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(1/31/04 6:22 pm)
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Serendipitous Chaos (Fog Offensive) Pt.2
Dammit! They seem to be ganging up on me more than the others. Is it possible they were programmed to come after me? Culas thinks as he fends off the horde of Mobile Suits crowding around him. Culas spins around, slashing as many as possible, but barely hitting any at all as they scatter. Culas gets a second’s breath, and then continues his assault on the unmanned MS’s.
Razel and Trent arrive just outside of the battleground so-to-speak, seeing the gathering of thousands and thousands of MS’s in-between the various factions’ ships. “Looks like the party started without us,” Razel says to Trent through com-screen. Trent lets out a soft grunt, but his mind can’t get off the sight of the many explosions in the battle area. Those were his people, the friends he had made in E.S.S. since he had joined. Some of those people looked up to him, some he looked up to. He needed to get into the fray, make himself known and help his friends out in battle. “Let’s go,” he says impatiently to Razel, starting his jets before Razel has anything else to say. The two fly off toward the congregation of MS’s, mentally preparing themselves for the task at hand.
On the giant vid-screen, Auray sees the distant shine of jets in the background. He stands, still watching the screen, “zoom in on that shine.” A technician zooms in on the spot, showing two MS’s flying in their direction. Auray smiles, full out this time, not caring about who’s watching. He turns and begins to walk out of the war room, “Dmitri,” he says as he passes him, “it’s time we both took care of some unfinished business.” Dmitri then notices the two MS’s on the screen, only recognizing one as Spera, Razel’s MS. He gets up from his seat and follows Auray to the hanger of the lead ship, going over in his head exactly what he was going to do now that Razel had arrived.
Hal sits nervously in his seat, waiting for his computer to finish calculating the course the fog seemed to be taking. He takes a deep breath as the computer comes up with a generated 3D model of the fog’s path, immediately contacting Razel after receiving his findings. Razel appears on his com-screen, jerking the controls of Spera sporadically. “Kinda busy right now, buddy,” Razel says as Spera mows down several Mobile Dolls with its linear machine guns. “You might want to take a look at this,” Hal says, sending Razel the 3D model. “Don’t really have time to be looking at maps, there Hal,” Razel says, his voice breaking as he takes a hit from a Mobile Doll, “how ‘bout a summary?” “This is a model of the fog’s course,” Hal starts, “by my calculations it’s heading strait for Earth.” Razel takes down another couple of Mobile Dolls, “well, how long do we have?” Hal sighs, “well, that’s the thing. At this point it’ll hit the sun before it hits Earth, which means one of two things from what I gather: either it will cause the sun to go supernova and explode, destroying most of the solar system or it will completely engulf the sun as it did our assault, causing Earth to completely freeze in…” Razel getting frustrated with Hal’s over explaining, interrupts, “how long!?” Hal clears his throat and pushes up his glasses, “two hours,” he simply puts. “Damn,” Razel says, firing his linear machine guns, “doesn’t give us much time at all.”
Ramsi arrives at the heated battle, immediately getting into the middle of it all and backing up his Pax Pacis brethren, his linear saber swiping every which way, cutting down Mobile Dolls left and right. In the back of his mind he wonders if his father is watching him from one of the ships looming in the distance, his conscious mind keeping track of his task at hand. Cutting down another Mobile Doll, his subconscious takes over and he begins to make his way towards the Vis Vires ship fleet in hopes his father would be waiting.
As Auray and Dmitri exit into the vacuum of space, they take careful census of their surroundings, making sure they wouldn’t be prematurely attacked. Unable to find their targets, they wait for the ‘crowd’ to get thinned so they may take care of the business each of them had. They both float in the middle of space, far enough from the lead ship to be considered dangerous, but close enough that they could get back to the ship easily enough. They watch as the battle goes on, Auray pleased with the results of the first wave of Mobile Dolls and Dmitri bent on finding Razel in the mass of MS’s. He wouldn’t have to wait long, as Razel finds him. Out of nowhere Spera tackles Agonotheta Letum, both MS’s flying past Auray and Pondera. Auray doesn’t even flinch, instead continuing looking for his own dance partner.
