*BANG!*

Another round went into the head of one of the straw dummies out in the garden that Batz liked to use for target practice. On sunny days like today, Batz enjoyed heading out and firing a couple rounds into them to make sure his skills didn't dull. Janga mostly stood by watching, not being much of a gun person but enjoying being in Batz's presence regardless.

Usually, Batz would do it when Guntz was sleeping or playing inside, since he didn't want to expose him to firearms too much before he was ready, but today the now four-year-old had taken a vested interest in what his dad was doing and had come outside to see for himself, innocently asking if Batz was playing with his guns again.

Although he would have ordinarily ushered the child back inside, today Batz decided to indulge his son's curiosity, and show him a little bit of these skills of his. Providing Guntz with some earmuffs to protect his still developing ear drums from the gunshots, he demonstrated a few shots into the practice dummies across the way, not even bothering to stop himself from showing off a little with how much of a dab hand he had gotten at the practice. Each shot hit its target just as he intended, leaving a hole in the dummies where their forehead or heart were meant to be.

Janga chuckled a little as he watched Batz put on a show for his son. He still had a bit of trouble connecting to Guntz, but he did his best to be around for him because putting the effort in to do it made Batz happy, which in turn made him happy.

As Batz finished firing some rounds and went to reload, Guntz raised his arms and said in a high-pitched demand: "I wanna turn!"

Batz raised an eyebrow and looked over at Janga, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say "Shit, if he wants a go…." Deciding he couldn't keep his son away from them forever and it'd be better to show him in a controlled environment, he gave in and let Guntz have a turn.

Being careful to show Guntz how to properly hold it, Batz got down to his son's level and helped him aim and get his hands properly in position, with his finger on the trigger.

"Alright, so you want to hold it carefully like this," Batz said, his hands on the gun over his son's to make sure he didn't completely miss and hit some poor sap passing by. "Keep your hand steady, aim for where you want to shoot, unlock the safety" *CLICK* "And… you pull on the trigger!"

*BANG!*

A shot rang out as a bullet left the gun and grazed the dummy's shoulder. Considering the punishment it had taken, it was now more bullet holes than the straw and burlap sacks it was made out of.

"Nice job, Guntz!" Batz said with a smile as he gently took the gun back. "Not bad for your first time, eh?"

He turned to Janga, a mischievous look in his eyes. "Hey Janga, you wanna finish off Mr. Scarecrow over there?"

Janga looked up, a little surprised at the suggestion, before a grin came over his face and he leapt up. "Hell, I thought you'd never ask!" he giggled as he put on his steel claws and made a beeline for the dummy.

Batz laughed in a bellowing tone as he sat down, seeing Janga slash the stuffing out of the straw dummy. Guntz seemed to think it was hilarious, as he was laughing just as hard at the sight.

He did sometimes worry about how Guntz would grow up in an environment where his dad was a bounty hunter who sometimes went after treasure on the side. But seeing him enjoy participating like this helped alleviate his worries.

With a little bit of luck, Guntz would grow up to be a great man. And he couldn't wait to see it...

…

Transporting the Aeternus from La-Lakoosha to the Empire Of Jillius would need to be a careful proceeding. Simply moving it in an official convoy would be a dead giveaway for any of Garlen's spies, as such a movement of personnel would be a tell for them trying to get something valuable out of the kingdom. Therefore, the High Priestess saw fit to make use of one of the fleet of commercial airships that Volk had been rolling out since their centuries long conflict had ended. That way, they could blend in with the regular passengers and no one would be any the wiser. As far as anyone not in the know was aware, they were just going out on a bit of relaxing leave.

The airship the group ended up getting tickets for was the flagship of the fleet, the L.O.A Momett (LOA standing for Lunatea Official Airship). It was easily the largest and most luxurious of the fleet, and it also happened to be leaving on a voyage to the Empire Of Jillius at the earliest time, so was convenient for their needs. The name was slightly gaudy, but apparently the Master Of Ceremonies Momett from Joliant had had a hand in designing its luxurious accommodations and had used some of his substantial fortune to essentially bribe the shipbuilders into calling it the "Momett" instead of "Pride Of Volk" like they'd wanted to call it.

