CHAPTER 17

THE SCARLET DEMON

Squinting his eyes from the bright morning light, Cal let out a yawn as he woke up. Unlike the past few days where he had felt heavy and tired, he now felt full of life. Even with it being winter the bright sun rise seemed to give Cal a sense of enthusiasm.

"Good morning sleepyhead." a gentle voice said as Cal looked over to see Ersha leaning on her arm as she smiled warmly at him.

"Am I dead?" Cal asked grinning back.

"What do you mean?" Ersha wondered.

"Because there's a beautiful angel right beside me." Ersha beamed as her face went pink and she laid back against him, the warmth of her body and the feel of her big soft breasts against his chest making Cal want to drift back into sleep. "How long have you been up?" He asked.

"Just a few minutes." Ersha hummed.

"Are you okay though?"

"I'm more than okay, why?"

"I was just worried," Cal said. "I know that the first time for girls is painful." Ersha smiled and nuzzled into his throat.

"A little," she said. "But it wasn't all bad. And you were so gentle. No wonder Captain Zola loves doing this so much."

"Thank goodness." Cal let out a huge sigh. "I wish we could stay all day like this."

"Unfortunately, we need to get ready for training." Ersha reminded him. After changing back into her orange pyjamas that were scattered around the floor, she kissed Cal on the cheek. "I'll catch you later." As she left, Cal fell back onto his pillow and stretched a bit. The irony that despite how sweet and kind Ersha was she'd soon mostly likely be pummeling him in sparing was not lost on him


Another new year had arrived, usually this time of year every human was celebrating with friends and family, but for the residents of Arzenal it was just another day of duties. One human though, Inspector Emma Bronson wasn't partaking in the celebration due to her job but at least she received a Mana call from her father.

"Happy new year baby girl." Mr Bronson chuckled.

"Happy new year Papa." Emma said, feeling elevated that even with her being so far from civilization, her father still had the time to call her.

"So how're the Norma treating you?" Mr Bronson asked, "The Management board have informed me you have been doing an exceptionally well job compared to the last inspector."

"Thank you, Papa. And yes the Norma have been very well behaved."

"Even the male one?" Mr Bronson asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well," she sighed, "he has his moments of being a pain, but he's nothing I can't handle. He just needs to be occasionally reminded of his place. Right now, I'm having him fetch my tea." As she spoke, Emma looked over the top of the Mana screen for Cal. 'Where is he,' she wondered just as she noticed her father's questionable expression and finally saw the reflection in the Mana screen of Cal giving her bunny ears with two fingers. Emma shot round, annoyed and embarrassed that he was acting like a child in front of her father.

"Hi Inspector, here's the tea you wanted." Cal grinned widely holding onto a trolley with a teakettle and crockery. Emma's lip thinned as Cal saw her glasses steam up and his ribs felt like cracking from trying not to laugh. "I didn't know our tea party was going to be a threesome."

"What was that?" Mr Bronson questioned, as a vein in Emma's forehead began to tick.

"Oh she didn't tell you, I promised her I'd go on a date with…" and Cal didn't even finish before Emma smacked him across the back of the head.

"Will you get out of here, you little pervert!" Emma shrieked, causing everyone in the cafeteria to snicker as Cal ran for it.

"Aw, c'mon admit you love me Inspector!" Cal called as he rounded the corner out of sight. Emma's face went redder and redder until she looked like a giant beet.

"I'm so sorry Papa." Emma sighed in embarrassment.

"He's quite a cheeky little bastard." Mr Bronson nodded.

"I try to just ignore him." Emma said at once. "But even with warnings from the Commander, he always knows how to stop just short of crossing the line."

"Are you sure you don't need some…help?" Mr Bronson suggested. "I could send…"

"Papa please." Emma said proudly. "I don't need a personal bodyguard. I can handle that little hooligan myself."

"That's my girl," Mr. Bronson said. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Goodbye Papa." Emma cut the line and leaned back as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. 'I think I preferred it when he was in a mood,' she groaned.


Sweating bullets, Hilda began to spam the buttons of the Arcade machine. She along with Rosalie, Chris, Naomi, Cal and 9 other girls were playing a quad trophy race of 'Pablo Kart.' They had been going at it for 2 hours which had a small crowd observing them, placing bets on who would win the 16 races claiming the kart trophy.

Hilda and Cal were currently tied at 98 points and were in the middle of the last race. Hilda saw Cal creeping up behind her kart using his meatball boost. She stuck her leg out and began to tap him with her foot hoping it will put him off. "Huh." Cal mocked. "Did someone just kick me? Well you certainly hit harder here than in sparring."

"What did you just say?" Hilda snapped. It was just the distraction he needed. Cal bumped into the side of Hilda's kart knocking her into a pole. "Shit!" Hilda panicked as she tried to reverse only to have a red rocket fired at her by Chris, caused her to spin out of control. "NOOOO!" Hilda yelled in defeat. Cal jumped for joy as he passed the finish line followed by Chris, Naomi, and everyone else. Hilda banged her head on the console coming 13th place. Cal collected his winning stack of bills from the other races and saw the defeat in Hilda's face.

"Thanks for making it easy for me." He gloated. "You didn't have to lose on purpose."

"You're a dick." Hilda groaned.

"It was your own fault." Cal pointed out. "How does it feel to be second place for a change." He pointed at the score seeing she was 9 points behind him. "Now I just need to beat you at…everything else at this mall." To his surprise, instead of getting mad Hilda actually seemed to lighten up a bit.

"Well, it's nice you haven't got a stick up your ass anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a lot better seeing you as your annoying, usual self than gloomy and depressed." Hilda admitted. "I know what it's like when this place gets to you. Especially when you miss the things that once were." Even though she was far from his best friend, Cal had to admit since their relationship had improved, he and Hilda had a surprising amount in common. He sometimes was even tempted to ask what her life was like before coming to Arzenal though he was afraid it might open a wound like it did with him.

"That I can agree on," Cal said as he saw Hilda's lip curl slightly. "Oh, is that a smile I see?"

"No."

"It almost makes you look cute," Cal mocked.

"Do you want to get punched," Hilda warned as Rosalie and Chris came running over.

"Hey." Rosalie beamed in excitement. "We just got the season three of Elite Space; it just came on sale."

"Let's watch it in our room." Chris suggested.

"Not today guys, I've got a session with Scarlett in a few minutes," Cal told them. "Plus I need to replace my Cannon since it got damaged during our last sortie."

"Oh, what are you getting." Chris asked. "The newer model of the 4-barrel rotary cannon? Or maybe a heavy grenade launcher?"

"You'll see on our next sortie." Cal winked as he dashed off.

"Such a tease." Rosalie sighed.

"Well he's not the only one getting something new." Hilda added peaking Chris and Rosalie's interests.

"Anything specific?" Rosalie asked.

"The new Para-mail arm mounted stun weapon for backup," Hilda answered. "From what I was told it fires an electric surge so powerful it can knock a Corvette out cold." Though Chris felt rather disappointed that Cal was busy, seeing Hilda had nothing to do, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Hey Hilda, do you wanna watch Elite Space with us instead?" Chris asked hopefully.

"You know I don't like that MECHA shit." Hilda sneered. "It's bad enough we fight in them for a living." Hilda walked off.

"Hilda…" Chris said disappointed.

"Just leave her Chris." Rosalie reassured. "We'll watch it another time." Rosalie then went back into the mall to play some arcade game leaving Chris on her own, her face showcasing how hurt and alone she felt.


"Ooh sweet." Vivian drooled with stars in her eyes. "You got good taste." Upon arriving at the mall, Cal had run into Naomi and Vivian who were helping Miranda choose some upgrades for her Glaive. For himself, Cal had opted to picked out a triple rotary cannon instead of the four barrel one.

"It'll save me on cash since it won't eat up ammo as much as the four." Cal pointed out. "Plus it's lighter and will have less recoil which will make it more useful against long range targets."

"Thinking of your Para-mail's full potential, I like that." Vivian piped up. "Maybe I'll …"

"Don't even think about it." Cal warned. "Don't buy ridiculous expensive weapons just because they look cool. Remember what happened last time."

"Fine," Vivian sulked. "Hey Miranda, wanna go check out the new rifles Granny got in?"

"You go on ahead," the rookie pilot said. "I'll catch up in minute."

"No problem," Vivian beamed as she ran off.

"Hey," Cal advised, "don't let Vivian push you into buying overly flashy gear. It almost got her killed one time."

"Okay." Miranda said nervously.

"Honestly you two look so adorable together." Naomi giggled. "I think someone has a crush on you Cal."

"Don't you start as well. I've had enough of some of the other girls asking me to draw them…privately."

"Sounds like fun," Naomi winked. "Maybe I could be a 'private' model for you."

"Not in front of the newbie." Cal whispered pointing to the younger confused Norma.

"What are you guys talking about?" Miranda asked but Cal and Naomi ignored her.

"That was a close win but at least you're putting your winnings to good use." Naomi admitted.

"Oh that reminds me." Cal said abruptly looking nervous.

"What?"

"Turn around, will you?" Her curiosity piqued, Naomi did as requested and felt his hands brush around the back of her neck as something was hooked around it. She looked down to see a thin neckless on which was mounted a gold pendant with an indigo gem in the centre.

"Cal…it's beautiful." Naomi gaped in amazement.

"Well I wanted to thank you." Cal explained. "You know for being there for me when I was in a dark place. And you did give me this after all." Cal showed off his gold bracelet that had his name etched into it. "So I thought I should balance the book." Naomi beamed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Miranda covered her eyes in embarrassment, though she secretly peeked through her fingers.

