Chapter 37 "Danger on the Dunes"
"Excuse me," Noah wore his friendliest face as he and Mio approached Lana in the barracks' cafeteria the next day. By now, all the recruits from Colonies Mu and 12 had been liberated, registered, and undertaken orientation.
"Hmm?" the newcomer swiveled in her chair, unintentionally swinging her long blonde hair against her shoulder. "Oh, you're… that guy who, um…"
"I am," the ponytailed soldier confirmed what she was trying to say. "You can call me Noah, and this is Mio."
"Noah…?" Lana repeated to herself, though she had no recollection of him.
"I'd like to apologize for confusing you at the harbor yesterday," he confessed to his indiscretion.
"It's okay," she shyly rubbed her forearm, still dressed in her military uniform, "but how'd you know my name?"
"May we sit here so we can talk properly?" Mio pointed to two other chairs at the same table, receiving a nod from her.
"Thank you," Noah smiled at his former friend as they took their seats. "You've been through orientation and learned… the truth of our world, yes?"
"Truth?" the little blonde tilted her head at him.
"The way things really are," he attempted to clarify, wary of overexplaining, "not what Moebius told you."
"They only taught me to fight Agnians," Lana revealed the extent of her initial, falsified education, "though they never said why."
"But now you understand it was to feed Moebius our embers to sustain them, correct?" the moonblades-wielder interlaced her fingers over her gem.
"Yeah," the recently reborn soldier fiddled with the edge of her food tray, "and dying means doing it all over again."
"Therefore, Lana, that's how I know your name," the swordfighter circled back to her original question. "Your previous self was… a friend of mine, at Colony 25."
"My previous…" her voice trailed off before putting the pieces together. "I died?"
"Well, uh…" he hesitated to say, though she appeared to be rapt at attention. "If you want to look at it that way, you did."
"So, that's why I'm…" Lana stared at her palms, unable to finish another sentence.
"But you're in the City now, free and safe," Mio quickly assured her, hoping to dispel any incoming panic. "You get to live out your ten terms without fighting."
"O-okay," a nervous grin formed on the little blonde's face. "I don't want to fight, anyway. My Blade's too big."
"Too big?" Noah soon remembered what the previous Lana used to wield, something which had likely contributed to her death. "You have a heavy sword, again?"
"See?" she summoned her oversized weapon, only for it to tip her over in her chair.
"Lana!" the former pacifist rushed to her aid with Mio not far behind. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Lana peered up to him before they helped her stand and retrieved her chair. Having their attention on her incited mild embarrassment, though she couldn't deny that it felt nice all the same.
"Listen, I know everything's still a whirlwind for you," his tone was soft, empathetic, "but if you'd like some friends, Mio and I would be glad to give you company." A brief spell of silence followed his offer while Lana took it under consideration. It seemed increasingly clear to them that she harbored no ill will towards Mio, perhaps a benefit to having only recently been reborn and thus hadn't learned to hate Agnians.
"Thank you," she eventually acknowledged, smiling again. Such sunniness soon spread to Noah and Mio, lingering even as Lana left to return her tray.
"What a sweet girl," the zephyr remarked with her hands together again, aswoon by Lana's innocence.
"She's just as I remember her, not overly bothered by anything," the ninth-termer continued to watch her until they turned to leave, "though maybe some of what I said went over her head."
"The City can teach her so much," her own gaze aimed at the doorway while they proceeded to exit. "It pains me to think that Moebius continues to poison minds like hers."
"My thoughts exactly," he shared in her displeasure. "I'm just glad she's here. Colony 25 was not a good environment for her."
Naturally, memories of his salvager days in his previous home were refreshened for Noah who couldn't help but wonder how his old teammates were doing. Granted they'd disapproved of his actions, he took note of the fact that none of them had since reached out to him via Iris. Noah was tempted to make contact himself, though he figured that they wouldn't want to hear from him again. It would be another three days, however, when fate seemingly intervened and bestowed him with a request for communications instead.
"Noah…" the voice sounded ragged, exhausted, almost unfamiliar.
"Fonse? What in the world?" Surprise quickly became worry for the ponytailed soldier who'd been sitting quietly in his and Mio's apartment.
"Where are you?" Indeed, it was the mace-and-shield defender with reddish-brown hair.