Dmitri uses his E.M.R. to repel Razel from him, sending Spera into the lead ship’s outer hull. Razel shakes off the headache from the loud clang, instantly pulling out his LineDivider linear sword and charging Dmitri once again. Dmitri whips out his linear lance, spinning it around a couple of times for flare then charges Razel. They both collide with linear blade swipes, blocking and parrying each other back and forth. Razel spins around, his large linear sword whipping around. Dmitri easily blocks and counters, hitting Spera in the shoulder and taking a nice chunk of metal out. Razel glides back, getting some breathing room from his opponent, knowing Dmitri’s lack of long range weaponry. He pulls out a large rifle from the back of Spera, aiming quickly and precisely. The rifle fires and a linear beam hits its mark on Agonotheta Letum’s arm, causing it to drop the linear lance in its grasp. In the shock, Dmitri doesn’t see Razel rapidly approaching his front.
Moments after Razel’s sneak attack, Trent gradually makes his way towards Auray. Once Auray sees his old friend, he smiles and opens a com-screen. “Hello, old friend,” he says to Trent in a deviously friendly voice. Trent scoffs, “I take offense to that, yougin,” then puts a hand up to the scar over his eye. It burns slightly at the sight of Auray again, like it has done before. “You know what I must do,” Trent says, his tone serious. Auray nods, “and you, I.” With that they charge each other, Trent bearing his linear scythe against Auray’s linear pike. The melee lasts for seconds, Auray wasting no time getting the upper hand by freezing Trent’s scythe holding arm with his N.P.L. Auray easily shatters the arm into a million pieces, seconds later Chaos Rain’s chest opens and an extending arm slams into Pondera’s chest sending him away from Trent. The arm retracts and Trent closes his active cloak, giving him a few moments’ time to think. Without hesitation Auray fires his buster rifle strait at his rival, the active cloak buckling under the pressure and splitting completely. Trent maneuvers his MS around, dropping what’s left of the active cloak and firing his linear rifle from the hip. The shots are easily dodged by Auray, little too easily. Next thing he knows Chaos Rain fires out from its back a six pack of missiles. They curve over Chaos Rain’s head, bearing strait towards Auray who just stands there. From Pondera’s chest erupts missiles of his own, the two sets of missiles colliding mere feet from Auray, sending him flying back from the blast. He stops and floats, waiting for Trent’s next move.
Ramsi circles the lead ship of the Vis Vires fleet, keeping an eye out for his father who may be lurking in the shadows. His sensors detect no active MS in the area, but Ramsi doesn’t need the sensors telling him something he knew to be false. His father was waiting and he knew it. Ramsi stops Talex, the suit now floating in mid-space. He stares at the gleam of metal against the hull of the ship, his father in a custom MS, seemingly tricked-out with some heavy duty equipment. The MS floats out into the light where Ramsi can see it better, his eyes opening a little more as he notices its pure presence. His com-screen opens, showing his father Kal inside a very different looking cockpit. “Hello, Ramsi,” Kal says, smiling at his son, “how do you like my newest and best creation?” Kal’s MS, dominantly black with dark green and maroon trimmings, seems not to have one part that doesn’t shine in the sun. The two extremities sticking out the shoulders are noticeable, Ramsi watching them in suspicion. He would have to keep an eye out for them, they seemed to have an important reason for being where they where. Ramsi takes a deep breath, not even wanting to answer his father’s question. He shuts the com-screen down, his father instantly becoming the view in front of Talex. Ramsi charges, his jets firing up and his MS flying towards his opponent. Kal stands and floats, his MS’s arms crossed in wait as his son charges. Ramsi swipes his linear saber, Kal dodging his attacks rather nonchalantly. Then, as if bored with the dodging, Kal dodges and counterattacks with his own linear saber, not only slicing the arm holding the linear saber, but also the corresponding leg off of Ramsi’s Talex. Kal floats as Ramsi retreats back, getting distance from his father.