"Naomi and Cal sitting in a tree…" Vivian began to sing.

"Can it!" they both yelled as Vivian retreated.

"I'll see you later," he told them. "I need to get this Cannon equipped." That made Naomi feel nervous as she she knew that he still wasn't on speaking terms with Jasmine.

"C'mon Newbie," she told Miranda. "After we get your upgrades, let's get some chips and play some air hockey."

"I…I don't know how to play." Miranda stuttered shyly.

"Perfect," Naomi beamed. "Cal's pretty much graduated so I could use a new apprentice." As they headed off in their own direction, Naomi caught sight of Salia in the book section looking at the newly stocked Manga. She seemed even tenser than usual which gave Naomi an idea.


At the mall entrance, Jasmine held onto the back of Sadie's collar as she dragged her out of the mall, the death stick clutched in another. "And if I catch you trying to smuggle an adult magazine down your cleavage, I'll add another scar to your collection!" Jasmine scolded as she threw her out "Consider yourself banned for 3 weeks."

"You're just jealous that yours has dropped, you old bag." Jasmine heard Sadie mumble.

"What was that!" Jasmine warned as Sadie ran for it. There were few Norma that Jasmine despised, but Sadie had always been a trouble maker. And after she had almost raped Cal back a few months ago, Jasmine kept a very close eye on her. A sudden bark from Vulcan caught her attention and she looked up to see Cal walking towards them. Though she was glad to see him up and about, the look on his face gave the impression he wouldn't be here unless he had no other option. Vulcan ran up to Cal, his tail wagging but Cal gave him a single pat before stepping past him, the dog's ears going down in disappointment. "Hey there hon." Jasmine greeted carefully.

"Hey." Cal said blankly.

"You need something?" She asked. From out of his satchel, Cal pulled three stacks of bills which he tossed to her.

"The triple rotary cannon. The one at the top second shelf. Just take the rest out of my account."

"Can do," she nodded. Cal turned away and started to walk off when Jasmine called out to him. "Are you doing okay?" Cal stopped but kept his back to her.

"I'm doing better," he said.

"Place isn't the same without you," she said. "There's always a job here if you want it."

"I'm…not quite ready for that yet."

"Fair enough," she said. "Just take care of yourself okay." Cal didn't answer but simply walked off. The truth was he missed working in the mall and hanging with her and Vulcan. But he was still sore and angry over what they and his Gramps had kept from him.

Noticing it was past 4 pm, he headed straight for the gym for his session with Scarlett. He could use a vigorous session to work out his frustration. To his surprise she wasn't there. After waiting for 15 minutes, he decided she must have been busy with her new recruit and decided a soak in the onsen would help him relax. After wrapping a towel around his waist, he opened the sliding doors and heard something. Squinting his eyes as the steam cleared, Cal was greeted to the sight of Zola and Scarlett in the water, their arms wrapped around each other and practically devouring each other's faces. Cal held his now bleeding nose, dropping the stool and soap as the blood rushed to his face and brain. The sound of alerted the two women to his presence and they turned to look at him.

"Well are you trying to peep in on us?" Zola teased as Scarlett covered her chest.

"No, I swear! I just came here to relax." Scarlett didn't seem to mind Cal's presence. Especially since his reaction was priceless.

"Don't worry, it was just bad timing," Scarlett told him.

"Or maybe he would like to join in." Zola suggested with a perverted expression.

"Are you kidding me?" Scarlett cried.

"Well I'm sure he'd love nothing more than two mature attractive women showing him the time of his life." Zola smirked licking her lips.

"Ugh…goodnight." Cal groaned turning back to go inside for a shower instead when he heard a surprised yelp. He turned around to see Zola groping both her and Scarlett's breast.

"Tell me the truth, who's got the nicer pair here handsome." Zola grinned evilly locking eyes with his.

"What the hell!" Scarlett yelped, trying not to moan. Cal bolted out, turning the shower on to the coldest it would go, fearing he would not be able to control himself. 'God it's one extreme after another with her.' He thought. After cooling off, he got changed as quickly as he could before Zola could try anything. He had to admit though, seeing the two had somewhat put their past to bed, 'quite literally' made him happy. Perhaps he could learn to do the same someday.

Upon arriving at his room, Cal put the key in his door and found it already unlocked. He smiled, knowing it was most likely Naomi waiting for him, but as he opened his door was greeted to not only Naomi but Salia, dressed in her 'Holy Knight Pretty Lilian' costume. Naomi was in a similar minty green suit which he recognized from the manga as 'Holy Knight Maya.'

"Well what do you think?" Naomi asked.

"Very nice." He had to admit. Naomi giggled but Salia went pink and shyly clutched at her toy wand.

"I'm not too sure about this." She gulped.

"Aw come on Salia relax. It's only me." Naomi reassured. "We're our own little group, the three musketeers." Naomi flashed her rose gold bracelet with her name etched in it, identical to Salia's silver and Cal's gold. Naomi saw this reassured Salia as she smiled rather shyly before grabbing a costume on Cal's bed and tossing it to him.

"Hurry, I'm dying to see you in this." Cal was expecting to play Muffin the Cat again. However, the costume she had given him was a princely pure-white regalia with red and gold accents.

"What's this?" Cal asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well…I was wondering…" Salia stuttered. "If you could…act the part of Kamen Fencer." Cal simply gulped. 'What has my life come to?' he wondered.


Finishing up her shower, Jill collapsed exhausted on her bed clad only in her robe. It was always this time of year that she had more paperwork than usual since she had to perform Arzenal's yearly audit. Thankfully, everything had improved by 4% which seemed to satisfy the NMB committee. However, she had other concerns besides paperwork. Her final conversation with Gaz had played on her mind constantly.

"And you think she's a Norma?"

"I don't have any definite proof, but I've been studying footage of her. Not once has she ever used the Light of Mana in public. Instead, her maid seems to do everything for her. I don't know if she's aware of it or not, but I think she bears watching. Sooner or later, someone's going to out her. I just wanted to let you know first so you can prepare her for when it happens."

'God Gaz, I hope you're right about this.' Jill hoped. If this Ange girl really was a Norma then there could be a chance. Her Baptism was coming up in just 4 weeks and surely the ceremony would detect if a Norma was around. Jill knew that even royalty couldn't protect a Norma. One way or another the humans always caught them in the end. 'If not, then Cal will be the ultimate trump card for Libertus. I hope Salia will keep him from shooting his mouth off.' Removing her robe and mechanical arm, Jill tucked herself into bed. Maybe some sleep would help clear her head.


Exhausted but happy, Cal lay wedged between Naomi and Salia on either side. Their little stress relief session left all three of them tired. Nothing drastic had happened but the past few hours of roleplay had led to a lot of kissing and snogging, which had caused Salia to almost pass out a few times. Since it was getting late Naomi invited Salia to stay and Cal provided a pair of spare t-shirts. Though Salia had fallen asleep rather quickly, Cal and Naomi were still awake.

"You know I'd prefer if I was Muffin the cat from now on if this continues." Cal whispered, not wanting to wake Salia who head was resting on his shoulder.

"C'mon you're saying you didn't enjoy it?" Naomi teased, Cal diverting his eyes to the ceiling as his face reddened. "You're still hurting, aren't you?"

"I swear you can read me like a book." Cal groaned. "It still hurts, and I think it will for the rest of my life. But I've just got to deal with it. Nothing can change the past, so I've just got to concentrate on the present."

"That's good." Naomi smiled before turning off Cal's desk lamp and resting her head on his shoulder, her arm wrapped around him brushing slightly on Salia's. She leaned in closer to his ear. "The reason I can read you like a book is because I love you." As Naomi fell asleep, Cal didn't know what to do. He wanted to say 'I love you' back but felt if he was going to say it properly then this was not it. Plus he was rather tired. Feeling the two girls' warm bodies and the rhythm of their breathing made him feel cosy and peaceful and he quietly drifted into a blissful sleep…

…Finding himself in a dark void, Cal's vision blurred as patches of green and brown formed. His vision cleared as he saw that he was standing in the middle of a forest. But not any forest, his home.

"Hey boy, you ready?" That familiar voice ran through Cal's body, but it didn't make him feel angry or betrayed. It made him feel pure and filled with life. He turned to see the broad figure of his Gramps standing there with a soccer ball in his hand and at his side was a snow-white, egg head shaped dog with bat like ears.

"Yeah Gramps!" Cal beamed. Gaz kicked the soccer ball right to him, Cal stopped it with his foot as he began to kick it back and broke into a run. "C'mon Gramps!" Gaz kicked the ball high into the air and just as Cal was ready to headbutt it back, Star had jumped up in front of him and headbutted it instead, making Cal howl with laughter.

"Damn I swear that dog has issues." Gaz rolled his eyes. Star darted back and forth barking with excitement as Cal ran up to his Gramps and hugged him as Gaz wrapped his huge arms around him. "I love you Gramps." Cal said closing his eyes.

"I love you too kiddo." Gaz said back. "But you need to wake up." Cal opened his eyes and saw he was holding onto nothing but the air. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The trees and ground were on fire. But it was not a flaming orange but a flaring and pulsing red as an ear-splitting blare rang through his ears…

…Cal bolted up and found himself back in his quarters. The alarm lights were flashing wildly as the bell rang through the base. "What the hell is going on?" Naomi asked in a daze.

"That doesn't sound good." Salia panicked.


