(July 27, 2024)
Blanc's laptop didn't get me very far, but there were a few things on there that made me want to look a little closer. Everything was so vague. After a few hours of hoping I would get everything from the few files and documents that glimmered with hope, I ended up with not enough info. I still lost as ever. Another giant attack could have come later that day for all I knew! I sat there hitting my forehead with the palm of my hand out of sheer stress. We had just survived Neptune airdropping death squads on the town. If it wasn't for the AA guns we spent the last two weeks capturing, we would have lost the town, as well as all the innocent lives that inhabited the town. I felt so much pressure because if I couldn't figure something out, we would possibly end up losing more lives than the previous attack, since Neptune will most likely send more air raids. I stopped hitting myself for a few moments because something hit me; PPK's note that was full of information she had squeezed out of Lukas. I went over to the small crate between mine and Yu's mattresses, quietly so I wouldn't wake anyone up since it was the middle of the night. On that crate was an LED lantern, and underneath that was the slip of paper PPK gave me. I took it out and brought it over to the laptop. I sat there most of the night, cross referencing what I found on the laptop with what was on the paper. I ended up finding some of these codes and passwords on the sheet of paper, and I was able to use those to find more useful stuff on the laptop! When I started finding out important information, I ended up getting a second burst of energy! I kept on working! I couldn't stop! I was finding so much intel!
—-
I suddenly went from being at the laptop to being on my mattress. It took me a few seconds to realize I wasn't dreaming. I laid there for a few more moments, trying to gather the strength to even lift my head up. I had worked so late last night. I finally felt awake enough to lift my head after a few minutes, and I saw Yu and Suomi sitting at the table. Suomi turned her head towards me.
"Mahtava!, look who's up." Suomi said happily.
"What time is it?" I asked as I was rubbing my eyes.
"One in the afternoon." Yu said nonchalantly, just like always. I was shocked. "I trust you had a productive night last night?"
"I did… I found something… or rather someone that's going to get us a few steps ahead of Neptune." I said as I got myself off of the mattress.
"Really? Please tell us." Suomi said, intrigued.
"Her name is Noire." I started. "She holds the same rank and responsibilities Blanc had. She rules over a quadrant of this region, but I've been seeing a pattern of her wanting to defect in online chats she's had with Blanc on her computer."
"Any idea why?" Yu asked me.
"Maybe Noire has some morals…" Suomi reasoned. "Anyone with even half-decent morals would be able to see that what is going on in this region isn't ok." Suomi then started rubbing the scars she got from the intense whipping.
"Blanc really didn't want us to have this laptop." I said. "This is what makes me think Noire could end up being at worst a prisoner with information, and at best a partner."
"Plus since Lukas escaped, this is the best way forward at this point in time." Suomi said. She then held her hand out in between Yu and I. "Who wants to embark on another noble quest?" I put my hand on top of Suomi's, and we both stood there staring at Yu. Yu scoffed lightly.
"It's been a while since we had a family outing." Yu said. He then took a step closer and put his hand on top of mine. "Now, let's go find Noire and see what kinds of tunes she can sing."
"Where do you think we can find her?" Suomi asked me. I sat at the laptop again to find an answer. I ended up sitting there in silence for longer than was comfortable, but I ended up finding an answer.
"Qargha lake." I answered. "From what I'm reading here, it's a beautiful spot that's highly revered by Noire. If we stay there long enough, we may end up face to face with her. She usually goes over there a few hours after sundown."
"Ooh, you know what would be fun?" Suomi suddenly exclaimed. "We should dress up, you know, since we have time before the sun sets."
"'Dress up?'" Yu asked. "Dress up how?"
"You know, like you two get suits and ties and I get a dress." Suomi said. She then looked at me longingly. "I think you'd look great in a suit, Klonoa."
"Well, where would we get them out here?" Yu asked.
"I bet if we ask Dew, she'll know a place." I suggested. The three of us headed upstairs, hoping Dew wasn't too busy. She was standing there watering her plants, and Rom and Ram were helping her. It seems Rom and Ram have warmed up to Dew at least a little bit. Dew looked at us and brightened up.