That was a little under two minutes and look what he’s done already, Ramsi thinks as he balances his MS. After that first attack, Ramsi questions the second, wondering if he should risk attacking such a superior pilot. Kal appears on his com-screen, looking well entertained but disappointed. “I expect much more from you, Ramsi. I thought you’d at least hit me!” Ramsi ignores the taunting, knowing he was just trying to get him to do something stupid. They stare at each other for a bit, then Kal breaks the silence, “don’t tell me you’re gonna quit and run away. Tsk, Tsk.” Kal shakes his head, disappointed, “are you going to give up just like you gave up on your mother? It’s your fault she had to die. If you wouldn’t have had been such a bad pilot, I wouldn’t have had to kill her!” Ramsi’s eyes tighten, a seed of hate planted into his head. There would be nothing to stop him from finishing this fight.
Gabriel sits in the cold cockpit chair of the ship he had ‘borrowed’ from the ESS hanger on Colony L7, his eyes fixed on his destination. Unblinking, he stares, unable to see the source of the voice in his head but knowing exactly where it comes from. Still a ways away, Gabriel keeps his attention on the controls and the instruments, knowing they would soon be going haywire. The monotone voice continues to broadcast in his head, telling him where to go. He would soon be done with all that has pained him, never having to run away from that which haunts him ever again.
The battle between the Earth forces and Vis Vires rages on, piloted MS’s and Mobile Dolls paint the dark backdrop with color. Explosions fire off every second or so, linear and beam shots flying back and forth across the star-lined sky. Everyone gives their all, no matter their position or alignment, they fight on for their cause.
Meanwhile, the inexplicable fog gradually makes its way toward the sun, its progress slow but steady. Hal begins to worry, knowing very well that it couldn’t be stopped by anything they had and understanding fully the consequences of its impending collision with the sun. Checking his calculations for the third time since he had talked to Razel, Hal sighs, hating not being able to do anything about the danger. Panic sets in as he thinks of Natalya back on Earth, the only thought in his head pointing towards going down and picking her up. If anything happened, at least they could get away, together. Hal ponders his position, wondering if he should just ignore Razel’s ‘orders,’ figuring he had no real rank over him. Hal gives in to his emotions, turning his MS Solidus Epsilon around and jetting towards the green and blue sphere behind the sun. On his way he tries to contact Razel with no luck, instead leaving him a message telling of his plans to get Natalya.
I hope you understand, Razel.
Spera flies back as Dmitri activates his E.M.R. Seconds later Agonotheta Letum’s left arm extends out and grabs Spera’s chest, Razel feeling the cockpit decrease in size just slightly. Dmitri reels in his catch, the heat rod on his right arm charging. Using it like a bullwhip, Dmitri smacks Spera upside its head a couple of times. Razel struggles to regain control, pulling at the arm and trying to get free. Meanwhile Dmitri pummels Razel with the heat rod, doing extensive damage. Finally, Razel reaches back and pulls out his LineFire linear machine guns, whipping them out and firing them strait into Agonotheta Letum’s chest. Dmitri lets go of Razel, immediately retreating for a moment, then makes his next attack. Razel dodges the misplaced assault, himself retreating away to get some space between them. The shields on Spera’s arms open and Razel sends out both grapplers to try and grab a hold of Dmitri. Dmitri seems not to move as the grapplers seize hold of Agonotheta Letum’s waist and neck. Dmitri smiles to himself, thinking how easy this would be as a loud humming begins.
He fell right into my trap.
Suddenly Spera snaps forward being reeled in as Agonotheta Letum’s top half spins around quickly. Razel doesn’t have enough time to think as he’s being pulled into the spinning MS. The last thing he sees is the heat rod charging and beginning to spin from Agonotheta Letum’s arm, then the flash of an explosion.
Trent charges his former friend Auray, his linear scythe outstretched to his side and his verniay jets on full. Auray stays his ground, awaiting Trent’s attack in anticipation, going over his strategy in the instant he had until Trent would be on him. As Trent swipes his linear scythe, Auray dodges pulling out his linear rifle in a fraction of a second and firing into Chaos Rain’s side. The shot blows a rather large hole in the MS’s waist armor, Trent feeling the hit quite sensitively in the cockpit. He could tell that one more hit to that side and he’d be floating in space.