"I'm in the, er…" the liberated Kevesi stopped short of using foreign vocabulary.
"Help us… I'm desperate," Fonse cried in fear and possibly in pain, too.
"Desperate?" Noah leaned forward, resting a hand on the low table. "What's going on?"
"Is everything okay?" Mio appeared from their bedroom, drawn by his alarmed tone.
"I don't think so," he looked in her direction. "Fonse called me, but somethi-"
"Help…" the redhead came through again. "I don't… I don't know what to do."
"Fonse, calm yourself," the swordfighter resumed the distressed dialogue with him. "You need to tell me what's happening with you."
"It's not just me," his former teammate continued to wallow in exasperation. "We're all being killed. The colony's under attack."
"Attack?" the former pacifist repeated in question, though he'd already presumed as much. "By whom, or what?"
"Our new consul," Fonse finally started to elaborate. "Transformed into… something hideous. Can't even begin to… describe it."
"Your new…?" Noah started to say before it became clear in his mind. "Moebius."
"Moebius?" his special mate slowly approached him. "They're causing trouble somewhere?"
"Colony 25, just as we've been talking about it lately," he faced her momentarily. The timing of this developing situation astounded him, but he ceased dwelling on it and refocused on the call for help. "Fonse, are you still there?"
"We're hiding now," the mace-wielder spoke quietly. "Can't… sparking beat it."
"Stay low," the ponytailed soldier advised him. "I'll see what we can do."
"Okay…" the unliberated Kevesi appeared to comply. "Wait, are you with another colony?"
"I'll explain to you later, I hope," his Ouroboros-powered pal promised. "Ping my Iris periodically, please."
"Do you have a plan?" Mio promptly inquired, brows down and ready for action.
"Let's go to military headquarters," her trusted partner rose from the couch, having terminated the call. "Maybe they can dispatch a team."
"Alright," the tenth-termer's stare didn't leave him, "but are you ready to fight Moebius again?"
"To save my friends…" his expression mirrored hers, determination outweighing apprehension, "yes."
It'd been eight days since Noah had made his first kill on a Moebius, his first kill at all. However, this was a personal matter which couldn't be ignored. Once the two deserters had suited up, they left their apartment for military headquarters where they sought out anyone of authority for assistance.
"Noah and Mio, yes?" Reynolds, the short, bearded coordinator recognized them upon their entrance into the strategy room which he was occupying. "I've already handed out today's assignments, so you'll have to come ba-"
"Reynolds," the former pacifist didn't quite let him finish, "pardon our intrusion, but it's rather urgent."
"Is it, now?" the coordinator sat up in his chair and set aside his noodle bowl. "Do tell."
"I received a distress call, from someone in my former colony," Noah relayed to him what few details were known thus far. "It sounded like Moebius was on the prowl."
"Hmm…" Rising from the table, Reynolds used a terminal to display a world map on the screen. "Which colony is this?"
"Colony 25," the coolheaded Kevesi pointed to the Fornis Region, "Dannagh Desert."
"Ah, silver rank, according to our last update," the bearded man noted after toggling the map's symbols. "Very curious."
"Huh?" the swordfighter turned to Reynolds who continued to analyze the data. "Er, yes, that was our rank when I deserted."
"Does that… hold any significance?" Mio wondered aloud, having never previously thought much about the ranking system.
"Moebius has been known to tear down colonies when they go from silver rank to gold, likely as a balancing measure to sustain the war," Reynolds explained with a bit of conjecture at the end. "However, Dannagh Desert is one area where we don't have any regional teams deployed for surveillance. Rather fortuitous that you had a contact there to send word of a potential dismantlement."
"Not sure if I'd call it fortuitous," Noah challenged his word choice, given the circumstances. "My friend made it sound dire."
"I'll send an alert to our reserves for assembly," the coordinator's expression didn't change much. "Can we count on you to take the lead again?"
"Yes, sir," the ponytailed soldier stiffened his posture.
Despite the mission's impromptu nature, Noah was ready to reclaim the responsibility. Likewise, Mio was with him every step of the way. Joining them soon at the Levnis pad were militants and fellow liberated soldiers who'd taken the request. Though none were familiar faces, Noah and Mio appreciated their participation all the same.