"Good afternoon, how are you three doing?" Dew asked happily, despite the attack on the town that happened the previous day. I suppose Dew is always able to find a reason to be happy.
"Hanging in there." Yu reported. "Would you happen to know a place where Klonoa and I can get suits, and Suomi can get a dress?" Dew squealed in excitement.
"I know the perfect place!" Dew happily said. "Can I come with you and help find something fancy?"
"I'd love it if you came along!" Suomi said happily. Yu and I both nodded at each other.
"Seems like we're all in agreement." I said. "Come with us, Dew." Dew went into her kitchen and grabbed her car keys.
"Rom, Ram, are you two ok with being watched by Mr. Farha?" Dew asked. Rom shyly nodded her head, so we walked with Dew as she walked Rom and Ram over to Mr. Farha's, then we headed over to her car.
"Where are you four headed?" Woods asked us as we passed him as he was coming back into town.
"I'm taking these three shopping." Dew happily reported. "We're going to have the best time!"
"Shouldn't you three be keeping watch in case another air raid comes in?" Woods asked Yu, Suomi and I.
"We're going to go on a mission tonight to get ahead of Neptune, we just want to do it in style." Suomi explained. Woods slightly scoffed.
"I guess I don't want to be a buzzkill, so go have fun." Woods said.
—-
Dew drove us over to a nearby town that we recently freed with the guys while we were finding Suomi. Dew took us into the giant department store, which was so crowded and filled with clothes hanging on racks, it honestly overwhelmed me a bit.
"Uh… Dew?" I nervously started. "How do I know what to get?" Dew lightly laughed, but not in a mean way.
"We're not even in the suits section yet." Dew said. She then looked at Yu. "I assume you know what you're looking for Yu? If you're ok with taking Klonoa over there and picking something out for the both of you, I'll take Suomi to find a nice dress."
"Sounds like a plan." Yu said.
"Meet us near the changing rooms once you both find suits you like." Dew instructed us. "Oh, I can't wait to see you both dressed up!" We split up from there, and Yu and I found the suit section. I became kind of enthralled by these thick colorful pieces of silk.
"Yu, what are these things?" I asked in bewilderment.
"Those are ties." Yu informed me. "You wear one around your neck while you wear a suit to add some color to your look." Yu said this as he was looking at suits, then after he said that, he looked at me with a slightly confused look. "Have you ever worn a suit?"
"Nope, this will be my first time." I said.
"Well then let me show you how it works." Yu said as he picked out a black suit and held it up in front of me. "So you'll wear a white collared shirt underneath and this black suit jacket over it. Since the suit and the shirt are black and white, it's the tie's job to add some color. Pick one out that you like."
"Do you wear ties a lot?" I asked Yu.
"I used to wear one everyday when I was a first year in high school." Yu said. "It wasn't that bad, but it did get kind of hot."
"What color tie did you wear?" I asked.
"Black." Yu flatly said. "School dress code." I stood there trying to decide what color tie I should get, and I finally settled on red, even though I was also strongly considering the green one. After Yu helped me find a collared shirt that fit me, as well as finding a shirt, suit and tie for himself (he picked a yellow tie), we headed to the changing rooms, but Dew and Suomi weren't there yet. "I suppose we should see how these fit. The girls will probably take a while." Yu said as he handed me the suit and the shirt. "If you need help with the tie, let me know."
"Thanks, brother." I said as I went into an empty changing room and changed into the button down shirt, black pants and the black suit jacket. Those were pretty easy… but I couldn't figure out the tie. After a few minutes of trying and failing to get the tie right, one attempt almost ended with me strangling myself by the way, I left the changing room to get Yu's help. He was standing there, wearing his suit and his yellow tie. It looked really good on him.
"Wow, you look really smooth, Yu." I complimented. Yu smiled at me and nodded. He very quickly realized I wasn't wearing my tie.
"You couldn't figure out the tie, could you?" Yu asked with a smile. I simply shrugged in response. Yu tied my tie for me, then he took a step back and a gander. "There we go. You look awesome, Klonoa." Just then, Dew and Suomi came over to the changing rooms. "Where have you two been?" Yu asked.