Got to protect that side, he thinks, getting some space between him and Auray.
Once away, Trent fires off his linear rifle, missing Auray completely but destroying some stray Mobile Dolls floating in the area behind his opponent. Auray spreads the three sets of wings upon Pondera’s back, the sight beautiful in a twisted way, Trent sees. Auray’s hunch comes out right, the sight distracting Trent long enough for him to fire his N.P.L., freezing the entire waist area of Chaos Rain. All is still for a moment, as they both know what would come next. Auray opens a com-screen, wanting to see Trent’s face as he took the life of his friend from his past life. Trent watches as Auray pulls out his buster rifle, aims, and fires. As the blast hits Chaos Rain, the frozen mid-section shatters to a million pieces, separating the top and bottom half of Chaos Rain. The two pieces float in opposite directions, away from each other. Auray feels a sense of completion as he heads back to the ship to command his troops to, what he felt, would be their victory.
Ramsi yells a battle cry as he charges his father, his emotions taking over and his blood boiling. His agenda had changed, he no longer cared about being a hero, nor did he care what his father thought of him. The only thing on his mind at that point is avenging his mother who had been taken from him by his own father. His attacks seem to only make Kal happier, his laugh echoing in his head as his father blocks every advance made with ease. Ramsi never stops, his attacks growing more and more furious as Kal laughs. After a while, Ramsi slows a bit, his linear saber hitting less and less against Kal’s own. Then, all at once, Ramsi flies back and fires his concealed buster rifle, the large blast heading strait toward the unmoving Kal. The two extremities fold in on Kal’s MS, an energy shield appearing from them. The buster blast hits the shield, dispersing to each side. After the shot clears, Kal’s MS stands untouched, the two extremities moving back to their original positions. “You will have to do better than that, Ramsi, IF you want to impress me.”
Hal lands on the platform at the castle, immediately opening his cockpit hatch and exiting his MS. He runs into the nearby hanger, toward Natalya’s office. Once inside he finds her office empty, save her furniture and computer equipment. He runs out of the room, looking down each side of the hall, wondering where she might be. Seeing a guard walking toward him, he stops the man and asks, “do you know where Natalya is?” The guard shrugs, not knowing anything as a guard should. Running down the hall and back into the hanger, Hal asks the engineers standing around doing nothing. One of them says they saw her heading toward the new facility behind the castle, Hal thanking and heading off in the facility’s basic direction.
Dmitri meets Auray at the docking bay entrance, Spera’s metal head in its left hand like a trophy of his victory. Auray is pleased with how things were going. Not only had he taken care of his loose ends from his past, cutting off all ties to the person he used to be, but Dmitri had also gotten rid of Razel, someone who always seemed to get in the way. “Good work, Dmitri,” Auray says, signaling the workers inside to open the hatch, “looks like we both took care of our loose ends today. Now we go lead the troops to a victory over Earth.” Dmitri notices Auray’s complete pleasure in his voice. Auray wasn’t overly joyful, but Dmitri could tell he was very well pleased to how things were going. Dmitri and Auray land and position their MS’s, opening the hatches and exiting their MS’s. They walk out of the docking bay towards the war room, where Auray would give the command to release the second wave of MS’s, the one’s piloted by the skilled members of Vis Vires.
Culas had had enough with the Mobile Dolls ganging up on him. He heads toward the lead Vis Vires ship, ready to cut it in half and get it over with. He wanted to just end the fighting, the death, and the destruction. As he makes his way to the ship his sensors pick up a life form floating in space. He sighs and heads in the direction of the person who may still be alive. As he gets visual confirmation, he scans the body only to discover it’s Trent Valencia from Earth Sphere Security. He picks up Trent in one gigantic hand, closes it gently, and then heads to the closest ship to get the pilot to a medical bay. Hopefully it wasn’t too late to save him at least.
