "I just don't want that idiot to get himself killed or work himself to death." Everyone else sniggered.
"Zola always said you were a bit of tsundere." Rosalie smirked.
"Oh shut up!" Hilda snapped.
With the guilt of Margret's words eating her up inside, Miranda dashed off ahead of everyone else. All she wanted was to be left alone in the confines of her and Vivian's quarters. The cut above her brow made her head throb, unable to block out the voices of Coco, Hilda and THAT man.
"You couldn't save me, and you will fail to save Senpai."
"Here I thought you'd be a great shield, but you can't even shield Cal from near death."
"You'll never be perfect, because your nothing but a disgusting Norma who gets those stupid enough to care about you almost killed."
"Shut up!" Miranda cried clutching her ears in desperation, her face dripping with sweat. "I didn't mean to; it was an accident!" Miranda darted into her room and rocked back and forth on her bed with her legs hugged tight to her chest. Minutes passed in dead silence when a sudden knock at her door came as a head of short blonde hair appeared through the opening door.
"Hilda's looking for you." said Ange plainly as Miranda quickly tried to make herself appear normal. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Miranda snapped. "Why would you care anyway? You never cared about us in the first place. Neither did Hilda. Why else would you abandon us!" All her pent-up frustration was now coming to the surface and Miranda glared up at Ange, daring her to justify herself. To her surprise Ange looked oddly deflated by her words and she let out a long breath.
"Because I wanted to save my little sister." Ange confessed.
"What!" Miranda gasped. "What do you mean?" Ange sat on Miranda's bed and proceeded to tell the young recruit the full reason for her escape and the trap set by Julio and Sylvia. By the time she finished Miranda, simply stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"You're not the only one who's sorry." said Ange.
"Why don't you tell the others? They might understand."
"It dosen't matter, because most of you were right about me." said Ange in a low voice. "When I arrived here, I didn't care about anyone but myself. I even turned away those who showed me any kindness." Miranda looked at Ange and saw her eyes were glazing slightly. "From the short time I knew her Coco always reminded me of Sylvia. And I wished I had seen the truth sooner and how much of a disappointment my family truly was. If I had then Coco would still be alive." Ange wiped a single tear from her left eye. "I'm sorry for taking her away from you."
A part of Miranda wanted to hit Ange, but another part of her understood why she did what she did. In the end, family or not, the humans were cruel and unforgiving and now she knew Ange of all people would relate to her past.
"You're not the only one whose family was a big disappointment." Miranda confessed and Ange looked at her curiously.
Checking in with Mei and her team, Cal was relieved to see they did a great job on Siegfried. Jill had labelled his unit a priority and in the few hours following the attack, most of the damage was already fixed. Unfortunately, with most of Arzenal's vital systems out, the simulators were still out of order and the Command staff and base personnel were no closer to getting everything back online. With nothing else to do Cal's first instinct was to go train in the gym, but he could not bear the thought of going back in there without Scarlett. Wanting to be in a quiet place to collect his thoughts, Cal made his way down to the lower caverns to be away from the constant noise and concerns of his squad mates.
Listening to the droplets of water splashing on the rocky floor Cal perched himself on a large rock and gazed out towards the sea, the moonlight his only source of light. He thought a few minutes alone would make him feel better but only resulted in the leaden sensation of guilt in his stomach to grow worse, unable to get the second squad and those fallen from the third squad out of his head. Scarlett, Betty, Sadie, Makoto, Powder, Hannah, Rachel, Courtney, Mira, Rosy, Chiho, Eleanor, Cho, Tanisha and Lauren. All those lives that were worth so much more than the life that was forced upon them now reduced to gravestones. It made Cal wonder what those lives would have elevated too and the future they could have had if Libertus was a success. The overwhelming grief became too much and Cal's whole body went numb, but he was unable to stop himself from shaking. Then his grief and regret were interrupted by a grating squawk that the echoing cave walls made 10 times louder. "CORN! CORN! CORN!"
"Dexter!" Cal yelled as the red striped raven fluttered down to perch on his shoulder. "What are you doing here, you damn buzzard!"
"Cal! Corn!" Why was he here and not with Hosea? Did the old man leave him behind or did he miss his ride and not know the way home?
"Sorry, I've got nothing." Cal told him and the raven took off back into its den in annoyance that Cal had turned up empty handed. Cal watched the bird flap high up the cave wall where he had found a rather comfy spot to rest. It was quite remarkable that Dexter wasn't petrified to death in taking off during the battle.