"You can't rush perfection." Dew said. "I made sure to find the perfect dress for Suomi, she's going to steal all the gazes." Suomi stared at me for a few moments, and she couldn't help but crack a smile.
"You look really good, Klonoa…" Suomi said. Dew then shoved the dress into Suomi's hands.
"Go on and try it on! I can't wait to see it!" Dew said as she pushed Suomi into an empty changing room. The three of us stood outside waiting. Dew was staring longingly at Yu. "By the way, you look amazing, Yu." Yu nodded as he straightened his tie.
"Thank you." Yu said with suave. "You look pretty great yourself, Dew." Dew started blushing.
"I'm… wearing what I usually wear." Dew said in a slightly hushed tone.
"I know…" Yu courageously uttered. Dew and Yu stared at each other for a few moments, not saying a word. Then, the changing room door opened, and Suomi walked out slowly and nervously, wearing a long blue dress. She looked like a beautiful princess. I stood there staring at her with my mouth hanging open, and I couldn't close it.
"Oh my gosh, Suomi you look amazing!" Dew gasped with her hands over her mouth.
"Looking good, Suomi." Yu complimented. I got my head out of the clouds, and I stood there, trying to piece words together. She looked beautiful, and I wanted her to know, but seeing her looking that good honestly made me feel a little nervous.
"Suomi… you look… so beautiful." I said with a shaky voice.
"Thank you, Klonoa…" Suomi said. She covered her mouth with her hand out of nervousness, but her eyes continued to smile at me.
"Well, looks like this mission was a success, you all look absolutely stunning." Dew said happily. "Now change back into your street clothes and we can check out. Don't worry, this is on me." After we all changed back, Dew brought us up to the front counter where the cashier rang us up.
"Alright, that will be 895 W-Quarters." The cashier informed us.
"DOHH-HUUGH-HOAHH!" Yu uttered in complete shock, at a loss for words. Dew took out her giant coin purse, not looking daunted by the price at all.
"I don't really spend much money nowadays." Dew admitted. Yu, Suomi and I stood there feeling slightly guilty. I think Dew could tell how we were feeling. "You three saved the town and freed us from Neptune's clutches… this is my way of saying 'thank you.'" After we checked out, we started heading back to town, and the way back, we found a car rental place.
—-
The sun started going down, so Yu, Suomi and I all got changed into our fancy new clothes and headed to Qargha lake in a rental car we were able to get from near the department store we shopped at earlier. I knew there would most likely be civilians at the lake, but I wasn't nervous. I saw this mission going as follows; find Noire, talk to her, ba-da-bing ba-da-boom. There was that pressing fear in the back of my mind that the mission wouldn't be that easy, though. Not to mention I was already forgetting what Noire actually looked like. All I remembered was she had black hair and she wore clothes that were very out of the ordinary. I knew we wouldn't be able to walk around the beach with our guns out, so Yu got the idea to disassemble our weapons and put the parts into duffel bags. After a long and pleasant drive, we pulled up to the beach, grabbed our duffel bags and kicked off the search.
"Don't worry." Yu whispered to me and Suomi as he reached into his suit jacket and pulled his auto-glock out slightly. "I'm keeping this packed away in case we run into trouble." The three of us walked down the beach, and it was beautiful at night. The sound of the waves crashing onto shore was very calming. I could see an amusement park off in the distance as well… It reminded me of Joilant, one of the kingdoms in Lunatea… normally that would make me start to break down because I'd think of another world I had to leave, but I was hopeful I could find a way to stay in this world. Despite all the horrible things I've seen and done in this world… I'm happier here than I was anywhere else. I've never had friends like Yu or Suomi. Anyway, we continued walking down the beach.
"You don't think Noire would be wearing some sort of disguise, do you?" I asked.
"I don't think she has a reason to hide." Suomi said subtly.
"She might be surrounded by guards though." Yu said just as nonchalantly as usual.
"Maybe we could ask someone?" I suggested. We happened to be walking past these two guys who were headed back to their cars. "Excuse me gentlemen?"
"Sir… you shouldn't be out this late… strict curfews now." One of the men said in a paranoid manner.
"'Curfews?'" Yu said in disbelief.
"Ever since the death of Goddess Blanc, we're forced to not be out late." The other man said, as the both of them hurried off the beach.