Gabriel feels himself getting closer to his destination, where he would finally end it all. The fear he feels is overshadowed by the relief he knew he’d feel after it was all over, when he could rest peacefully and not worry about running. The voice gets louder the closer he gets, echoing in his head but soothing, not irritating. He takes a deep breath and tries to get the ship to go faster, his youthful exuberance taking over.
Hal enters the newly built military facility behind the castle, the completely metal walls looking sterile and cold. He roams the halls, not knowing where to go but knowing he had to find Natalya as soon as possible. Every metal door he tries to open is sealed shut, and as he continues to run around looking for Natalya, he begins to get the feeling that he’s missing something. He stops in the middle of the hall, looks around and realizes why none of the doors were opening. He had been going around in a circle the entire time, each hall looking exactly like the one before it. He figured they all looked the same to make it harder to get around in the metal fortress, but he had no clue where to go at this point. Just then he hears the creaking of metal and the shutting of a door. He runs to the next hall, where he figured he had heard the sounds. The things get weird as he looks down the hall in which no doors line the walls. Hal scratches his head, pushing up his glasses and wondering where that sound came from. Then he sees it. Not many people would have noticed, but he does. A small, yet unmistakable crack in the floor down the hall, just wide enough to be the bottom of a door. Not seeing any way of opening the invisible door, Hal feels along the wall for any hidden switches or uneven spots, anything to help him open the door. Eventually he finds a warm panel on the wall and after a little experimentation figures out how to open it. The panel slides open and reveals a numeric passcode pad. He pulls out his laptop from his pack behind him, hooking it up to the panel. After a few keystrokes the pad blinks green and the door opens, leading into an elevator. Hal sees only one button to press, ‘B4.’ He presses it and the elevator descends down, the entire situation tugging at his mind.
In the lead Vis Vires ship’s docking bay, Agonotheta Letum stands tall holding the decapitated head of Spera in its hand. The head begins to move a bit, swinging back and forth just slightly. Moments later Razel falls from the head, landing on the metal floor with a thud. He shakes the ringing from his head and looks around, a bit disoriented. He then looks up at the head of Spera, thinking, Dammit, Dmitri. He then makes his way out of the hanger and past a few guards, unnoticed. His destination is the artillery room, the plan spanning out perfectly, just as prepared. Hopefully the rest would go just as smoothly.
Ramsi could feel his defeat pending, the way his father piloted, not to mention the technology he possessed could destroy his MS in no time. Kal was playing with him and he knew it, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Ramsi looks at his father once more on the com-screen, “I’m done with you.” Ramsi was taking a stand, for now he knew he couldn’t beat his father, but one day they would meet again. That’s when he’d be ready for him. Kal just looks at Ramsi and takes a deep breath, the smile on his face fading and the seriousness forming, “fine.” With that Kal flies off, leaving the one-armed, one-legged MS piloted by Ramsi floating in space, alone. Ramsi felt he’d accomplished nothing, in fact he felt like shit. His shame and disappointment kills him inside, the only thing keeping him from self-destructing is the fact that he would get another chance some day, hopefully soon. For now he had to get to a Pax Pacis ship to get Talex repaired.
Dmitri and Auray walk to the war room, side by side. Once at the door, Dmitri stops short, putting a hand on Auray’s shoulder. Auray turns, “what is it, Dmitri?” Dmitri takes his hand off of Auray’s shoulder, “do you know where Tae is? I must talk with her.” Auray realizes right away why he wanted to talk to her, having just killed Razel. “She should be in her room. For some reason she didn’t want to take a part in this battle,” Auray says plainly. Dmitri nods, then walks away without another word, Auray watching him walk away down the hall.
Tae lies in her bed comfortably, staring up at the ceiling of her room. There’s a knock at the door, startling her out of her bed. She walks over to the door and presses the open button, the door sliding open and revealing Dmitri standing there. Tae, still not too happy to see the killer of her adopted mother, walks back to her bed without a word. Dmitri walks into the room, leaving the door behind him open. He wasn’t planning on staying long. “Here,” he says, handing Tae an envelope, “as soon as I leave you can read it.” She takes hold of the envelope, looking at Dmitri with a confused expression. Dmitri says nothing else, just leaves.