Off they flew in a spare City Levnis with only basic provisions and no special tools for taking down Moebius. Understanding this, Noah and Mio prepared themselves for the worst. It was their longest flight yet, even with a straight shot across the Cent-Omnia region towards their destination. His Iris only received two pings from Fonse along the way, but they were enough to let Noah know that he was still alive. Upon arriving at Dannagh Desert's Apex Wing, the pilot activated the Levnis' cloaking device and searched for a safe landing spot.
Although they hadn't set foot in the shifting sands since their escape from Colony 25, everything felt immediately familiar for Noah and Mio who were anxious to see how it looked now. Everyone strained to climb the unstable hill, wary of the danger on the dunes. Once they'd reached the crest, the seriousness of the situation was confirmed at last.
"What… the… s-spark…" the scrupulous swordsman lost his composure, frozen by the sight of death and utter destruction. Though Noah had experienced the loss of a colony before, this one already seemed worse, heavier, unfathomable.
"Oh no…" the moonblades-wielder echoed his sentiments. The place that'd once imprisoned her had been reduced to torn and twisted piles of junk, some smoldering, others unrecognizable. Fresh husks littered the ground, their red motes staining the air. Curiously, marrins and serpronds circled the premises as if drawn by the ashes. "I don't… see any Moebius."
"They're in there, somewhere," the ninth-termer contended, his Blade now active, holstered, and reacting to enemy presence.
"What should we do?" Mio faced him briefly, wondering if they'd bitten off more than they could chew.
"I want us to rescue as many soldiers as we can, but…" he trailed off as he activated his Iris to communicate with his missing friend again. "I'm here, with backup."
"Noah?" Fonse sounded scared, frail, but still alive.
"Where are you?" the former pacifist asked calmly, having gotten ahold of himself.
"I don't know," the redhead remained hushed. "Everything's a mess."
"We'll find you, then." The liberated Kevesi kept it brief and returned to his team. "Right, given what we have here, we should divide and conquer. Some of you search for survivors, others handle the monsters."
"And what about the Moebius?" the cat-eared Agnian eyed him again.
"You and I will fight them," his brows hardened on his face, knowing that they were the most capable of thwarting the yet unseen enemy. "Everybody, look out for each other. We ca-"
"Moebius, straight ahead!" one of the militants spotted their target, just as the vibrations in Noah's veiled sword increased.
"Blighter's comin' this way," another teammate pointed out seconds later, "chasin' somebody by the looks of it."
True to these observations, the Moebius, slimmer than usual, was running after a single soldier who'd apparently abandoned their hiding place. Noah recognized them as one of the colony's female cooks, his eyes wide with horror as she was caught before she could reach the liberators.
"Let's move!" Noah dashed forward with Mio in tow. Trusting the others to drive off the giant fishes, he kept his sights on the ultimate threat and prepared to strike.
"You…" the Moebius held the local Kevesi with both spindly hands, "you used to serve me burnt leftovers!"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" the cook cried for her life. "Please let me go!"
"Not until you're dead!" the angry abomination slammed her into the ground, a merciless maneuver which proved fatal.
"Emiru!" the ponytailed soldier swung his Blade as red motes began to rise with the dust.
"Huh? Did I miss some?" Reacting quickly, the Moebius deflected both his and Mio's attacks. While the two deserters recovered their footing, their enemy peered down at them with a particular focus on the younger one. "Noah?"
"What the…? How do you know my name?" His grip slackened in shock, now the one asking that question.
"Don't you remember me?" the oversized scoundrel acted confused, disappointed.
"Should I?" he begrudgingly studied their mutated face.
"Oh, right," the Moebius seemed to remember something pertinent, and soon the giant, disfigured body receded into red armor, a mask, and a cape.
"Why would…?" Mio relinquished her fighting stance as well, both her and Noah dumbfounded by this latest development.
"Wait, hang on," the now untransformed consul began fiddling around their neck. With an audible click, the mask dissolved to reveal the face of a young girl with circular glasses and black hair that was slightly shorter than Mio's.
"No way," Noah's voice was weak, further stunned by the unveiling, "Haleney?"
"You know her?" the zephyr looked to him while his own gaze stayed on the consul.
"Yeah, she was… a soldier at this colony," he managed to answer through his disbelief. "She was in her seventh term when we lost her to a Colony Gamma platoon."
"But I'm here now!" Consul Haleney pumped her fists cheerfully, displaying a smile which somehow seemed genuine.