Then from out of nowhere an icy cold shiver ran down the back of Cal's neck, causing him to leap up in anticipation. Drawing his pistol, he scanned his surroundings and knew the night wasn't cold enough to bring a chill like that which meant only one thing. "Show yourself, you coward!" Cal yelled, waiting with held breaths for Blackadder to appear or whisper out like he usually did when taunting Cal.
Heart pumping against his chest, Cal snapped to the exit of the cave from Dexter's loud squawk and he immediately made out the shape of a tall lean figure standing there. But it was not alone, the figure seemed to be holding someone as four more figures appeared. "Who are you, what do you want?!" Cal yelled as four flashlights blinded his vision.
Hours had passed by since Maggie was left with the responsibility to interrogate Eric Lawrance further. Though she thought the booze would help it only resulted in the two engaging in rather coy conversations. To her surprise she found Lawrance to be a rather charming individual now that he had dropped the false stern Corporal persona. And the DNA tests came back positive. He and Serra really were related.
"You really came all this way for her." Maggie whispered incredulously. "Then why would you put yourself in harm's way like that against the Corvette?"
"I couldn't just sit back." said Lawrance. "And besides, all of us could have died if I hadn't acted. Even Serra." 'You brave fool.' Maggie thought.
"So, tell me," She said, trying to goad him into taking another swig of whisky as it did help with the pain, "how did you manage to find your way into this job position without the NMB discovering your intentions? A false alias good enough to trick the entire world would take years to develop." In fact, Maggie had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't acting alone.
"That dosen't matter." Lawrance said in an empty tone. "Nothing I did made a difference; Serra was captured, and it drove my sister to suicide." Maggie felt a knot tighten in her stomach.
"I'm so sorry." She gasped weakly. "I…I heard a rumor before her baptism, Ange encountered little Serra and said some rather…"
"It wasn't her fault." said Lawrance. "She was just as ignorant as the rest of us, before we discovered the truth. I don't blame Ange in the slightest what happened."
'We?' Maggie repeated. So there were more humans working with him. Could it possibly be that he was…
"But I gave promise," Lawrance suddenly cut in, "that no matter what happened, if it was Serra, or another Norma, I would do everything in my power so that no Norma would ever suffer again. And I'm not going to abandon the Norma now even if my position has been discovered."
"So what will you do now? I don't think the Commander will allow you to continue your role. She'll kick you off this island without another thought. Providing she lets you live of course."
"She'll have to, otherwise the Inspector will get suspicious of my absence when she wakes up. Plus, it'll be a shame to leave you all on short notice. You've all really grown on me, even if one of you always stinks of booze."
"Hey!" Maggie gave a derisive laugh, unable to hide her blush and before she knew what she was doing her face was drawing nearer to Lawrance. "Well, I wouldn't miss your dumb comb-over disguise." she whispered.
"It's not as bad as your haircut, doctor." Lawrance responded also drawing in to Maggie.
"The name's Maggie, Corporal Eric Lawrance." She smiled her shiny red lips inching close enough that she felt his breath mingle with hers.
"Ralph." He suddenly blurted out causing Maggie to withdraw in surprise and he was smiling back sweetly at her. "My real name is Ralph." Maggie was spared from asking more questions when a sudden commotion came from outside as the sound of hundreds of girls' shocked voices muttered throughout the hallways. Maggie rushed out of the room and passing by the main infirmary, she saw a large crowd making space for a lone figure in the middle who was carrying someone.
"What's going on? Move it!" Maggie ordered as she pushed her way through the crowd. And what she saw forced the air from her lungs. Cal was barging his way through the just as shocked crowd with an unconscious injured woman in his arms. "SCARLETT!" Maggie cried.
From behind Cal there appeared a tall young man with a long scar across his pale face, his navy-blue hair shadowing his narrow dark blue eyes. Next to him was a woman the same age, equally as tall with the same-colored hair and eyes, along with a dark-skinned bespectacled man, a towering blonde man built like an ox, and a short skinny teenaged boy with fiery hair that stook out all over the place.
"Get a Medic!" Cal bellowed.
"Through here!" Maggie guided Cal to the mall and he placed Scarlett upon one of the beds as Maggie examined her and to her relief found a pulse. Scarlett's pilot uniform was shredded, and she was covered in cuts and large purple bruises. "Tell me everything that happened?"