Auray watches as his Mobile Dolls dwindle, his first wave doing exactly their job by exhausting the Earth forces. Once he sends the second wave out, he would have won already. He smiles outright, his elation too intense to hide. Soon he would call for the second wave and then it would be just a matter of time till he took over Earth. Then, and only then, he would feel like he had accomplished everything which he had set out to do. If Pavidus ever came back, he would be proud.
Razel just gets done knocking out two guards with the hilt of his sword, their bodies falling to the ground with a muffled thump. He sheathes his sword and enters the artillery room where he finds most of the weaponry used by Vis Vires. Most of the equipment had been taken out for the attack on Earth, but the room still remains filled with explosives and other weapons of destruction. He looks around, wondering where he should start. He finds a locker filled with C4, attaching a device about the size of a VHS tape to the door of the locker, then continues to look around. Razel places a couple more devices around the room, pressing an activation button on each of them as he does. Once done, Razel walks over to the door and hits the open button, the door sliding open. He takes one last look and leaves the room, heading in the direction of the docking bay.
The elevator stops with a ding, Hal stepping off after the doors slide open. He looks around, the hall ahead of him strait forward, a door at the end. He slowly walks down the hall, his skin crawling and his thoughts making him feel like this was a cheesy B-rated movie. He gets to the door, a solid metal door like every other one before, except as he reaches for the keypad to open the door, it actually opens. Light floods the dim hallway as the door opens, Hal’s face turning white and his eyes widening as if he’d seen a ghost. There, standing next to Albaston and going over a map on a large vid-screen stands Queen Zerium Cabore III, alive and well. They turn to see Hal standing in the doorway, mouth wide open and eyes almost bugging out of their sockets. Albaston seems startled at first, worried this might screw up things. Then, as Queen Zerium smiles and walks toward Hal, Albaston breathes a breath of relief. “You do know it is rude to stare,” the Queen says, walking over to Hal. Hal stutters out the first part of a couple of words, not really making any sense except to himself in his head. The Queen smiles and puts a hand on Hal’s shoulder, “it will all be explained in time, my friend. Till then, I suppose you are looking for Natalya?” Hal just nods, still unable to express anything but shock. “She is in her new office out that door,” she points to a door on the opposite side of the room, “down the hall, and take the first right. You should be able to find her after that.” Hal somewhat snaps out of it, remembering why he was here in the first place. He runs toward the door, then stops and turns around as he opens it, “it is a relief to see you again, your majesty. I look forward to hearing all about this once we have more time.” The Queen nods, smiling at Hal, “and it is nice to see you also, Hal.” With that, Hal runs down the hall to get the woman he loved.
Hiro watches as the fog swallows a small piece of debris, the space junk disappearing into the mass of nothingness. He tries to contact Trent, but has no luck. He begins to worry that friend and colleague didn’t make it out of the fight. He wants to leave the site and find him, but he doesn’t, keeping his word to Trent that he’d stay and watch the fog while he was gone. All he can do is wait and watch as the fog grows closer to the sun.
Razel slowly makes his way to the docking bay, sneaking past most of the guards and knocking out the ones who are unavoidable. As he opens the door to the docking bay, he wonders where Dmitri was. His question is answered as the door slides open, Dmitri standing on the other side. For a moment they stand rigid and stare at each other, their expressions serious to their full extent. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Razel’s mouth forms a smile and before Dmitri knows it, a fist is headed for his face. Razel’s punch lands dead on Dmitri’s face, his head turning from the impact. Dmitri looks at Razel, anger rising. Razel points a finger at the man in front of him, “that’s for destroying Spera. THAT wasn’t part of the plan.” Dmitri smiles finally, saying, “yeah, but you get so cocky about that thing.” Razel lets out a slight laugh, then slaps Dmitri playfully on the shoulder, “let’s go, we have work to do.” Dmitri gets into Agonotheta Letum, Razel into a Taurus sitting in the hanger. Dmitri stops Razel as they’re about to leave, “I’ll get the door,” he says, pulling out his linear lance. He cuts a hole into the docking bay hatch, big enough for the MS’s to get through one at a time. Then both MS’s exit the ship into the space outside. Once outside, Razel asks, “so did you place all the explosives?” Dmitri nods, “I made it a point to visit each and every ship they have,” he says smugly. “Very nice,” Razel says, smiling and giving Dmitri a thumb’s up.