Where he had acquired such a fortune as a showman no one had quite figured out. Most would expect his more sleazy relative Mamett to pull something like this, but then Momett was also someone with a bit of an ego.

In any case, the High Priestess, Leorina and Lolo made their way down to the airship station in Volk City dressed in casual wear, eschewing their usual regal garb for something that would help them fit the part. The Aeternus was kept in one of their suitcases, locked up tight with a coded lock, and would spend the voyage kept in a secret spot in their private suite. If all went well, they should arrive at their destination without incident.

Before getting on, they waited outside for Klonoa and his group to arrive, so they could board together. Surprisingly, though, the first to get there was Janga, dressed in his more formal attire that was quickly becoming his trademark, wearing a backpack with some of his more cherished possessions in it.

He gave a polite bow when he approached the High Priestess. "Your Highness. I'm glad to see you got here without any problems." He took a quick glance around before continuing in a hushed tone. "I presume the item is with you."

"Yes, it is." The High Priestess replied formally, doing her best to not be too curt. She was still more than a little wary of Janga after his tenure as an outlaw under Garlen, but her instincts told her he could be trusted given the information he had provided. "Can I be assured you will ensure the item's safety on this voyage?"

Janga nodded his head. "Of course."

"Good." The High Priestess said with a slight smile despite herself, taking out a ticket for him. "Your accommodations on the trip are on Deck One, not far from ours. Keep an eye out for any trouble just in case, and with luck this will be a smooth journey."

Janga took his ticket and gave another bow as he began to head for the steps that lead up to the airship's doors. He barely deserved such a place to stay, but he was grateful all the same.

He nodded to Leorina, who gave him one in return, silently sharing in his hope that things would not go too badly. But when he turned to Lolo, she averted his eyes and looked away, seeming intimidated.

Janga frowned, but he understood her reaction fully, and headed up the steps without another word.

The High Priestess and her group waited a little while longer for Klonoa and Guntz to arrive. They seemed to be taking quite a while, and she began to grow worried as the airship would not wait for them forever. Eventually, just 20 minutes before the doors were due to close and the take-off would begin, Klonoa finally walked into view… without Guntz.

"Klonoa?" The High Priestess said as she looked around. "I am glad to see that you made it, but… where is Guntz?"

Klonoa had a worried expression on his face, seeming agitated. "I'm not sure! I haven't seen him since our meeting with you. I looked for him everywhere, but I don't know where he's gotten to…"

Suddenly, Leorina called out. "Wait, there he is!"

Everyone looked round, and sure enough, there he was, dressed in his usual garb, and more than one gun holstered on his belt. He had an oddly detached look on his face, like he wasn't quite happy to be there, but he stepped up to the group regardless.

"Guntz!" Klonoa said happily, but with concern punctuating his words. "I've been looking all over for you, where have you been?!"

"Been off thinking." Guntz said non-descriptively. "I didn't know if I wanted to come."

"What made you decide to do it?" Leorina asked.

Guntz looked at her with a surprising amount of intensity. "Because I couldn't live with myself if Janga did something horrible to you all because I wasn't there."

And with that he stomped up the stairs without looking back. The others looked up at him with worried expressions.

Maybe this wouldn't be such a smooth crossing after all…

…

The take-off of the L.O.A Momett went off without a hitch, and less than an hour later it was cruising above Lunatea at a brisk pace. It wasn't the quickest way to get around, but it was certainly the most comfortable, and people who lived underneath their routes would often stop what they were doing to see the airships pass overhead.

A few hours passed, and everything seemed to be going just fine. The Aeternus was safely hidden away in the High Priestess' quarters, and she, Leorina and Lolo had decided to make the most of the trip to try out the different amenities on board. Klonoa was of course happy to join them for a little bit of fun.

Guntz had decided against such entertainment and had gone on a walk, and none of the others had seen him in a while. Janga didn't blame him, feeling much too stressed to let his own hair down, and was himself mostly hanging around on the outside deck not far from their accommodations so he could keep an eye out just in case one of Garlen's spies tried to go snooping, which he wouldn't put past them.