After being blasted out of bed by the alarm, Jill threw on her robe and some pants and checked the clock as she reattached her mechanical arm. It was just past 3am. This was not normal. The DRAGONs had never attacked this late before in Arzenal's history. Once reasonably dressed, Jill bolted for the Command Centre. Pamela, Hikaru and Oliver had already arrived and like her, were dressed in a miss mash of their uniforms and night wear due to the unexpectant attack.

"Commander we have a problem." Hikaru gasped.

"What is it?" Jill demanded.

"The Singular's signal is strong; it might be another Category 4," Pamela informed them as she checked her readings. '2 Category 4's in just a month this is definitely not normal.' Jill thought.

"Get the location, quickly!" Jill ordered. At least this time they had plenty of warning and wouldn't have to send out only one squad. Meanwhile, Oliver began to boost the signal range and the three let out a loud gasp.

"Commander the signal is very strong, it's definitely a Category 4." Oliver informed.

"And the location?" Jill asked.

"9 miles, north west from base." Hikaru informed.

"Attention everyone, this is commander Jill." She spoke into the base intercom. "I'm ordering a type 4 battle mode, the singular is opening up close to base with a huge number of DRAGON's approaching, first and third squad deploy all units!"


Leaping out of her bed in fright, Emma fumbled for her glasses as the Commander made her announcement. "What is going on?" Emma questioned. Looking out of her window she saw nothing but total darkness, other than the glinting light of the command centre a few hundred yards from her quarters. 'A type 4.' Emma recalled, remembering her exam works when applying for the job. 'That means a huge attack is happening a few miles from base, which means 2 squads will be flying together.' An attack this late at night however was very abnormal. Was that why the committee didn't call first?

'Should I make my way to the command Centre?' Emma knew running out in her night wear would not be professional and there was no way to communicate to the Commander since Norma couldn't use the light of Mana. Ultimately, Emma decided to let the Norma do their job in taking down the DRAGONS and she would report back to the committee in the morning. She sat back on her bed but kept gazing out the window that overlooked the north side of the island. In the distance to the north west was a glint of red followed by red lightning flickering above the black clouds.


First squad came running into the hanger just as the armorers began bringing up their Para-mail. In the sudden hustle, some didn't even have time to get dressed in their orange coveralls and were hauling equipment in their pajamas and slippers. Cal looked over to Miranda who was shivering out of nervousness and exhaustion. "I know you're tired but do what you did last time." He reassured. "This will be dealt with fast."

"Thanks, it's never like this, an attack this late." Miranda shivered.

"Look on the bright side, a big attack, the bigger the pay." Vivian patted Miranda on the back which made Cal and the other roll their eyes. Beside them were another eleven girls, the third squad.

"It's been a while since we've flown together Eleanor!" Zola smirked to the tallest girl in the third squad. Tawny skinned with long dark brown hair done it thick dreadlocks that reached past her shoulder blades. Eleanor wore a dark candy red plug suit with silver lining.

"Just stay out of my way and my squad, since we're the ones in the front line." Eleanor grunted with a serious expression.

"Oh, always have to be so serious." Zola mocked. It was no secret that Eleanor wasn't a fan of Zola due to her 'habits,' which Eleanor had been a victim of too, once upon a time. In the back Irma and Tanya, both of whom looked to Cal as he gave them a wide grin and a thumbs up which made them turn their head away fast though he caught the pink in their cheeks. Finally, the Para-Mail were rolled into position and third squad mounted first.

"I'll be sure to leave you and your squad some scraps once we're done." Eleanor mocked as she shot out of the hanger first followed by the rest of third squad.

"We'll show you." Zola growled.

"Captain, now is not the time for competition!" Salia scolded. Finally, their own units taxied into place and they soon were in the skies. It was so dark, with the clouds blocking the moon light that peeked through the black clouds. Seeing the red glint of light flashing in the clouds made the hairs on Cal's neck stand up. It gave of the impression they were about to come into contact with something very dangerous.

"Alright girls and stud, lets show them how it's done." Zola announced.

"Yes Ma'am."


Smirking to herself Eleanor checked her screen to see the blue dots of first squad were lagging far behind, giving her squad enough time to get most of the good kills.

"Alright girls, once we break through the cloud walls, get into formation Frost." Eleanor ordered. "Don't allow the Schooners to get past us, if it is a Category 4 hoard then fall back to first if they get too close."

"Yes Captain!" Entering the cloud bank, all 11 pilots converted to destroyer mode just before they broke through. Right in front of them 900 meters away was the singular from which a huge swarm of DRAGONS came flying out. One Galleon, a Brig, and around thirty schooners. 'A Category 4 my ass, we can deal with this ourselves.' Eleanor thought.

"Cut the little ones down!" Eleanor ordered as a shower of bullets tore through the DRAGONs' first wave.

"Captain something isn't right." Irma called. "My screen is glitching like mad."

"So's mine." Tanya announced.

"Captain!" the pilot of a cyan Hauser yelled.

"What is it Beth?"

"My screen is detecting another target, but I can't get an accurate reading."

"What the hell is going on?" Tanya panicked. Aiming her rifle steady as she shot down two schooners, Eleanor looked up and finally noticed the red light shining directly above them.

"Holy shit, girls watch out!" Right above them was another portal, but unlike the first, it began to expand as red lighting sparked madly around its edges. And on the other side loomed a large silhouette that was coming down on them fast.


Everything seemed fuzzy, slow. The First squad watched as the third squad disappeared into the clouds. "Eleanor wait for us!" Zola shouted. However, something felt very strange. Nothing but silence and static over the intercom. "Eleanor do you copy?" But she didn't reply. Zola checked to see her screen was glitching and her communications visor seemed to echo a static sound.

"Captain our commu…something…ing it up." Zola could barely hear Hilda through the static. From the other side of the clouds came an eruption of gunfire followed by a vicious roar. But it didn't sound like any DRAGON they had heard before, it sounded monstrous, something that they knew they weren't looking forward to seeing.

"Beth no!" They heard one pilot scream through the static just before the light of an explosion shone through the cloudbank.

"Fall back!" they heard Eleanor panic. "Fall back now!" A few seconds later, third squad came rushing out of the clouds in flight mode in a desperate bit to escape whatever they had come face to face with. In their wake, the wall of clouds began to shift, twist, and move like a forming hurricane. Then a huge gust of wind blew the wall of clouds apart revealing the massive hoard of DRAGONS coming towards them. 2 Brigs, 5 Corvettes and more than 60 Schooners were pouring out of the second portal. 'Oh shit!' Zola shuddered. She had heard of Category 5 encounters, but this was the first time she had ever seen one. And leading the charge was a DRAGON unlike any they had seen before. Slightly smaller than a Galleon but with speed that rivalled a Brig, its bright crimson scales were pointed and jagged like armor. A row of thorn like spines jutted from its head and down its back while massive scaled wings jutted from its shoulders, giving it full use of its front claws. Its glowing yellow eyes burned with fury as it saw the opponents who had come to challenge them and unleashed another roar.

"What the hell is that!" Chris shrieked in horror.

"Oh goody a First Of!" Vivian chirped.

"What the hell is that thing?" Rosalie gulped.

"You're some big boy aren't you." Hilda smirked. "Let see how tough you are." Cal felt his nerves rise. Never had he seen an attack this big before. It was bad enough that they were facing an army over 100 strong, but that new DRAGON looked even less friendly than usual. Miranda felt she could faint but kept her composure, her stomach boiling with fear like acid.

"Captain what do we do?" Salia asked as the third squad took position alongside them as the huge army was closing in on all of them.


"Commander!" Oliver panicked. "Unit Beth is down and we're detecting a Category 5 attack. 1 Galleon, 3 Brigs, 5 Corvettes over 90 schooners and a new type of DRAGON."

"Shit!" Jill spat. If that wasn't bad enough, something was interfering with both squads' battle cameras and communications.

"I'm picking up a strong Electromagnetic pulse off of the First Of." Pamela announced. "It might be what's interfering with communications." Jill knew with an army that size, 2 squads weren't able to hold them off and picked up the base mic intercom.

"Attention. This is a code red. Category 5 encounter has been confirmed. I'm ordering a type 2 battle scenario. Second squad prepare to sortie. Base artillery, prepare for siege warfare." Putting the intercom down Jill turned her attention to the squads. "Patch me through to Zola!" Hikaru typed away, strengthening the signal, and managed to boost it enough to punch through the interference. "Unit Zola do you copy?" Hikaru called.

"This is unit Zola, over."

"Zola, hold them off as long as you can!" Jill ordered. "I'm sending second squad to assist. Once we have the base defenses up and running, pull back and lead them straight into the line of fire."


"Understood!" Zola replied. Because of the interference, Zola switched to loudspeaker. "Everyone listen up! We can't let these bastard reach Arzenal until they ready the defenses! Let's break their formation and get rid of the smaller ones first! Switch to loudspeaker so we can communicate. New recruits retreat back to base. This is too much for you."

"But…but Captain." Miranda protested.

"That's an order!" Zola snapped. Miranda eeped in fright as she and the third squad's new recruit Haley shifted to flight mode and hauled back to base at top speed.

"So what's the plan?" Eleanor asked.

"If it's a reptile, blow it out of the sky!" Zola. "All units fire!" At Zola's command, both Para-mail squads lit up the sky with a barrage of machine gun fire, shells, and RPGS as the Dragons roared in fury and charged forward. With his new triple rotary cannon Cal unleashed a storm of hot lead onto the oncoming swarm. But while his bullets tore through the Schooners, they only grazed the larger DRAGONS. Suddenly, the horde parted, and Cal noticed a pulsing yellow light reflected off the clouds. Along the edge of the swarm, the First Of had held back but now a bright yellow light was racing up its back towards its jaws which opened and split in a triple break.