Hal runs down the hall in search of Natalya. He finally finds the room, opens the door, and pauses as he sees Natalya sitting in a chair in front of a computer. “Hal? What are you doing here?” she asks, confused. Hal walks up to her, looking into her eyes. “I had to come get you. That fog is getting closer, and I don’t know if anyone can stop it. If it hits the sun, I don’t want you here when it happens.” Natalya smiles a bit, color gracing her cheeks. She leans in for a kiss, Hal doing the same. They kiss and hold each other, for that moment nothing else mattering in the world. As they stare into each other’s eyes, Hal’s goes blank. No emotion shows through and he seems to go into a trance, not moving, even as Natalya shimmies from his hold. “Hal? Are you OK?” Hal hears nothing, as the voice in his head fills him to the brim. The voice is familiar, like a childhood friend he once knew but had forgotten about. The voice says one thing over and over again, “look to the sun. Tell others”
Gabriel could feel the heat from the gigantic star, even through the protective hull of the ship. As he circles the sun he feels himself getting closer, then he sees it, his saving grace. He stops the ship, lets it float along as he gets up from his seat. Any human would probably be sweating by now, the heat from the ball of fire searing. Not for him though, his senses dulled since birth. As he opens the hatch to space outside, he suddenly feels cold as the empty space comes over him. He spreads his wings and jumps out into zero-g, his wings flapping and guiding him to his target. His ‘savior’ floats in space, awaiting the boy’s arrival. In the sunlight its skin gleams green, and Gabriel is taken away by the magnificence of the sight. On his way to the being, Gabriel tries to talk to it with his mind, asking if it had a name. The being answers back, “Exsequiae.’ Dmitri and Razel get far enough from the Vis Vires fleet to safely set off the explosives. “Those explosives you set in the artillery room,” Dmitri starts, “you did remember to set the restrictive parameters, right?” “Yeah. What do you take me for, an idiot? I blow up the lead ship, killing Auray and that bomb goes boom somewhere on Earth, right?” Dmitri nods, suddenly wishing he had found out where the bomb actually was located. “You ready for the fireworks?” Razel says, getting his detonator ready. Dmitri inputs a code into his console, flipping over a cover to a big red button, “ready as ever.” Both Dmitri and Razel press the detonators at the same time, instantly explosions begin to go off in the distance. They can see the ships beginning to one-by-one erupt and crumble. They look at each other and smile, Razel giving Dmitri a ‘oh, hell yeah’ look.
“Auray, sir! There’s been an explosion in the artillery room. No fires have broken out, but the weapons have all been destroyed!” a technician says after running into the war room. “What!?” Auray says, not knowing how something like that could have happened. “Sir!” a man at a console yells, “our ships are exploding. It looks like the explosions are coming from the inside.” Auray’s blood begins to boil, his mind spinning in and out of confusion. How could all this have gone so wrong? Everything was going perfectly. What has happened? Auray walks over to a tech. at a console, “call in the men and Mobile Dolls we have out there, we’ve lost this battle,” the defeat in his voice saddening the technician.
Akujin, Xiefall, and Nashiko see the explosions go off in the distance, figuring the worst. All three get the order to retreat and head back to the lead ship. Once back they head to the war room where they greet Auray with defeated expressions. “What the hell happened?” Akujin angrily asks Auray. Auray watches as the last of his ships explode on the vid-screen, “we’ve lost it all,” he says quietly, almost to himself. He turns, noticing only Xiefall, Akujin and Nashiko. “Where is Dmitri?” he asks, his eye beginning to twitch. “Didn’t see his MS in the hanger,” Xiefall says, sitting in a nearby seat, exhausted from the battle. Auray’s mind races, could it have been? Just then his questions are answered as Tae comes running into the war room waving a piece of paper. “Auray! Read this!” she yells, handing him the paper. Auray begins to read:
As you read this remember one thing, the only reason you are not dead right now is because I took an oath to the Queen of England, your mother. This, regrettably, prohibits me from harming any of those in the Royal family. This is the only reason you are still alive.