"Looks like you two have caused quite the stir." Yu said to me and Suomi.
"We'll have to keep searching, but we need to be careful." I said. "There may be guards on the beach." We continued searching the beach while using the darkness to our advantage. Luckily there weren't many lit up buildings on the side of the lake we were on, mostly lush vegetation, which was great for us to use as cover.
"Hold up, let's get onto this bluff and see if we can scope Noire out." Yu suggested. Suomi and I followed him up a small bluff, and he got his M14 scope out of his duffel bag. He looked through his scope and was slowly scanning the area. "Found her." Yu said after a minute or two. "Take a look." He handed me the scope. She was standing at a fancy railing looking out at the water, but she looked very mentally drained for some reason. She had a blank stare, and she would occasionally slowly peer straight down at her feet. I didn't really know what to make of that. I passed the scope to Suomi.
"How should we go about this?" Suomi asked after observing Noire for a very short time.
"We'll need to get through the guards to get to Noire…" I pondered outloud. "... The darkness is an advantage to us, but a disadvantage as well because we can't see our enemies."
"I can go down there and spot them." Suomi volunteered herself. Yu then handed me a monocular from his duffel bag. He also pulled out two flip phones with headphones, the same ones we had way back at the first prison we hit.
"We'll keep an eye on you from here." Yu said, as he handed Suomi one of the phones. "If you find yourself in a pinch, find a way to show me where they are and I'll whittle them off for you." I gripped Suomi's shoulder.
"Be careful out there, Suomi." I said while looking her dead in the eyes. She nodded at me confidently, then she made her way down the bluff. She was making her way over to where the guards were, but that was a long way off… she had a ways to go.
"Keep your eyes on Suomi, let her know which guards she should take out and when." Yu instructed me. "I'm ready with additional firepower if you need it. I won't attack anyone unless you tell me to do so." I have Yu a thumbs up, then he looked down his scope and zeroed in. I watched Suomi slink through the shadows, getting closer to where the guards were patrolling. I scoped over to Noire, who was still leaning on the railing, staring down at the lake with a dead expression on her face.
"Alright Klonoa, I'm getting close." Suomi reported. If I tell Suomi to kill every guard in her way, that will mean safer traversal, but the down side is she'll be leaving a trail of bread crumbs. If I tell her to sneak around the guards, it will be tougher, but at least we'll be able to make everything look normal to our enemies, but the downside to that is if Suomi gets discovered, she'll end up getting surrounded. I made the choice to leave the guards alive if we could, but I had my AK and the Super Shorty ready just in case I had to rush down there.
"Suomi, don't kill anyone unless you absolutely have to." I instructed. I started guiding her from cover to cover, making sure to keep her in the dark as much as I could. Most of the guards remained oblivious, but at one point, one of the guards must have heard Suomi running towards a tree, so he and two of his buddies started walking slowly towards the tree. "Suomi, you have three guards walking towards you. Yu, take out the guard at the rear, Suomi, wait until the other two have their backs turned."
"I'm ready." Suomi said fearlessly.
"Yu, do it." I instructed. Yu fired a shot at the guard taking up the rear, and Suomi shot one of the two in front and took the last one down with her knife. "Suomi, hide the bodies, quickly!"
"The shadows should keep them hidden." Suomi said as she dragged the bodies into the foliage that was draped in darkness. The way was clear, so she kept moving towards Noire. The way forward for Suomi was pretty clear, except for the occasional guard standing in the dark. Fortunately, Suomi was able to see them so I told her to use her best judgment on whether or not to take them down, but I made it crystal clear that Suomi had to hide all the bodies, since I didn't want her to leave a trail behind. It was going well, until a boat with a spotlight started lighting up the shore.
"Suomi, hide!" I instructed. Suomi hunkered down in some foliage that was shrouded in darkness. The boat started heading to shore after it lit up a few bodies that weren't hidden well enough. At the very least, Noire didn't seem to be perturbed by this. Guards got off the boat and started searching the beach with flashlights. I took the headphones off and passed the headphones and the phone to Yu. "I don't like this at all… I'm going down there to back Suomi up."