"Everyone clear out!" Zola bellowed just before a brilliant yellow beam of energy shot from the triple hinged jaws and cut across the sky like a razor. The Clouds evaporated and faded from the concentrated energy as the Para-mail broke formation and scattered to get clear. Now that they were separated, the other DRAGONs picked their targets and closed in. Switching back and forth between flight and destroyer mode; Cal dodged, swerved, and dived out of the way of the oncoming schooners that flew at him from every direction at once.

"Naomi! Where are you!" Cal cried out desperately looking for the azure Glaive. In all the chaos, he had lost sight of her and with the interference, he couldn't even establish radio contact. Straightening out he saw Vivian looping around an oncoming Corvette just as a Brig hovered overhead, its body glittering as it shed its scales and sent the guided razors flying at her.

"Vivian watch out!" Cal warned. Blasting away from his attackers, Cal scattered them with a shot from his canon, then turned to spray the Brig's attack, knocking them out of the sky before they could close in on Vivian.

"Thanks Big Bro!" Vivian gasped just as the flying scales parted and tried to flank them from both sides at once. Vivian and Cal flew back-to-back to shield each other from the projectiles when the Corvette took advantage and dashed in for the kill only for a twin cannon shot to blow off part of its head and send it falling into the sea.

"You guys okay?" Naomi asked as she flew up and helped clear out the last of the scales.

"Yeah sure," Cal confirmed, relieved that at least the two of them were okay. "Let's fall back. We have to regroup with the others.


"Shit!" Rosalie spat as she pulled out her halberd and sliced at the oncoming Schooners. "They're not letting up, there's too many of them." Hearing a shriek, Rosalie looked off her port to see one Schooner had mounted the back of Chris's Hauser. A blast of engine fire, and Rosalie rushed forward to kick it off before shooting it down.

"Thanks Rosalie," Chris panted as she fired her heavy cannons at the 5 chasing Rosalie, managing to kill 2 and injuring the other three. "I've almost used half my ammo, we're in big trouble here."

"Just stay by me we'll get out of this!" Rosalie reassured as the large Galleon shot a blast of lighting at them. Though they managed to avoid a fatal hit, Rosalie saw her left cannon had been blasted while its booster was starting to smoke.

"Rosalie look out!" Chris yelled as a Brig closed in. Without thinking Chris pushed Rosalie out of the way, only for her Hauser's left arm to get caught in its jaws as it dragged her away.

"CHRIS!" Rosalie screamed giving chase.


"Keep firing at the schooners, the bigger ones will be easier to take down once the small fry are out of our hair." Hilda yelled. Along with Ersha and Salia, she managed to get on top of the hoard and was raining lead down on the enemy.

"We have to get in there and help them!" Ersha yelled over the thunder of gunfire and roaring DRAGONS.

"No, if we fly in there we'll be killed instantly!" Salia told her. "We can't let them pass us until the Commander gives us the order to fall back." By now, the DRAGONs had noticed the units taking pot-shots at them from overhead and sought shelter around the First Of.

"What do we do now?" Ersha asked. A sudden flash of green light and their attention turned just in time to see a purple Arquebus start to fall.

"Zola!" Hilda cried as she flew back into the hoard.

"HILDA NO!" Salia tried to stop her, but all she could do was watch as Hilda flew back in the danger zone, swerving in and out between the DRAGONS.


Zola pulled out her long blade and plunged it into a Corvette's head. From off her six, Zola saw one of the Brigs flying in on her and boosted to the side. Dropping her engines, she fell a bit and managed to get below the Brig just in time to load her freeze bullet and plant it right into the Brig's stomach.

"Piss off!" she boasted, but that one moment of pride was all the Brig needed to deliver a tail slap. Zola was sent into a spin as she plummeted downwards, the swirling making her feel sick and the G-Forces pinning her in place when she suddenly lurched to a halt. Looking up, her vision cleared enough to see a red Glaive grabbing on to her unit's arm.

"You okay Zola?" Hilda asked.

"I'm fine Hilda, thanks." Zola praised. There was no time for sweet talk though as the half-frozen Brig was coming back. "Hilda, formation double loop!" Zola ordered.

"Right!" Hilda pumped. The two Para-mail looped back and forth between each other, confusing the large DRAGON as it didn't know who to keep its eyes on. Seizing their chance, Zola fired an RPG and Hilda her ice bullet right into its eye clusters. Shards of Ice sprung out both sides of its head and killing it instantly as it fell seaward, crushing a few Schooners that weren't fast enough to get away in time.

"Good job." Zola wiped her brow. They might just make it out of this alive after all.

"Get off her!" someone yelled. Zola and Hilda looked up in time to see Rosalie chasing after a Brig with Chris's Glaive seized in its jaws. Rosalie fired her freeze bullet and managed to score a hit right in the base of the Brig's head and forcing it to let go of Chris as it plummeted into the water. "Chris talk to me!" Rosalie panicked.

"I'm okay," Chris said. "But my arm's shot."

"We've got bigger problems," Zola noted. Already they had been dragged out a good two miles away from the singular, giving the DRAGONS a chance to close in on Arzenal. The lights of the base shined in the distance and the DRAGONs were more than halfway there.

"Hey Captain," Hilda suddenly said. "My Para-mails suddenly working a lot better now."

"Mine too," Zola realized. It had happened when they put some distance between themselves and the First Of. Was that unknown DRAGON somehow the cause of it? And what would happen if it reached Arzenal? "Shit we can't let it mess with Arzenal's power grid. Girls let's get going!"


"Commander!" Jill heard Jasmine down her earpiece. "All gunners are at their stations. Me and a few of the base personnel have taken position in the mall."

"Activate the search lights!" Jill ordered. "Give the order to retreat."

"All unit's fall back to base!" Hikaru announced hoping they all heard the order.

"Mei is second squad ready?" Jill asked.

"Their Para-mail are being secured into place for launch." Mei informed as Oliver checked the cameras to see Emma's quarters were lit up.

"Erm…Commander where is the inspector?" Springing up from her chair, Jill checked the camera and found Emma was still in her quarters and she immediately picked up the base intercom and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"INSPECTOR, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!"


Despite the interference, the pilots managed to hear the order to retreat. Third squad shifted to flight mode and made a break for it. A blast of red electricity shot after them which Irma and Tanya spun around to avoid. However, one pilot wasn't so lucky as the attack tore through her Neon pink Hauser like wet tissue

"Emily!" Irma cried.

"It's too late we can't go back for her." Tanya said trying to keep it together. Across the sky, Cal, Vivian, and Naomi made their own escape and were quick to rendezvous with Salia and Ersha.

"Guys where're the others?" Cal worried. "I can't find their signal."

"I don't think they're dead." Salia admitted. "They chased after one of the Brigs so they're probably up ahead somewhere."

"Let's hurry back to base," Ersha urged. "Once we have heavy artillery support, we should be alright." Kicking it into high gear, the survivors blasted off as fast as they could back to Arzenal. But the DRAGONs weren't about to let them get away and chased after them. By the time they arrived, Miranda and Haley were already waiting for them hovering 2000 meters above base, already in destroyer mode.

"You rookies get here safely?" Eleanor asked.

"2 schooners caught up with us, but we got them." Miranda proudly confirmed.

"Get ready." Salia ordered. Seeing the DRAGONS getting closer by the second, the fifteen remaining Para-mail readied their weapons as the enemy approached and opened fire once again, trying to cut down as many as they could.

"Why isn't the base shooting yet?" Haley said shakily.

"Arzenal's anti-aircraft guns only have a range of 3000 meters." Salia informed. "We have to wait until they get closer."

"All gunners fire!" They heard commander Jill shout as a wave of artillery fire blasted past the Para-mails at the oncoming hoard. However, the big Scarlett one darted forward, taking the brunt of the gunfire. Its thick armored scales gave it protection but by holding its position, it left itself open to attack.

"Cal Naomi go!" Salia barked. Shooting off in opposite directions to flank it, Cal and Naomi lunged in and planted a freeze bullet into both sides of its neck, only for the ice shards simply fall off like snow. 'No,' Salia dreaded. The Freeze Bullet was their strongest weapon. If that didn't work than what could possibly stop this 'monster'?

"Hey it's doing something?" Vivian suddenly said. Before their eyes, the First Of suddenly began to curl itself into a ball. As it did, the same golden light from its beam attack began to creep up its spine. Before their eyes, the light began to pulse and spread over its entire body.

"It's going to do a spread attack!" Salia warned. "Everyone, get ready to dodge!" By now, the pulse was getting brighter and faster before finally, the First Of snapped its wings and tail open unleashing a wave of crackling yellow energy.

"Shit!" Cal yelled. Everyone away from the edges of the wave as fast as they could. Cal, Naomi, and Salia managed to clear; as did Eleanor, Irma and Tanya. The rest however weren't fast enough and the wave washed over them. However, instead of destroying them, the Para-mails began to jerk and crackle with static before they hung suspended in mid-air.

"Ersha! Vivian! Talk to me!" Salia called.

"We can't move," Ersha answered. "Whatever that was it shorted out everything but propulsion."

"Come on move!" Vivian yelled as she jerked and yanked on her controls. And the problem didn't stop there. The wave continued on its way to Arzenal and hit the base, lights flickering and shorting out as the entire island went dark.