"But how?" the former pacifist was nearly unblinking now, despite the dry air.
"Oh, uh, I don't think I'm allowed to say," she tapped her chin before resuming her elation. "Still, I'm so happy to see you!"
"Sorry, I can't say the same thing to you at present," he hid none of the aversion on his face.
"W-what do you mean?" Likewise, her mouth sank into a frown.
"Look at what you've done," the liberated Kevesi extended his arm towards the nearby fresh husk. "You killed Emiru. You've killed… I-I don't even want to know who else…"
"Tch…" the caped enemy crossed her arms, pouting, "they deserved it."
"How could anyone have deserved this?" Mio entered their contentious conversation.
"They laughed at me! Called me names!" Consul Haleney crept forward, focusing on her former compatriot like before. "You were there, Noah. This colony treated me like rubbish!"
"And for that, you joined Moebius to get revenge?" the moonblades-wielder wasn't finished with her.
"Of course," the red-armored girl peered over her shoulder towards the destroyed Ferronis.
"A golden Flame Clock," the cat-eared Agnian identified it amid the ashes.
"Seems Colony 25 was destined for greatness," the bespectacled consul observed what remained of her and Noah's old home, "probably why it's full of bullies."
"But not everyone picked on you," he insisted, holstering his Blade again. "I didn't, and…"
"I know you didn't," she faced him again, her expression now soft. "I always… liked you for that. And now I see how, um…"
"How… what?" Noah was in no mood to be left on tenterhooks.
"Mmph…" Consul Haleney suddenly covered her mouth and averted eye contact, her cheeks turning rosy, "this is so embarra-"
"That's our new consul?!" someone's voice intervened from near the burning base. The two deserters and their nemesis turned to find Fonse approaching them, escorted by militants.
"Haleney?!" Walking alongside him was Denize, a freckled swordswoman who'd previously lambasted Noah's compassion.
"Fonse! Denize! You're alive." Relief filled the ponytailed soldier for the first time on this mission, albeit temporarily.
"Y-yeah, but what's she doing here?" the mace-wielder continued to gawk at Haleney before noticing Mio. "And… there's that Agnian…"
Ring girl, too?" the swordswoman's eyes were rattling. "What the snuff is happening?"
"It's you," the caped enemy singled the female survivor out of everyone gathering at the colony's edge.
"How're you even…?" Denize started to echo Fonse's question when the realization hit her. "Wait, you're the one who did this?"
"You're the one who kicked sand in my face," Consul Haleney accused her, resentment mounting.
"You've killed our friends!" the freckled Kevesi countered with her own condemnation. "Yuzet… Solon…"
"You killed my pet crustip!" her new superior bewailed like a child.
"How can you feel bad about losing a monster when you've killed your own kind?!" Denize's hands were held in front of herself, palms up and fingers twitching.
"Both of you, please!" the former pacifist cut into their squabbling.
"But she made me miserable," the red-armored girl pointed at Denize whilst looking at Noah.
"You think you're the only one in this world who was bullied?" Mio interjected, unable to set aside her empathy.
"Huh?" Consul Haleney switched her sights to the Agnian standing before her.
"I had my share of hazing," the zephyr recalled from her own past. "It comes with the territory into which we were thrust by Moebius."
"And now they've got you harvesting life for them," Noah bravely walked forward to place his hands on the consul's forearms. "Do you realize what you've become?"
"I-I don't care about… any of that," the caped enemy admitted, blushing once more. "I just wanted… to get back at them."
"Well, you did," his jaded countenance illustrated his disappointment to her.
"Not quite," she shook her head. "I still need to get Denize."
"Like spark you will!" the swordswoman restarted the yelling.
"I'll make you pay for everything you've done to me!" Consul Haleney screamed in her direction.
"Hey, look at me," he vied for the psychologically fractured girl's attention. "Don't worry about her."
"I'll make you pay for killing everybody!" Denize continued to assault the consul with her voice. "You worthless piece of crap!"
"Oi!" Fonse latched onto his fellow survivor to steady her. "Don't make her transform again."
Unfortunately, it was too late for such warnings. Triggered by Denize's provocations, Consul Haleney shrieked and wriggled out of the liberated Kevesi's grasp before she began pulling at her own hair. Noah and Mio could only stand and behold their enemy's eruption of reddish-purple energy which portended the return of her mutated Moebius body. All Blades were drawn, the temporary peace now hopelessly lost to the discord.