"Be careful down there, Klonoa." Yu said. "I'll keep my eyes on you."
"Remember to watch Noire every now and again." I reminded Yu. I slid down the bluff and started towards where Suomi was. We only had two phones, so at that point only Yu and Suomi could talk to each other. I was on my own. All the guards searching around had flashlights. If I killed one, it would have been too obvious. I stuck to the shadows, but I had to be careful of lights. At one point, I had to lie down in the grass and not move a muscle, because there were three guards suddenly spotlighting a spot I happened to be in. As they were walking closer to me, a guard closer to the bluff Yu was on top of suddenly got shot. The three guards who were close to me took their lights off me and started shining the bluff. I was in the clear… but Yu wasn't. The guards started walking towards the bluff. Then out of nowhere, Suomi walked up behind the guards and mowed them all down! "Suomi!" I called out.
"Klonoa…" Suomi said, while distracted by relief. Her face went from relieved to serious in the matter of a split second. "Noire is running! We have to get after her now!" Suomi and I started running over to the side of the lake Noire was at before. I could see her off in the distance, running into the small group of buildings. "Narukami, is there any way you can flank her?" Suomi asked. I wasn't able to hear the answer since there were headphones plugged into the phone.
"What did he say?" I asked while we were running over to the town Noire was fleeing into.
"He's going for the car!" Suomi said as we both ran. "He needs us to keep our eyes on Noire and inform him of where she is!" We ran into the town, where there were guards patrolling the streets. As Suomi and I were fighting them, I noticed something strange; Noire wasn't using guards as human shields like I thought she would… She was trying to avoid them. I was trying to formulate a plan in my head, since Noire was running straight through the guards, which wasn't easy because of all the sporadic firefights. I saw Noire run further down the street, then she took a right turn. We had to move up, but guards were using any cover they could and keeping me and SUomi pinned down! They were popping out of buildings, hiding behind cars, and even firing on us from the rooftops! We couldn't go forward, but maybe we could go around.
"Suomi! We have to find another way!" I yelled as I grabbed her arm and pulled her back down the way we came. We got to the other end of the street and turned towards the direction Noire headed.
"What are you doing out here after dark, Miss Noire?" I heard a guard say threateningly. Suomi and I turned the corner to see a few guards cornering Noire. I was able to take a guard out, which caused the other three guards to leave Noire alone, but Noire started running again!
"We can't stop here, Klonoa!" Suomi declared. "Run behind me, I'll keep them in cover!" Suomi ran in front of me and sprayed the guards' hiding spots as we ran. When we finally got around the building, I covered the rear as Suomi kept after Noire. I was so out of breath, I couldn't keep my AK straight. I was spraying bullets everywhere. The guards left their cover and started charging me, so I grabbed the super shorty, pointed and shot. One of the guards got blown away, but the other two kept running at me. I rechambered another shell and fired at another guard. He was far away, but the pellets still hit him, and they managed to knock him off his feet. The super shorty is a gun I don't need to be accurate with, because it sprays a barrage of pellets that gets a wide range. If someone is close to me, I can blow them away, but if they're far away, it will merely slow them down, which is exactly what I want in this situation. As I was rechambering yet another round, a guard was able to run at me and hit me in the face, which threw me to the ground. The guard gripped his rifle and thrusted the butt of his gun towards my face, then suddenly blood started pouring out of his chest, and he fell off of me backwards. I got up to see Suomi standing there with a little bit of smoke coming from her gun.
"Suomi, we have to keep running! We'll lose Noire!" I yelled. I wish I had said 'thank you' to her, but I was too focused on getting Noire. Suomi and I took off in the direction Noire was headed, even though she was out of view.
"Narukami, I think we lost Noire." Suomi reported. As we turned the corner, we saw Noire still running, but she was so far ahead of us, we would never be able to catch her. Then all of the sudden, the car we rented came out from between two buildings next to where Noire was. The car hit Noire, and threw her towards a wall, where it looked like she hit her head pretty hard. Noire ended up being knocked out. The car came to a stop, and Yu got out of it quickly, took his tie off, tied Noire's hands together and threw her in the backseat of the car. We ran over to where he was.