"Captain we can't move!" one of Third squad called.

"Our machines have gone completely dead."

"Help us!" A loud roar echoed across the sky as they looked up and saw the lead DRAGON charging straight towards them. Even worse, the other larger DRAGONS were backing it up while the Schooners darted down towards the now crippled Arzenal.

"Here they come again," Naomi warned.

"Captain, what do we do?" Irma panicked. "We have to retreat!"

"We can't leave everyone here!" Tanya argued.

"Stand your ground girls, its only 6 DRAGONS, we can take them." Eleanor growled.

"We have to keep them concentrated on us." Salia called over to Eleanor.

"Got it Vice-Captain. 6 of us and 6 of them. We'll take one each."

"What about the Schooners?" Cal asked.

"We'll have to let base worry about them," Salia pointed out. "If any of the larger ones reach Arzenal they won't stand a chance. "As she spoke, Salia checked the remaining fuel and ammo levels on her glitching screen. "Cal your fuel levels are at 84%. You've got a better chance of leading that monster away from here."

"You got it Salia. Come and get me then you ugly bastard!" Using his rotary canon, Cal managed to draw the First OF's attention as it set eyes on him. Gunning the throttle, Cal boosted up into the clouds. Checking his review, the watched as the others picked out their DRAGONS and broke their formation. 'Stay safe everyone,' he prayed.


The whole of Arzenal was in chaos. Base personal continued to fire the anti-aircraft guns blindly at the dark black skies hoping to hit the oncoming schooners. But without the search lights it was like finding a needle in a haystack until the schooners got closer. And even then, it was too late for a few unlucky girls who were torn apart. Inside, darkness blanketed every corridor and passageway. The only source of light was the headlamps of the armorists and the flash of gunfire as security tried to shoot down any Schooners that tried to sneak in any of the open windows. Over in the hanger, at least twenty had managed to secure a foothold, forcing the armorists and second squad to fall back towards the mall as they attempted to keep them from penetrating any further.

With one snapping its jaws hot on her tail, Mei ran and slid under one of the second squad's para-mail. To her left, one unfortunate Armorist tripped and was mauled to death by two other Schooners. Her bloodcurdling screams echoed in Mei's ear as she ran for her life towards the mall where Jasmine had flipped the table tennis table over, resting a heavy sniper on it and picking off any Schooners that got close.

"Get in the storage room!" Jasmine ordered. "They won't be able to get through those heavy steel doors!" If there had been light, the DRAGONs wouldn't have gained an inch but with the power out it was difficult to spot them in time. To her right at the exit of the mall, Scarlett and the second squad retreated back down the hallways, three Schooners giving chase.

"Jasmine I need to get into the lower end of the mall." Mei panted. "I have to reactivate the power."

"Don't be ridiculous, you'll be killed!" Jasmine protested.

"If I don't then more people will die! We have to get the second squad in the sky!" Though she didn't like it, Mei had a point.

"Here take these and be quick." Jasmine urged as she tossed a ring of keys to her. "I can't hold them off for much longer."

"You three come with me I'll need your assistance." Mei called to the new armorists, Mary, Noona and Marika.

"Yes ma'am." The three nervously said following Mei as she opened up the gate.

"Get out of here you mutt." Jasmine yelled at Vulcan who crouched by her side. Vulcan whined stubbornly and refused to budge. "Fine, just get ready to run when I tell you."


Using her lighter for a source of light, Jill growled in irritation. Whatever that First Of had done it had completely killed Arzenal's power. Jill watched as the large DRAGONS and new one turned their attention on the pilots as the schooners attacked the base. "Commander, we can't reroute the consoles or the lights, all power has gone." Pamela panicked.

"Keep it together girls," Jill said. "Mei will get the power up shortly."

"What do we do?" Oliver shivered in fear as she crouched by her console, her legs pressed up to her chest.

"You three stay here unless you have to. Kill any DRAGONS that get in." Jill ordered grabbing her revolver and rushing through the command centre doors.

"Where are you going?" Hikaru asked.

"I'm going to get the inspector. If she dies, then it's my ass on the line." The command staff were shock by the commander's response, as if saving the inspector was a simple household chore.

"Is she crazy? No human is worth sacrificing your life for." Oliver said in shock.

"If we just left her then we're no better than the humans and how they treat us." Pamela said. "We may be Norma, but we still have our pride."

"Right," Hikaru agreed. "So let's hold on as long as we can. The squads will need our assistance once the power comes back on."


As the First Of was led away, their Para-mail began to function again, and the remaining pilots picked their targets. Salia took the Brig, Eleanor and Irma dealt with the Galleon, which left Naomi and Tanya to deal with the Corvettes. Unfortunately, the two of them got separated and Naomi was stuck battling one Corvette which proved to be a challenge. With her light artillery cannons nearly depleted she had to plan her attacks carefully. With a flick of its tail, the corvette fired a ball of fiery energy as Naomi dropped down to narrowly miss being hit. As she did, her eyes shifted to the still paralyzed Para-mail still stuck and to her horror saw three schooners flying towards them. Using the last of her artillery ammo, she hit the Corvette square in the chest and head to stun it. Converting back to flight mode she accelerated forward, her rifle fanning the Schooners just before they could pounce on their helpless pray.

"Thanks Naomi." Ersha praised.

"You guys okay?" Naomi asked. "Any luck getting your machines back up and running?"

"No they won't budge," Vivian said pressing and flickering every switch and button.

"Behind you!" Miranda shouted. Naomi turned to see the Corvette coming back for more.

"I'll deal with this," she said. "You guys just try and get running again."


The static of his screen got worse and Cal looked behind to see the First Of was gaining on him. In a desperate bid to lose it, he flew directly into the clouds. Blurred darkness blanketed him but hopefully that meant his opponent was just as blind as him. Those hopes were dashed when a blur of red lunged up from the clouds as the DRAGON's head came right at him. Cal looped over and flew back down but not before the crimson DRAGON had swiped him with its tail. Swerving slightly, he tried to straighten out but came to a screeching halt as the DRAGON's claw grabbed him, sending him lurching forward to collide face first with the screen.

Once the initial shock faded, Cal felt splintering pain from his nose as blood poured down his face. His head throbbing and his eyes watering, Cal could vaguely see the scarlet DRAGON's ugly face in front of him, its hands firmly gripped around him as it opened its mouth wider to take a chomp until a barrage of explosions hit it square in the face. From out of the darkness, a purple Arquebus stabbed its blade right into its large yellow eye. The DRAGON screeched in alarm and pain as it tossed Cal aside until something grabbed him. As his vision cleared and his head ceased spinning, he looked up to see a red Glaive with its arms wrapped tight around his unit's waist.

"Nice catch Hilda." Chris said as she flew up.

"Well this is a sight to behold." Rosalie joked.

"What took you guys so long?" Cal winced as he wiped away the blood from his face. "I thought you were dead."

"We got dragged out," Zola said. "But now we need to take care of this."

"I guess you owe me now, since I'm the one who saved you this time." Hilda smirked.

"Fine whatever you want." Cal added, remembering the sight of Zola and Scarlett together in the sauna but with Hilda in Scarlett's place. He shook his head trying to get rid of any impure thoughts.

"If you two are done proposing," Zola snarked, "let's kill these bastards. Chris, Rosalie assist the others, Hilda regroup with Naomi and protect the disabled until they get moving again."

"What about you Captain?" Hilda asked.

"I have a First Of too catch." Zola smirked. "Cal you're with me." The two darted backwards firing their guns at the red DRAGON. "We have to get that thing far away from base as possible." Zola ordered. "Keep it on us until Mei can get Scarlett and her squad out to help us."


Barricaded inside the infirmary Maggie along with her assistant nurses trained their guns on the door, ready for any DRAGON daring to break through, when none other than Jill rushed past. "Jill where are you going?" She called, moving the beds out the way. "Stay here girls, I'll be right back." Maggie ran down the dark hallways with the glint of Jill's lighter guiding her to the commander. "Jill!" She shouted.

"The Inspector is in trouble!" Jill called back. "She hasn't left her quarters!" 'Shit.' Maggie thought trying to keep up with Jill. 'She'd better not be out in the open or she'll be easy pickings for them.' Since the power was out the elevator was out of use so taking the alternative route to the inspector's quarters was the only option. "What is she thinking?" Maggie yelled.

"I don't know but hurry we don't have much time!"

Jasmine swore as she loaded another magazine into her sniper. By now over 20 schooners had invaded the hanger forcing her and the others to fall back to the storage room. Jasmine turned her head to see that Mei, smart as she was, had reclosed the sliding metal gate to the other side of the mall keeping her and the 3 rookie armorists safe.

"Close the doors now!" She shouted. On both sides, a group of girls grabbed a hold and began to push the huge metal doors together. Once closed, Jasmine pulled the manual lever that bolted the doors shut. From the other side, they heard loud bangs and the scrapping of claw as the Schooners tried to force their way in. "Don't worry girls they're too small to break through those doors." Jasmine assured.


Taking on the Brig on her own, Salia desperately tried to get an opening on the large DRAGON only to go on the defensive as another barrage of scales came flying at her, forcing her to waste what little ammo she had left on them. Her Arquebus was running on fumes and was starting to slow down when one scale snuck through her defenses and took both legs off at the knees. As she attempted to adjust the Brig got the jump on her and kicked her. Salia felt her grip give way as the side of her head bounced off the side of her cockpit, her vison and mind exploding into rainbow sparks. She held the spot where it hurt and looked at her hand to see blood.