"We found her upon one of the beaches like this." The scarred man answered.
"We did what he could, but our first aid kits aren't meant for something this bad." The woman added equally concerned.
"Lucas, Lucia!" Jasmine came rushing out from the mall's storage area, utterly astonished at the sight of them. "What are you doing here!?" The rest of the commotion had drawn the attention of Jill who immediately looked on the verge of murder at the sight of Lucas, Lucia, Dolton, Finn and Frenzy.
"What are you idiots doing here!?" She demanded, her eyes burning furiously. "Do you have any idea what you've just done? You've compromised us!"
"Libertus will occur regardless of our actions." Lucas said firmly. "It's about time you chose to accept a helping hand instead of doing things on your own. And it's about time we got you all off this island once and for all." By now the crowd had crammed near the mall's entrance, even the pilots in Cal's squad had appeared as Ange and Hilda forced their way through to the front. "Scarlett!" Hilda gasped.
"What are you five doing here?" asked Ange, earning more confused mutters from the crowd.
"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Ralph groaned as he staggered through the broken dry wall.
"Hiya Ralph." Frenzy waved, flashing a wide grin. "Woah what happened? You look like crap." Her eyes blazing at now six intruders, Jill looked like she was on the verge of exploding.
"Seems we've got quite a story to catch up on." said Jasmine. By now the appearance of Arzenal's uninvited guests would be spreading through the base like wildfire. "No point in hiding it any longer Commander." Jill reluctantly nodded in agreement. Climbing up onto the air hockey table, the commander of Arzenal caught the attention of everyone as her voice carried out through the hanger.
"All of you, I want you to listen to every word I say! These people are not here to harm you! They are part of an underground group of humans that are allies to the Norma!"
The grounds of the Dawn Pillar and Misurugi palace were swarming with investigators sent by the world leaders over its unauthorized use. Riza with her nerves on high alert peeked out from her bedroom window to see the many Mana vehicles had yet to leave. By now the leaders of the six nations would no doubt be holding a meeting to discuss the attack on Arzenal and how best to respond. Riza could only hope no suspicion aroused towards her, especially with the high waters she was close to drowning in all thanks to Dutch.
"What have I gotten myself into." Riza grimaced as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shut the blinds. "Does that bastard even know what he's doing? One human doesn't have the power to take on Embryo and the world." A cool breeze caressed the back of her neck as her senses told her that someone was behind her.
"But I am not like most humans." Dutch's voice chuckled and Riza whipped around instinctively as she thrust out her arm, a small red fireball already formed in her palm. "Relax it's just me."
"What are you doing here?" Riza demanded. "If anyone sees you, we're both finished. Get out, now!" Without another word Dutch snapped to his holster and drew his pistol, pointing it at Riza's face. "We had a deal, give me more time."
"I'm not here because of our little deal. I'm just here to confiscate a little something of yours." Her curiosity piqued and Riza lowered her hand and dispersed the energy in her palm. "The world has decided it doesn't need me anymore and I am without my main power source to help you." Riza stared at him in confusion. What could she possibly have to make a difference to his situation. "The power your people have. I want that. And I know it's those pills you take that allow you to retain that power in this world." The refined Dracunium? So that was what he was after.
"You seem like you've already had something altered within you." She noted as her eyes widened at this request. "I've read through Prince Julio's files regarding the unit you control and what you're capable of with Mana in battle. Your master altered your genetics, didn't he?"
"Yeah, and I want more than that." Dutch smirked in a twisted manner, his eyes growing even hungrier. "I want what you and your kind have. I need that to help both our causes." For the first time since coming to this world, Riza felt something she had never experienced. True primal fear. This human was insane, drunk with the thirst for power.
"Do you hear yourself?" She tried to warn him. "I don't know how your body will react as your genetics have already been altered beyond the rest of your kind. The mixture could possibly kill you or even worse, turn you into something monstrous. An abomination upon my people, the Norma and this world." Before she could react, Dutch lunged forward as his hand closed around Riza's throat and lifted her off her feet.
"You are forgetting that I am the only one who can help you reclaim what your kind seek." He snarled as Riza clutched onto his arm struggling for breath, those evil orange eyes flaming with rage and lust for power. "If you truly wish to help your people then spare me your warnings and do as I say!"
TO BE CONTINUED…