He had been tempted to grab a drink from the bar, but he didn't want to risk getting drunk at such a time as this, so had been drinking water to keep himself hydrated. At least the weather was nice.

His mind wandered as he looked out to the landscape below them, seeing them passing over the sea that split Lunatea and Jillius' empire. He didn't know if Batz could see him right now, wherever he was, but despite how worried he felt about screwing it all up, in his heart he felt he was doing the right thing. Even if he couldn't make up for everything he had done, he could still try to do good this time, and finally put all his effort into putting an end to Garlen once and for all.

Glancing round the deck, he spotted Lolo sitting alone in a chair nearby, looking like she was taking a break from the hustle and bustle inside, and his stomach did a turn, as he remembered how he had kidnapped her during the ill-fated attempt to bring back Nahatomb. He grimaced and decided to head over to her. If he was going to try and fix some of this, the first thing he should do was at least say something to her.

"Hey…" he said quietly as he walked up to her.

She jumped half a mile when she heard his voice, apparently having some sort of flashback, but quickly calmed down when she realized he didn't have a claw to her throat. Her expression was terse, but not quite scowling. "Oh. It's you, Janga. What do you want?"

Janga cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. All the bluster he'd once had was now gone and left in its place was a much more awkward feline, perhaps closer in nature to his past self before he began working for Garlen.

"Well, y'see…" He tried to clear his throat again. This was harder than he had anticipated.

"Yes?" Lolo prodded, betraying a sliver of impatience at his blustering.

"W-well... what happened before, during the whole Nahatomb situation… I know it probably doesn't mean much, but it was never a personal thing, me kidnapping you. I misguidedly figured it was all part of the job…"

Lolo shook her head and cut him off. "I'm afraid that's not much of a relief, Janga. Do you know how traumatic that experience was? It took me weeks to fully recover from it, and it still affects me quite a bit even now. Whether or not it was personal won't take away from that."

"Y… yeah, I suppose it wouldn't…" Janga said, sweating hard under her gaze. She was clearly put out by him, but not in an intimidated way like had once been the case. It had only been a short time since Nahatomb's defeat, and yet she already looked wiser, and more self-assured.

"Look, it probably isn't much, all things considered, but I want to at least put in the effort to… to, um…" But Janga trailed off. He knew what he wanted to say; some form of apology to her for what he had done. But the more he thought about it, the more the words sounded hollow, and his optimism foolish. She didn't have much reason to forgive him, not least because he had nearly killed Klonoa that day.

"What?" She asked, her stony expression breaking a little to let through some genuine curiosity.

"I… well, I…" Janga tried a few more times to work up the courage, before finally losing his nerve completely. He couldn't do it. "M… maybe I'd be better off saying it after this is all over…" he said quickly before shuffling off out of sight.

"O…kay…" Lolo said, slightly confused. She hadn't enjoyed being around him after the whole kidnapping affair, but the amount of vulnerability she had sensed from him had taken her off guard. Whatever he had been trying to say, it was clearly eating away at him.

There were a lot of tangled emotions going on in his head, that much she was sure of.

She got up, deciding she ought to tell someone about this.

…

Klonoa headed out onto the outside deck to get some fresh air after sampling the excellent Seafood Buffet they'd had on offer. Lolo had returned in a bit of a fluster saying Janga had approached her, but not really said much and had left in a hurry. Curious as to what was going on, Klonoa figured it'd be a good time to check up on their black sheep accompanier and see how things were going with them.

He found Janga standing against the railing, his head down in an apparent forlorn state. His better nature coming out, Klonoa began to approach him.

"Penny for your thoughts, Janga?"

Janga looked up at him, and Klonoa was surprised to see streams of tears still wet on his face. His voice was shaky as he spoke. "I'd… rather be alone right now, Klonoa."

Klonoa considered doing what Janga asked, but he couldn't bring himself to leave someone in such a state without at least trying to help as he gave a slight smile. "Well, at least getting your thoughts out there could help you feel less bad."