"Hey you!" She heard the familiar voice of Chris, who swooped in and drove her freeze bullet right in the middle of the Brig's back. As the shards of ice sprouted up, Rosalie took a shot at the ice and it blasted apart, the shell piecing all the way through the Brig and drenching Salia's canopy.

"Thanks for the help." Salia said as her fuel level dropped to critical. Chris and Rosalie held her arm in arm to keep her machine supported as Salia opened her cockpit for some air, feeling she could pass out from her head wound.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked.

"I'll be fine," Salia slurred, doing her best to ignore the throbbing and disorientation. "All we need to worry about is the DRAGONS…" Salia's voice faded and she collapsed back into her cockpit just as her Para-mail finally consumed the last of its fuel.


Vivian, Ersha, Miranda and the members of third squad continued desperately to get their controls working again. If it weren't for the safeguards and the extra radiation shielding around the EM drive thrusters, their units would have plunged headlong into the surf below. "Where's Mei when you need her?" Vivian groaned.

"Just keep trying. Naomi can't hold them off for much longer." Ersha said. She could only helplessly watch as the Schooners stormed the base. Ersha hoped that Mary and other teachers were able to keep the kids safe. Naomi meanwhile had her hands full with the Corvette. As she tried to load a fresh magazine, the DRAGON dove in towards her when a rain of gunfire hit it in the abdomen as Hilda came flying in to assist. Drawing her Halberd in sword mode, she charged forward and stabbed it right between its eyes. The Corvette spasmed once and then fell into the sea.

"Guys what the hell's going on in there?" Hilda demanded.

"We can't move, nothing is working." Miranda told her.

"We'll be toast if we stay like this." Vivian added. "The power won't come back on."

"If only we had an electrical surge. The shock would force them into a reboot." Ersha suggested. 'Hey that's right,' Hilda realized as she triggered the panel on her right arm to open. From out of the compartment, a thin pronged rod extended out, the ends of which crackled with electricity. 'Hope to God this works.' Hilda hoped.

"Vivian brace yourself." No sooner had she warned her, Hilda thrust the stunner into the torso of Vivian's unit. The pink Razor jerked for a moment as blue sparks washed over it. Inside, Vivian's face lite up as her screen and cockpit come back to life.

"Hey it worked!" She cheered.

"Great," Hilda said, "But I don't have enough charges to get everyone working again."

"Then just use one." Naomi suggested. Hilda raised an eyebrow and watched as Naomi began to push the paralyzed Para-mail against each other. "If we keep everyone together the electric current will travel through them all." Once they were all together, Hilda jabbed Ersha's Hauser, the electric shock racing through everyone's machines jumpstarting them back to life. "Hey it worked," Naomi grinned.

"Wait I thought you knew what you were doing," Hilda cried.

"Well it was more of a hunch." She chuckled as Hilda rolled her eyes in annoyance. Only the Galleon and Corvette were left and then they still had the First Of too finish off. Suddenly, Naomi's engines flared, and she shot off in the opposite direction. "Naomi where are you going?" Hilda demanded.

Hiding under the table, Emma Bronson felt her heart hammer against her ribs as she heard nothing but gunfire and the echoing roars from the DRAGONS. The only source of light was the green glow of Mana she channeled into her hand. Why didn't she just run to the Command Centre when she had the chance. "Don't worry Emma," she prayed. "It will be all over soon. The power will come back on and you'll be safe and sound."


Just as she felt the situation couldn't get any worse, Emma heard an ear piecing screech of pain followed by a smash of glass. She instantly turned off her Mana and covered her mouth with her hands, holding her breath for dear life as the cold winter air hit her skin and rose goosebumps all over her. She couldn't see it, but she could and hear and smell its breath. A hot, disgusting smell filled her nostrils as she heard the ragged painful breathing of an actual DRAGON, in her quarters. It was so dark she couldn't see 4 feet in front of her but the sound of plates and crockery breaking told her that it was in the kitchen over on the other side of the house.


Higher and higher Cal and Zola flew so as to keep the Scarlett DRAGON concentrated on them. No matter how many bullets, RPG's, or Cannon shells they used on it, the DRAGON's armor was simply too tough to break through to deal enough damage. Another flare of yellow and the DRAGON fired its beam attack. This time it grazed the side of Cal's Glaive and burned the paint clean off. The heat travelled through the cockpit and Cal hissed as he felt his left leg begin to sear. Zola meanwhile slowed down to observe its belly. The pattern of the scales seemed to intersect at a spot right in the pit of its sternum through which Zola was able to see shadows of muscle and exposed skin.

"I found it's weak spot." Zola announced. But with them being so close to this monster, their communications were completely incomprehensible. With her screen glitching madly she narrowed her eyes and saw that she along with Cal had three ice bullets left between them. Cal meanwhile found it hard to keep focus. His bleeding broken nose had swelled to twice its size, making it hard to breath.

'C'mon this is just like doing pull ups with Scarlett.' He grunted as he breathed heavily through his mouth to try and catch his breath. But then out of nowhere, a lone Schooner pounced right in front of him onto the front of his Para-mail. Cal leapt back in his seat as he pulled his sidearm, but the schooner struck first, its claw grazing his left arm and cutting deep. Cal dropped his pistol and howled with pain as blood gushed from his wound. He looked up to see the Schooner was about to sink its teeth into him when a familiar azure Glaive grabbed hold of it. The pink DRAGON squirmed and lashed out as Naomi sliced her blade down, cleaving it in half down the middle.

"Cal what happened you're bleeding!" Naomi gasped.

"I'll survive," he winced, tearing a piece of his plug suit and wrapped it around his wound. "But we won't for much longer with that thing still alive."


Beaten and bloody, it's body full of bullet holes, the Galleon surrounded itself with shields as Eleanor and Irma flew forward, Irma shooting the shields until they broke and giving Eleanor the opening she was looking for. She fired an RPG blast to its face and managed to blind it as she got in close enough to plant her final freeze bullet in its neck. She hoped that last hit would kill it, but it still had some fight left.

"Oh c'mon!" Eleanor spat in annoyance knowing her long ranged rifle wasn't going to do the job. "Irma, do you have any ice bullets left?"

"No I'm out too." Irma cried. "Tanya?" However Tanya had just used her last to kill the 2nd Corvette. The third had retreated and she was unable to locate it. Lining up together they knew they stood no chance against a DRAGON that size with basic guns. "Stand together girls." Eleanor said. Making a last stand, the three unleashed the last of their ammo while the Galleon readied a final lightning attack to take them out.

"Get ready!" Eleanor said just before a barrage of fire power shot past them. From behind, their squad mates who had previously been immobilized along with a few members of first darted past them and unleashed a rain of lead on the enemy. Unable to take the massive assault, the Galleon finally closed its eyes closed as its body went limp and it finally fell.

"About time you guys showed up." Eleanor huffed leaning back in her cockpit. It had been a while since she had been this tired.

"I think the words you're searching for are thank you." Hilda fired back.

"Where's big bro and the captain?" Vivian asked. They all checked their screens and saw three blue dots a short distance away being chased by one final hostile.

"There they are!" Ersha pointed. "Naomi is with them!"

"Let's go help them." Miranda said as she prepared to move.

"No wait, Arzenal needs our help too." Eleanor stopped her. "All of you who have the most ammo and fuel, help Zola and Cal. Everyone else follow me and kill the little ones." With a plan of action decided, Chris and Rosalie handed Salia to the new recruits while they, Hilda, and the heavy and light artillery members of third squad flew off to take down the First Of. Eleanor, Tanya, Irma the new recruits and a few of her squad mates went back to base. Ersha tagged along to give them heavy artillery support. Miranda and Haley who held onto Salia's Arquebus stayed in the back while everyone else cleared the Schooners. Finally, the lights came back on as Ersha looked around and saw to her horror one Schooner had crashed at the bottom of one particular beach with a large window.

"Ersha where are you going?" Miranda yelled as Ersha boosted towards the bottom of the island.


With the warning from the Commander, Mary immediately ran to the children's dorm protect the kids, staying with them even when the power had been cut off. By now, it had been almost an hour and still no DRAGON had walked by. Suddenly, there was a loud crash down the hallway and the kids yelped in fright as Mary peeked through the door.

"Okay kids you stay right here I'll be right back." She reassured, leaving the kids on their own.

"This is too scary." A girl with twin tailed orange hair sniffed.

"Why aren't the lights coming back on."

"I'm scared."

"Hey, don't worry everyone." Coco told them standing up on her bed. "Nothing is going to happen to us. Ersha, Cal and everyone else are fighting out there to protect us." The smaller kids gathered around holding onto each other for support. "We have to be brave like them and stay strong."

This seemed to work as the younger kids seem to calm, however that was short lived as a loud smash of glass made them scream and jump as the large curtain that covered their large window began thrashing and moving. They shined their torches at the moving curtain which tore apart as a single pink Schooner let out an angry shriek. The kids screamed and ran for the door as Mary came running back in. She aimed her gun and saw that the Schooner's long nails had grabbed a hold of the bottom of Abigail's nightgown.

"Abigail no!"

The Schooner bared down upon her, but it let out a cry of fright as a huge mechanical hand grabbed a hold of its tail and pulled it back outside, slamming it hard into the rocky walls. A few moments later, a familiar gentle voice made them all beam with excitement. "Are you okay kids?"

"Ms Ersha!" The kids cheered as she opened up her cockpit and jumped inside, the kids ran up to her and hugged her tightly.