"Help!" the monster implored into the wind, raising her arms upwards. "They're ganging up on me!"
"Who's she talking to?" Mio asked Noah while the Moebius emitted some unknown power.
"I don't think it's me this ti-" The ponytailed soldier nearly finished his response when another shrill buzzed through the desert air, this one echoing from behind Colony 25.
"Over there!" a militant from the group pointed northward where dust was starting to swirl. "Something's coming!"
Sure enough and to the liberators' collective dread, a massive marrin slowly emerged from Devil's Skillet, the largest sinkhole of the desert. The floating fish seemed to already be aware of the ruckus on the surface, moving menacingly towards its potential prey. Furthermore, the other, smaller members of its kind, along with their serprond relatives, ceased their sporadic attacks on the colony and followed suit.
"Darling, you came!" Moebius Haleney raised her hands as if to hug her pet, but it wasted no time in spraying and subsequently scattering the militants with stinging water. Before he knew it, nearly everybody on Noah's team had a fervent fish to fight.
"Too many!" the tenth-termer gritted her teeth, her legs cramping from running in the sand. "Can hardly reach them!"
"Play with them all you like," the enemy in charge encouraged her finny friends before giving an order to the biggest one. "As for you, Denize is your supper! Don't let her escape!" Seemingly understanding, the mutant marrin dove for its target and bore its multitude of teeth.
"Look out!" Mio hollered to the unliberated Kevesis, but they were too slow to react. In one fell swoop, the frightful fish caught Denize in its mouth whilst knocking Fonse into the sand.
"Denize!" the redhead cried for his partner as she was carried into the sky. "S-somebody, save her!" In spite of his pleas, nobody could do anything since they were all equipped with short-range Blades. Ever quick to react, Mio tossed both of her ring swords at the mutant marrin, but it was already too high to receive affecting damage. Panic dared to beset Noah who rued the disadvantage of not having the usual City arsenal at their disposal. Thus in desperation, he turned to the source of the madness itself.
"Haleney!" the swordfighter began his own plea. "You've got to stop this!"
"But… she must pay!" Moebius Haleney peered down at him momentarily.
"Let her live!" he stepped precariously close to his enemy again. "Please, do it for me."
"I can't!" This time, she didn't even look at him.
It was his previous combative mission all over again, a life on the line and with no other options for a rescue. The grimace on his face almost hurt to maintain while he drew his inner sword. Noah cursed at Moebius for fostering such hatred. He cursed at Haleney for giving into it. And lastly, he cursed at himself for what he was about to do.
The stab to the core was brief, mercifully so. Penumbral matter ejected in his face before the Moebius body gave way to consul armor once more. Simultaneously, all of her pets fell onto the dunes, the biggest one spitting out Denize upon impact. Noah reassembled his Blade and walked away from Haleney, unwilling to witness the rest of her death.
"N-Noah…" the bespectacled consul, now on the ground as well, reached out for him.
"Mmm…" Swallowing a regretful growl, the former pacifist reluctantly turned back around.
"Don't go," her body began dissolving into white motes. "I don't… want to die alone, again."
He could only take one step before she was gone completely. Though a hero once more, Noah wanted to rip himself apart for his actions. However, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath instead, letting repose smother his own loathing.
"Hey," the moonblades-wielder approached him in time for a tender embrace, feeling his ensuing sobs against her chest.
Behind them, Fonse and Denize, the latter covered in spit and sand, watched the comforting from Agnian to Kevesi in awe. Everything that they'd taken for fact had crumbled around them, just like Colony 25 itself. There wasn't much time for dawdling, however, as attention was soon called to the remaining life essence contained within the wrecked golden Flame Clock.
"That's just our embers, huh?" Fonse observed the flickering blue light.
"So we're snuffed, after all," the freckled Kevesi leaned on him, unintentionally sharing her filth.
"Not if you come home with us," the zephyr countered their growing despondency.
"You two…" Noah gazed upon Fonse and Denize after shaking off his own anguish, at least for now. Tragedy aside, he was glad to see them again. "We can help free you from your bounds."
"We don't expect your trust," Mio spoke sternly but softly to the two wary survivors, "but considering your situation, won't you join our cause?"