Janga let out a bitter chuckle. "I'm sorry kid, but I doubt that talking about it will make my problems go away."

Klonoa tried to think back to what the purple feline had said before, in order to find a middle ground to help. "Don't be so sure! After all, there's still plenty of reason to be optimistic! Didn't you say yourself the reason you were helping us was to make up for the stuff you did?"

Unexpectedly, Janga hit his fist against the railing hard, before starting to pace around agitated. "Exactly! That's the problem! Now that I think about it, I don't think any amount of do-goodery like this is going to change what I did. I was a monster then, and I'll always be one!"

"Well, hold on a second, repentance is possible! Just look at Guntz, he was something of a renegade for the longest time!" Klonoa protested, not a fan of anyone engaging in self-destructive behavior like this, even people like Janga.

"Not like I was!" Janga yelled out, not at Klonoa but just out at the heavens. Fortunately, the deck was pretty deserted at this time so there weren't many people around to see him in this vulnerable moment. "I kidnapped Lolo, didn't I? I go up to apologize to her, and I realize just how hollow just saying "sorry" is! It won't take away the trauma she suffered because of me! Hell, I almost killed you! Would me doing a few good tasks and saying sorry undo all of that, Klonoa?!"

Klonoa kept his voice steady, wanting to keep from adding to Janga's anguish. "Yes, you did, but I'm still here, aren't I? All healed up, and not even any scars. Please, listen to me, Janga. Even if the others need time to forgive, if you really want to fix things, then you can! You just need to keep at it and believe that things will get better!"

Janga said nothing, the words stuck in his throat as tears began to fall down his face again. "I… I can't believe that… I've done too much to be redeemable…" He turned away from Klonoa, burying his face in his hands, seemingly moments from running away at speed.

Klonoa moved closer, placing a hand on Janga's shoulder. "Janga…"

In the next moment, Janga moved at speed and slapped Klonoa's hand off of him, the force causing the cabbit to topple over onto his back. It hadn't been a conscious move, Janga had just acted reflexively at feeling himself be touched, but now he was panicking from seeing that he had laid hands on someone.

"Oh god Klonoa, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"It's alright, I'm not hurt!" Klonoa said, a bashful smile on his face. "I guess I should have asked before doing that, shouldn't I?"

Janga tried to calm himself, not wanting to make it worse. "Pl-please, let me help you up." He said as he moved in and took Klonoa's hand to help him up to his feet again.

The barrel of a gun clicked at close range, and Janga felt the muzzle of a firearm being pressed against his head.

"That's far enough, you rat."

It didn't take a genius to figure out who was speaking just out of his field of vision, especially with Klonoa jumping up in surprise.

"G-Guntz?! What are you doing?"

"Saving your ass." Guntz snarled as he came into view, a look of absolute hatred in his eyes as he kept his gun trained on Janga's head. Even if it wouldn't kill him due to his cybernetics, it would certainly hurt. "I had a feeling Janga couldn't go long without going back to his old habits. Turns out I was right."

"Guntz, he just knocked me down on accident!" Klonoa cried out incredulously. "He didn't mean to; I just didn't realize he didn't want to be touched!"

"Klonoa, shut up!" Guntz suddenly barked at him, the cabbit shrinking back stung at being yelled at in such a way. "You think I didn't see you acting all buddy-buddy like some ignorant dunderhead? Have you forgotten what he's done, who he's hurt? THAT HE HURT YOU?!"

The hullabaloo bought out several confused passengers who stared in shock at the turn of events before them, among them being the High Priestess, Lolo and Leorina. If the High Priestess had been annoyed by Guntz's impertinence before, it was nothing compared to the righteous anger now crossing her face.

"GUNTZ, FOR CLAIRE'S SAKE, PUT THE GUN DOWN!" She yelled out at him. "Are you trying to jeopardize this entire operation?! Stop acting like an impulsive fool!"

"And you!" Guntz yelled back; his ire now trained squarely on her. Klonoa looked terrified at the display before him, and Janga was wisely staying quiet so as not to make it worse. "You bought him here; you're letting him walk free and putting us all in danger! You should have done what he said and locked him away forever! It's the least he deserves!"