"Thank goodness you're all safe." She cried.


The schooners never let up trying to get in the storage room, but the steel doors were too study for them to break through. Then a sudden louder bang made everyone in the room jump back. A huge dent had been made and Jasmine knew a much Larger DRAGON had gotten inside of the base, most likely a Corvette.

Everyone ducked behind the stack of crates scattered around the room, their guns aimed at the door. Jasmine saw one crate larger than the rest and had an idea. "Girls give me a hand with this." Jasmine ordered as she grabbed a crowbar, pulling the large crate apart. Inside was a new model anti-aircraft gun. "Get it loaded up quickly." Jasmine yelled as she sat herself inside the cannon seat.

"Are you sure you can handle that?" One armorist asked.

"Just get clear so you don't get shot!" Jasmine ordered. 'I may be old, but they didn't call me the 1000 dragon slayer for nothing.' As the armorists and base personal help load the aircraft gun up, a second bang succeeded in cracking the door as they saw the glow of the Corvette's eyes peering in at them. With one final ram, it broke through the door and Jasmine opened fire, the bullets shredding the Corvette and Schooners surrounding the door like paper.

After a minute of non-stop firing, everything seemed to go silent. A glint of light shone through the Mall and she breathed a sigh of relief as members of first and third quad killed the last of the schooners inside the hanger.


"Keep the light right here." Mei told Mary as she began to reroute the power. The metal gate began to bang and creak as the three rookies turned around and saw one Schooner had heard them and was trying to get inside.

"Hurry!" Nona begged.

"It's getting in!" Marika shrieked. Sparks puffed as Mei pulled one red wire and attached it to a blue one and the power box began to smoke and spark as the whole room began to flicker with light.

"I've got it!" Mei said loudly closing the power box. The whole base came back to life and the Schooners who once had the cover of darkness to attack now found themselves with the entire base's artillery trained right on them. Meanwhile, Mei and the Newbies tried to make their escape through a maintenance shaft when the metal gate give way and the Schooner charged at them.

"Help!" Mary screamed just a hail of gunfire peppered the Schooner's back. It slumped to the ground as Scarlett jumped on and drove her knife into its head, the reptilian eyes rolling back in its head as she twisted the blade.

"You kids good?" Scarlett smirked.

"Yeah we're good." Mei reassured; she checked her visor and saw it was finally working. She along with the second squad ran out to see that a few Para-mail had flown close to base and had cleared out the Schooners inside the hanger. To her left a large Corvette lay dead before the storage room doors, its head ripped to shreds. 'Nice moves Jasmine.'

"Alright everyone listen up!" she barked. "Get back to the launch hanger. We need to get the second squad in the sky and then replenish the other pilots."


Quickly and quietly, Emma tip toed her way to her front door, making sure her footsteps didn't trigger a creaky piece of wood. 30 feet away from her, she could hear the Schooner blindly stumbling through the dining area. Her hand reached for the door handle when without warning, the whole place lit up. Emma turned her head to see the Schooner was looking right at her with a hungry look. Emma bolted out the door screaming and barefoot onto the pathway towards the Command centre, the deafening roar of anti-aircraft cannons rocking her from all sides. Behind her, she heard the doors to her house splinter followed by the heavy footsteps of the DRAGON as it gained on her.

"Inspector get down!" On instinct, Emma threw herself to the ground as Jill fired her revolver at the Schooner, hitting it directly in the chest. The creature stumbled and fell but it was still alive, so Jill leapt over Emma and stuck the barrel of her revolver beneath its chin, triggering an eruption of blood and brain from the top of its skull as she fired. Behind them, Maggie had caught up and began to fire on any wounded Schooners that landed close to them. She helped the Inspector to her feet and saw to her chagrin she had wet herself.

"Come on Inspector, we need to get back inside."

"Go!" Jill ordered as she helped Maggie pick up a limp and shaken Emma whose legs and body felt like jelly. "Don't pass out. I'm not gonna be the one to drag you back inside." Jill warned as a fresh wave of Para-mail erupted from the hanger.

"Commander," Hikaru announced through Jill's earpiece, "second squad have launched and are on their way to deal with the last DRAGON."

"What's the status on the other squad members?"

"Most of first and third squad have returned to be resupplied but unit Salia has sustained a head injury. She's been taken to the infirmary." 'Salia!' Jill felt as if her stomach was filled with lead. 'Please be okay.'


Zola, Cal, and Naomi sped forward and had a split-second relief until the DRAGON shot another beam of yellow energy at them. "We're not gonna last much longer!" Naomi shouted, seeing their fuel level extremely low.

"One bullet left in the chamber." Cal announced.

"Make it count, aim the line up its abdomen." Zola told him. She swerved to the left and Naomi to the right as Cal did his special loop upside down, coming up to meet its stomach. Zola and Naomi fired their final RPG blasts at its eyes and succeeded in making it jerk back in pain and exposing its whole abdomen. "Now's your chance!" Zola yelled. Cal soared upwards to plant his freeze bullet at the spot Zola indicated when without warning, the Scarlett DRAGON wrapped its wings around its front, causing Cal to crash head on into the wall of scales and flesh. His body fell forward, hitting his head on the front of his cockpit and blacking out.

"Cal!" Naomi screamed, but he did not respond nor move.

"Damn it get the hell out of there!" Zola begged. She boosted forward as fast as she could but knew she was too far away to get to him in time. The DRAGON roared with fury as it raised its long powerful claw up and struck down. Cal's vision came to and saw a wall of red coming at him and then a flash of blue as something shot between him and the oncoming strike. He heard the manic yells of Naomi and then an impact so powerful it sent him crashing back. A blinding sickening pain, a flash of light, a distant scream, and the sense of falling and crashing down a dark tunnel as Cal felt his body hit the bottom.


"Naomi, Cal!" Zola could only cry out as she watched her comrades take the brunt of the DRAGON's hit as both Naomi and Cal plummeted below, crashing into a row of large jagged rocks.

She tried to fly down to them, but her engines sputtered and stalled as her fuel levels bottomed out. 'This is it.' Zola realized as the crimson DRAGON turned its attention to her. 'I guess this situation was always inevitable.' With no ammo or fuel she was simply a bullseye hanging in mid-air. She pulled out her sword, her only weapon left, and prepared for the oncoming monster. 'If this is how I go out then I go out fighting.'

Sudden flashes went through Zola's mind like a flip book as a tall muscular woman whipped and beat her down. "You are nothing. Your whole existence and life is not worth a thing in this world. You are meaningless." Jadis mocked with a wicked cackle. Those words filled Zola's mind as a single tear ran down her cheek.

"No. You were wrong, my life was worth something, all it took was one man for me to remember that." She told herself. "Scarlett, I hope you find that special someone." She closed her eyes and they opened back up with fire in them. The Scarlett DRAGON opened up its jaws as it closed in when multiple explosions and gunfire rocked its entire body. A group of Para-mail flew in and unleashed a rain of bullets on the DRAGON, the surprise forcing it to fall back as the whole of second squad arrived to back her up along with a few of her and Eleanor's squad mates.

"So how does it feel to be the one saved this time?" Scarlett asked from her red and black Arquebus.

"Not something I want repeated." Zola cried out laughing. "Am I glad to see you."

"I can tell." Scarlett chuckeled. "Found a way to defeat this demon?"

"Aim for the pit in its chest." Zola told her. Scarlett without hesitation ordered all the pilots to aim for that spot. Now that it was outnumbered, the army of Para-mail was simply too much for the formerly invincible DRAGON as three of them got a clear hit in and Scarlett managed to plant one freeze bullet directly in the middle of its abdomen, ice shards piercing its weak spot.

"Captain look at the sky!" Betty shouted. Scarlett saw a portal open up and, in an instant, the large DRAGON began to fly towards it.

"Don't let it escape!" Scarlett yelled.

"Another portal!?" Sadie said in surprise as she began to chase it down. Flying as fast as it could the Scarlett DRAGON continued to fly towards its only means of escape. Despite the amount of gunfire and barrage of ice bullets hitting every part of its body, it pushed through the pain as its body began to glow yellow again.

"Fall back!" Zola shouted. A blinding yellow light filled the sky and when it faded, both the DRAGON and the portal had disappeared.

"Shit!" Scarlett growled. "It escaped." As soon as the DRAGON had disappeared back through the portal, everyone's sensors and communications seemed to work back to normal. "What's everyone's status?" Everyone seemed to be okay, but Scarlett realised two were missing.

"Cal and Naomi crash landed nearby. We need to search for them." Zola ordered.

"You heard her, look for any floating Para-mail in the waters." Scarlett told them. Rosalie and Chris supported Zola back to base while Second and third squad along with Vivian and Miranda desperately searched for Cal and Naomi.

"I can't find their signals." Miranda informed.

"Big Bro where are you!" Vivian cried out in worry.


The sun began to rise over the horizon as the sky changed to a bright orange. The entire top level of Arzanel and the entries to its hangers were being cleaned up as Armorers moved the numerous DRAGON corpses away via forklift. A few base Personal were in the midst of cleaning the walls and decks, their surface looking like the set of a horror movie. Inside the Command Centre, Jill and Jasmine tried to get the shaken and frightened inspector to calm down. Sat in her chair with her legs up to her chest, her face was chalk white and Maggie came back in to wrap a blanket around her. Ever since the attack had ended, Maggie and her nurses had been working around the clock to treat everyone who had been injured.