"Quick, get in the car! We have to get out of here!" Yu yelled to us as he fired at the guards from behind the open car door. I let Suomi ride in the front, and I climbed in the backseat of the car, where I was finally able to catch my breath. Yu got in the car and gunned it out of the town and away from all the guards who were firing at our car. "Oh no…" Yu moaned.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"...I didn't get renters insurance…" Yu lamented.
—-
We lost the guards in the city, and drove back out to the middle of nowhere. I didn't want to take Noire back to the small town out of fear a guard may have still been tracking us somehow. There was already an attack over there, I didn't want there to be another one. Ever. Anyway, we kept driving in the scary dead of night down a long desert road until we found a cave, but we weren't sure if it was clear. Yu pulled the car near the cave, but not too close to it. We didn't want someone possibly hiding in the cave to get suspicious.
"Yu, take point with me, Suomi, keep Noire in check." I whispered. Yu and I slowly made our way through the cave with our guns up while Suomi stayed a good distance behind, keeping Noire at gunpoint. It looked like someone had lived in this cave at a certain point in time, but it had been a while since anyone stepped foot in here. Every step I took kicked up dust. There were torn sheets hanging from clothes lines, a pile of old wooden furniture in the hallway and a few oil lamps lying around. I was hoping we could use one of them to light the way, but they were all completely empty with dry wicks. We got into a room that had tons of old carpets strewn about, and there was a small container of kerosene, so we were able to use that to make a lamp work. Suomi brought Noire into the slightly-lit room and we used mine and Yu's ties to tie her arms to a chair in the corner of the room. We sat there in silence waiting for Noire to come to. All that silence was making me reflect on what had just happened. "Suomi… thank you for saving my life earlier. I wish I had been more appreciative."
"You don't need to thank me…" Suomi said. "All I want is for you to be safe." Suomi looked down to her feet, then right back at me. "But it is nice to hear you say you appreciate it…" Just then, Noire started waking up. She couldn't open her eyes all the way, and she seemed beyond exhausted. She slurred her words as she woke up, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. At one point she became cognizant enough to see she was tied up.
"You three had better not kill me!" Noire yelled while still slightly slurring her words.
"We aren't going to kill you, but you'll have to meet us halfway." Yu bargained. Noire scowled at Yu, and then she looked at me.
"I'm listening…" Noire said, still scowling slightly.
"You're a friend of Neptune's, correct?" Yu asked. Noire's face slowly turned from slightly intimidated to disgusted.
"I… HATE… Neptune." Noire whispered, with lots of emphasis on the 'hate.' This took me by surprise, and after I looked around the room, I realized I wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"Then why are you fighting for her?" Suomi asked.
"It's what's expected of me…" Noire admitted. "I have a noose around my neck and Neptune's hand is on the trap door mechanism. I have to keep doing this… for Uni… my little sister's sake. Yu stopped dead in his tracks and stood there almost motionlessly. "Everything was ok when we first got here, but then the greasy man-baby who's responsible for the dimensional merge took a liking to Neptune, and she ended up swooning for him. Neptune wants to keep the man baby happy, but she's doing it at our expense. I don't want any of this killing… this madness… all the tormenting."
"Why are you telling us this?" I asked curiously.
"Because I know who you are… Klonoa." Noire said, slightly joyful. "I know you're capable of ending this madness. I don't want my sister in a world like this one… but I'm not in a position to do anything about it. The moment I try… Neptune will come for Uni's neck."
"We'll keep you and your sister safe." Yu solemnly swore.
"I can't help any of you fight directly… but I can slip you some info under the table." Noire said. "I know the locations of all the outposts, training grounds, command buildings, airfields, you name it."
"Wow… we captured you to get information and we didn't even need to interrogate you." Suomi muttered loud enough to be heard. "Please… sweep through my quadrant, free all the towns, take all the points of interest, then we can fake mine and my sister's deaths… and we can go somewhere far away and live in peace… away from all of this!" Noire said, sounding relieved and excited. I walked over to Noire slowly and cautiously, then I untied her from the chair. She stood up slowly and rubbed her head. "May I get a ride back to my home? If you three want to come in, I can give you some information to get you started… and you can meet Uni." We took her up on her offer.