"This isn't the time, Guntz, and you know it!" The High Priestess spat back, rising to the occasion as several of the civilians quivered at her increasingly intimidating aura, Lolo actually ducking for cover. "Stand down NOW, or I will make you."

Guntz looked dismayed at the total lack of support he was getting, and glanced round wildly at the crowd, looking in vain for anyone to take his side. "AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT WHAT THIS MAN HAS DONE?! DO NONE OF YOU FUCKING CARE THAT HE KILLED MY FATHER—"

His sentence was never finished as the airship was suddenly rocked by a massive explosion, sending everyone flying. One of the engines began to splutter and black smoke rose from the rotary blades as it buckled under the damage.

Getting up and steading herself, the High Priestess looked round in shock. It was a miracle no one had been knocked off the side. "What… what happened?!"

Janga looked ahead in horror, seeing another airship pull up at speed alongside theirs, armed to the teeth with weaponry and advanced armaments.

He knew exactly who it belonged to; the insignia emblazoned all over it was clear enough.

"Trouble…"

With an almost hawk-like swoop, the second airship flew above the L.O.A Momett at a blur of speed, a hatch opening on the bottom as a barrage of robotic drones with wings came thundering out onto the deck below.

A voice was broadcast from it like a megaphone. A voice that was all too familiar. The voice that they had hoped they would not hear on this voyage.

Garlen was here.

"SEARCH THE WHOLE SHIP! TEAR IT APART! FIND THE AETERNUS!"

…

It was carnage. Garlen's robotic minions quickly swarmed the ship and were wrecking the place, throwing passengers aside and in some cases attacking them in search of the Aeternus. As the rest of the civilians fled, Klonoa and his group managed to stand their ground, the High Priestess very quickly taking charge.

"Leorina, Lolo, get the passengers to safety!" she called out to them, the obvious location for them being the escape capsules that were located on the deck below them. "Guntz, try and find a weakness on that airship. Klonoa, assist me in holding them back. Janga…"

She looked at Janga, waiting until Guntz ran out of sight with guns blazing before continuing.

"Can you make sure the Aeternus is safe?"

Janga looked shocked at her faith in him before his face became stern and he nodded. "Of course."

She nodded in return, heading off down the deck with Klonoa to keep Garlen's attack force at bay, the cabbit getting out his wind ring to begin kicking robot ass.

Janga snuck back inside the airship, feeling it list slightly as the damaged engine gave out, no doubt a result of the direct assault from Garlen. Grabbing a knife from the restaurant to protect himself, he began maneuvering through the carnage of panicked passengers and robotic attackers to get to their accommodations and make sure the Aeternus was not in enemy hands. Luckily, his reflexes had not dulled, even with his claws long gone, and he was able to ward off any robots that tried to attack him.

Not being able to assist the passengers being chased by the robots pained him, but he pushed on. If he didn't get to the Aeternus before they did, then everyone would be doomed.

As he approached the High Priestess' room, he heard a great commotion up ahead. Turning the corner, he saw Lolo fending off a large group of the robots, having clearly been cornered by them. She had her own staff in her hands and was using it to direct blue streaks of energy to them which sent them flying. But there were so many of them, and they were gaining ground.

Unable to conjure up a protective shield in time, she threw the staff at them and retreated into a corner, the robots descending on her with sharp blades for limbs and a clear intent to do harm.

"No… no!" she cried out, tears forming as she closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for the worst.

But the worst never came, as instead a male grunt of pain rang out in front of her. Opening her eyes, she saw Janga standing in front of her, the lead robots sharp appendages having impaled him and gone through his torso when he blocked the attack, but he was still somehow standing as he breathed heavily in agony.

"Janga?" she asked quietly.

Not replying, seemingly unable to respond from the pain, Janga slowly pulled the blades out of his chest, a sickening pop ringing out as they finally pulled free, his wounds quickly healing up as soon as they had been wrought.