"What's the status Maggie?" Jill asked lighting a third cigarette. She handed Maggie one as well who took it with an exhausted sigh.

"We got lucky, real lucky." Maggie sighed. "13 dead, 3 pilots, 8 amorists, 2 base personal and 9 injured."

"We've all got to thank Mei and those three rookie Armorists," Jasmine pointed out as she poured everyone a cup of coffee. "Without them we'll all be dead."

"Have the NMB said anything about the current events?" Jill asked. Emma simply shook her head.

"This is unit Scarlett over!" the radio squawked.

"What is it Scarlett?" Jill answered.

"Send an emergency transport to our coordinates ASAP. We found units Cal and Naomi!" The fear and shock in her voice made Jill and everyone else in the room worry.

"On screen." Jill ordered as the command staff pulled up Scarlett's Para-mail camera. There on a lone stone reef were two damaged Glaives. One lying on top of the other, the bottom one half submerged in the tide. Fear, dread, and numbness coursed through Jasmine as the cup of coffee slipped from her fingers and smashed on the floor making Emma jump.

"Oh my god…" She gasped in horror. A rescue team was scrambled as Jill looked on in dread of what the outcome was going to be. 'Gaz…I'm so sorry…I couldn't keep my promise.'


Surrounded by nothing but black Cal looked around in confusion. "Where am I?" He couldn't move but he felt as light as a feather. "Hello!" He called. "Is anyone there!?" Then to his left he saw a light flash down from above lighting up a large circle around the floor. From out of the darkness, a stocky looking man walked into the light. "Gramps?" His Gramps didn't say a word but simply stared at him. Cal took off at a run towards his Gramps but when he got near, everything went dark again.

A few seconds and another beam of light shined like the first, 50 yards to his right as another person walked into the light to stare at him. Young, with lank jet-black hair and sky blue eyes that looked identical to his. "Mom." He whispered as his whole environment went dark once again. Then right in front of him was another light that shined on a door. And from out of this door stepped his Gramps, Mother and to his confusion Naomi.

"I'm proud of you boy." Gaz smiled.

"You've grown into a fine man Cal." His mother said, she looked like an angel in the shining light. Naomi stepped out in front of the two adults and smiled at him warmly as she began to cry.

"I love you Cal."

"Naomi…"

"But now is the time for you to return, the others are waiting for you." The three turned around and walked back into the light vanishing from view. "Gramps, Mom, Naomi please come back!"

His vision was blinding white and he felt his whole-body spin as if he was being sucked down a giant drain hole. The next thing Cal knew he was lying in a remarkably warm and comfortable bed and looking up at a celling light. He realized he was in Arzenal's infirmary, his whole body wracked with pain and stiffness. Managing to sit up from his bed he noticed his front, arms and head were wrapped in gauze. Around the room a few girls noticed he was up they didn't look in good shape. One even had a missing leg. He looked to the far end of the room so see it was mid-day though the sky was grey as heavy rain lashed at the window.

"You're awake!" Maggie said in alarm, she along with her assistants began to examine him carefully.

"What happened?" Cal yawned.

"You barley made it out alive. That big bastard almost got you." Maggie told him. Looking down, he saw his left wrist and hand was wrapped up pretty heavily. "Is it bad?"

"All things considered, you'll be able to fight again within 5 days or less, you've been in a coma for 4 days." Maggie informed. "Your wrist was severed close to the bone, I stitched up your gash in your arm, fixed your broken nose and I had to remove your burst appendix," Cal considered himself lucky, but he then began to panic.

"What about everyone else? Where are they?!" He demanded.

"Everyone is fine, your captain was a bit winded and Salia had a nasty bump but they're going to be okay." But seeing the look in her eyes Cal knew something didn't feel right. He had little time to ask though as a long slobbery tong began to lick his face madly as Vulcan jumped up crying and whining, his tail wagging all over the place. "Vulcan down!" Jasmine barked as she pulled the large yellow dog off Cal's bed, she had tears in her eyes and hugged him. "Thank god your awake I was so worried."

"Thanks." Cal said feeling a sense of gratitude for her concern. Then he felt a weight on him as Vivian came running and leapt onto him, wrapping her small arms around him. "Big Bro you're okay." she wailed.

"Ow!" Cal winced as Maggie pried Vivian off of him.

"Be gentle with him. Do you want his stitches to open up?" She warned. He looked to see the rest of first squad appear in the doorway of the infirmary along with Scarlett, the command staff, and a few other Norma behind them holding various gifts. Zola was the first to approach him, hugging his head into her breasts.

"Ow watch my nose!" He muffled. She hooked his chin to kiss him on the edge of his lips.

"Good to see you're finally up." She smiled ruffling his hair. Ersha and Salia had tears in their eyes and looking very relieved as they hugged him gently. Salia's forehead was wrapped in gauze holding in a patch in place. "Nice to know I wasn't the only one injured." Cal joked. Salia blushed and fought the urge to slap him. Finally, Miranda walked over as she began to cry. Cal put his arm around her. "Don't cry. I'm alive." Rosalie and Chris each patted him on the shoulder half hugging him.

"We thought you were dead." Rosalie said.

"Don't scare us like that again." Chris moaned.

"I'll try," he sighed.

"Good because we wouldn't know what to do without your annoying ass." Hilda smirked sticking her fist out for a fist pump.

"Figures it would take something like this to make you act this nice." He fired back as he fist bumped her. He felt so glad everyone was alive but then he noticed someone was missing. "Hey Naomi, where are you?" At these words everyone's expression changed, and Cal saw it was anything but happy. "Hey c'mon stop messing around." He laughed lightly swinging his legs around the side of his bed, clad in a pair of loose terrycloth pants. Salia and Hilda both had their heads down low while Ersha looked on the verge of a breakdown. Jasmine sighed as Vulcan licked her hand. Zola looked uneasy and Chris sniffed as Rosalie held her while Miranda broke down in tears as Vivian hugged her. "What…what's going on? What happened?" Cal demanded. Tears dripping down her face, Ersha took his hand in hers and looked him in the eyes. The whole atmosphere felt heavy as Ersha spoke.

"Naomi is…Naomi…has…" She took a deep breath, using every bit of strength to keep her composure. "Naomi is dead. She died, saving your life." At those word everything seemed to move slower as a horrible consuming silence tore through Cal. The pain in his face, and body seemed to disappear, but he felt a heavy weight come over him.

"What?" Cal gasped that came out as a whimper.

"She…took the brunt of the impact," Jasmine told him. "You landed on top of her and she drowned."

"No…it can't be…she was right beside…" Cal began to speak but couldn't bring himself to finish. It couldn't have happened. It wasn't true.

"Cal, I know it's hard to hear…" Zola began. In a flash, Cal sprung up from his bed and shoved his way past everyone, knocking Scarlett to the floor as she tried to grab him.

"Stop him!" Jasmine yelled.

"Cal get back here!" Maggie shouted. Cal moved without thinking. An undesirable instinct took over him like he was possessed and an awful pressing feeling in his chest made him feel like he could be sick. The strips of gauze began to loosen and fall off his body as he reached Ersha and Naomi's room. The door was unlocked but as he barged in, she wasn't there. Rounding the corner, Zola caught sight of Cal exiting a room and heading down another hallway.

"Shit, he's gonna get outside!" Jumping 4 steps at a time, his breath ragged and heavy, Cal rushed out onto topside, barely feeling the rain soaking him from head to toe as he continued to run. His feet hit the wet mud as he ran across the grass and Arzenal's graveyard came into view. Looking around he saw a fresh patch of stone graves at the far end. As he ran towards them, he noticed one bouquet in particular, the color of violet, her favorite color. Stopping in front of the grave, Cal sank to his knees to see the name on the headstone and knew there was no hope of escaping the reality.

NAOMI FASALI

The person who was there from him from the very beginning to the very end. The person who understood him more than anyone else. The person who loved him was dead.

The scream that came out was drowned out by the thunder overhead. Seconds passed but it felt like hours as he felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around him. Ersha kept a hold of him as she cried into his back. "Oh Cal, I'm so sorry!" Zola arrived next and held him into place as Cal felt a prick in his neck as Maggie knocked him out with a sedative.


As the sky darkened into evening, Zola and Ersha helped him back to his quarters. They tried talking to him, but the sedative was still in his system and he found it hard to understand. After leaving him to rest, Cal's mind began to phase back to the sight of Naomi's grave. Hot tears spilled from his eyes as he rose to his feet fast seeing nothing but red. Losing whatever little control he had, Cal roared in agony, swiping his things off his desk as he stumbled. Flipping his nightstand over, ripping his wardrobe doors off, tipping the bed over and throwing everything across the room. It wasn't until he realized his bracelet was missing that he calmed down and remembered he was wearing it on his left wrist during the attack. Meaning it must have gotten broke and was probably now sunk to the bottom of the sea. As the rage faded, people's faces flashed in front of him.

'You were a replacement for his daughter.' Jill said.

"I didn't deserve a boy like you, but I'm proud to call myself your Father." Gramps last words echoed.

"It's because I love you." Naomi giggled.

Coming back to reality Cal looked down to his stinging, shredded, bloody knuckles of his right hand and up to the dented spot of the stone wall. Cal fell to his knees and cried as the door opened and he looked up to see a mane of red hair. He looked at her, his face contorted with agony and grief as he broke down. Not knowing what to do, Hilda kneeled down and held his head to her chest. Cal sobbed into her bosom as she held onto him and he absorbed the enormous and incomprehensible truth. That never again would Naomi ever speak to him. Never again would he see her.