Clenching his teeth, Janga was soon upon the robot horde, giving them something bigger to chew on. Lolo hid her face in her hands as he engaged them, taking a massive amount of damage as blood and gore went flying, but it all healed in moments as he just kept going, running his knife through them, and when it broke, he snapped off one of the robot's blades and using it to destroy as many of them as he could.

Soon, all that was left was a pile of robotic parts, and Janga, shaking as his clothes were in tatters.

Panting from the effort and pain, he suddenly turned round and rushed to Lolo. She instinctively pulled away, only to find herself brought up as he held her by the shoulders.

"Are you alright, Lolo?" He asked, his voice with concern. "Are you hurt?"

Still recovering from what she had just seen, Lolo finally managed to get some words out. "Y-yeah, I'm alright…"

Janga looked round to make sure the coast was clear. "Find Leorina at the escape capsules, get off the ship with whoever else you can find and get to safety. Quickly, there will surely be more robots coming this way soon!"

Lolo nodded quickly and started to rush away, before turning back, an odd look on her face. "What about you?"

"I need to make sure the Aeternus is safe!" Janga called back. "We'll be fine, now go!"

Not wanting to argue, Lolo ran as fast as her legs would carry her, and Janga felt relieved before continuing his search. It took him a few moments to find The High Priestess' room, and luckily it had not yet been broken into. Wasting no time in breaking down the door, he scoured the room and eventually found the suitcase hidden away, the Aeternus still safely inside. Glad that all was not lost, he quickly made his way back out to the corridor with the case, intending to rendezvous with the High Priestess and the others before getting the hell of the ship, which was losing altitude fast.

He only paused a moment as he passed his own room, glancing around to make sure no robots were coming his way, before rushing inside and grabbing his backpack, having not bothered to unpack his things. Despite the severity of the situation, he could not bear to lose any of the items he had taken with him.

Running through the corridors and eventually reaching an open area used for events, he found Klonoa and the High Priestess polishing off the last of the robots that were attacking them, the shrapnel and loose limbs telling the story of just how many they had cut through. The place was in utter shambles, walls and ceiling falling apart and numerous fires having started as the electrical circuits became exposed.

As the last robot fell to the floor dead, the High Priestess turned to the approaching Janga and let out a sigh of relief as she saw the suitcase in his hands.

"Thank Claire, you have it. All is not lost…"

Guntz came running up to them a moment later, looking scuffed from numerous run-ins but mostly just pissed. "Garlen's airship is held together extremely securely. Don't think there's any weak spots on it we could use to take it down."

Sighing in defeat, the High Priestess turned to the group. "Then it seems that this airship is doomed. We must make haste to the escape capsules at once. With luck we can make it to safety before Garlen can—"

*CRACK!* A sickening sound rang out as a metallic fist smacked into the back of the High Priestess' head, knocking her unconscious and sending her crashing to the floor. Janga dropped the suitcase in shock as an evil laugh rang out from behind. The group turned around to see Garlen before them in his trademark personal flying machine, a pair of telescopic robotic arms snaking out from behind him.

"Garlen!" Guntz snarked.

"Ah, Guntz, Klonoa, so good to see you again!" Garlen trilled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I see this failure of a life form has been feeding you information on my scheme! A very enterprising plan, just a shame it didn't work!"

"Cut the bullshit, Garlen!" Janga yelled out, swearing for the first time in days. It felt good. "How did you know we were here?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Garlen said with mock shock in his voice. "YOU led me here! I had a tracking device implanted in your new leg; I've known exactly where you've been this entire time!"

Janga looked down at his cybernetic leg in abject shock, feeling stupid that he had not considered this contingency plan that Garlen had clearly foreseen a use for.

Guntz, meanwhile, just looked vindicated. "I KNEW it! You're still working for him; this has all been a trick hasn't it?!"

Before Janga could attempt to deny it, Garlen just laughed at the suggestion. "Oh, you stupid child! You think I would let this incompetent oaf work for me?! He's just been a useful idiot, just like the rest of you! After all, he foolishly bought the Aeternus right out into the open for me!"

In the next moment, before any of them could react, Garlen's robotic arm extended out and made a grab for the suitcase. As it tried to retract with it in its grasp, Janga pounced at speed, grabbing on and holding tight as it tried to shake him off.

"Klonoa! Get the High Priestess to safety!" Janga yelled out. Klonoa nodded and picked up the High Priestess' unconscious body before running for the escape capsules.

"Guntz!" he cried out to the canine as the robotic arms flailed around whilst Garlen tried to get him loose, knowing he couldn't hold on forever. "Help me! Don't let him escape with it!"

Guntz looked on for a moment, torn between what to do. He couldn't believe his worst enemy wanted his help, let alone that he expected him to help in the first place. But if he didn't, then Garlen would escape with the Aeternus, and the world would be in jeopardy.

It only took him a moment to make his decision.

Yelling out in fury, blindly forgetting to take out his guns from their holsters in the heat of the moment, Guntz ran forward as Garlen was distracted and jumped onto the flying machine, grabbing the villain by the lapel as he landed punch after punch on him. Disoriented, Garlen's flying machine started moving quickly to the left, ramming through the wall and away from the airship as it tumbled in the air, all three of them clinging on for dear life.

As Garlen was assaulted by Guntz, he was able to reach his console and right his flying machine, stopping it from tumbling in a spin. Finally stable in his seat again, he grabbed Guntz by the shirt and punched him hard in the face, sending him backwards and off the front of the machine, going into freefall above the ocean far below them.

Janga, thinking quickly, was able to grab Guntz's hand to stop him from falling to the ocean below, as he held onto the handle of the suitcase for dear life, the whole package still held tightly by the robotic arm with no sign of being shaken loose.

"Hold on!" He yelled down to Guntz.

"Just let me go!" Guntz yelled back, hanging below him with a defiant look in his eyes. "If the Aeternus is so important, just let me drop and retrieve it before he can!"

"I… I can't! I can't let you die!" Janga yelped.

"Why not?" Guntz roared. "You've always wanted to kill me, well here's your chance. Why not just let me die now?!"

Janga screwed his eyes shut as he tried not to think about it. Once upon a time, yes, he would have jumped at the opportunity to let Guntz drop. Now though, when he looked at Guntz and saw how much he looked like him… he… he couldn't…

His thought process was cut off by Garlen's amused laughter. "I gotta tell you, this is entertaining, but I'm afraid I don't have much time left to watch you quarrel like an old married couple." And with his free robotic hand, he socked Janga in the face, causing him to lose his grip on the briefcase and fall straight down, both him and Guntz plummeting like a stone.

Screaming in terror, Janga saw Guntz spinning around as he fell. Seeing the quickly approaching waters below him, Janga quickly grabbed Guntz and pulled him into a tight protective embrace as he prepared to take the brunt of the impact before…

*SPLASH!*

A great splash of water and foam flew up, before settling down again, leaving no trace of the two.

Garlen looked down at where they had fallen and grinned at a job well done.

"Well, ain't that just perfect." He said to himself as he let the suitcase with the Aeternus inside fall into his hands, which he clasped tightly to his chest.

Radioing in, he called his airship. "Reconvene any surviving drones and set course back to base. The Aeternus has been acquired, and the time for my eternal reign is near…" he said before flying back to it quick as a flash, ready to savor the fruits of his success.

As Garlen's attack force swiftly began to retreat, the L.O.A Momett fell from the sky behind it, its power finally failing and its engines rendered useless as it plummeted towards the ocean below, its metal frame collapsing on itself as it was breached before it crashed into the sea with a massive splash. As the airship's structure exploded out from the impact, it slowly sank beneath the waves, the once great flagship reduced to a smoldering wreck.

Soon, all that was left of it were pieces of wreckage that had broken free, and the escape capsules, which bobbed on the waves as the passengers inside waited for salvation.

Time passed, and soon rescue ships arrived at the scene, having been dispatched from the Empire Of Jillius after receiving the airship's distress call. They picked up those inside the escape capsules before combing the waters for any additional survivors.

Among the floating wreckage, one of the rescuers spotted two bodies in the water, one a canine, the other a feline.

Neither of them were moving…

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