As for Auray, and the lead ship itself…that is unfortunately thanks to Akujin’s Civium Mors and the fact that if either of them die, somewhere on Earth innocents would die.
I suggest you go off and hide somewhere in space all of you. Because once I find that bomb, I will be coming after you all. Good day.
Dmitri
Auray remains calm as he finishes the letter, handing it back to Tae and turning to the vid-screen. “Take us out, away from this place,” he says to no one in particular. With that, the lead ship, the only ship in one piece after the sabotage from Dmitri heads off deep into space where Auray can begin to plan for the next time he would meet with Dmitri, and what Vis Vires will do now that their army had been defeated.
As Gabriel approaches the massive green being he can feel the energy radiating off of it. He feels warmth, not that of temperature, but that of comfort. Without hesitation the boy flies into the chest of Exsequiae, the skin parting and then surrounding him. A bright light suddenly shines from the body of Exsequiae, out casting even that of the sun.
Hal shakes off his stare, pushing up his loose glasses and looking at Natalya who looks back at him. Her expression shows unmistakable confusion, “what was that?” Hal quickly puts his hands on her arms, “excuse me for one second, there’s something I have to do.” He then runs off out the door in quite a rush, leaving Natalya standing alone and completely baffled. Hal runs down the hall, toward the first room where he had found the Queen and Albaston. As he opens the door he quickly scans the room with his eyes, noticing the object of his search. He walks past Queen Zerium who asks what he was doing, but as he passes her he completely ignores her. He walks over to the console for the vid-screen and tries to get a hold of Razel; no response. Queen Zerium walks up behind Hal, noticing his tries at contacting Razel, “try Dmitri, he should be with Razel.” Hal gives her a look, then just does what she says. The Queen can’t help but feel Hal is possessed in a way, like nothing else mattered till he did what he had to do. Dmitri’s face appears on the com-screen, “Hal…what is it?” Hal can’t help but feel a little awkward, take it he didn’t know the whole story, but he really couldn’t help it. “Look to the sun,” Hal says simply. Dmitri looks at Hal like he’s grown a third head, then a bright light floods his cockpit. Hal quickly reacts, “Dmitri, put it up on screen.” Dmitri hits a button and the sight everyone on that side of the sun could see appears on the large vid-screen. Hal, Queen Zerium, and Albaston stare at the source of the iridescent shine.
The light dies, people watch worldwide on giant vid-screens as Exsequiae emerges from the light, its green skin glowing with natural light. Exsequiae arches bach as two white, feathery wings grow out from its back. The wings stretch and flap, Exsequiae getting used to the new appendages. Gabriel smiles inside the living machine, his dreams finally coming true. He looks up to see the fog rolling toward him, at its pace about fifteen minutes away. At Exsequiae’s pace: seconds. Before he goes he talks to Bentho, his father, his friend, telling him that ‘all is meant to be, and nothing can be avoided for too long.’ Bentho will forever remember those words.
Everyone watches as Exsequiae’s wings go strait up, its body hunching over. The wings come down hard and the living MS begins to fly in the fog’s direction. Gabriel says a short prayer before he enters the fog, something he read in the files Bentho had given him to study. As he enters the fog, all goes dark, no light enters the skin of Exsequiae. Gabriel takes his final breath and says goodbye. To his life and to Exsequiae.
All watch as Exsequiae enter the fog, the sight majestic and surreal at the same time. For a moment after the green being enters the fog nothing happens, then a bright light begins to grow from within the fog itself. It grows brighter and brighter until the entire dark fog is glowing like a giant light bulb. The fog begins to crumble, still glowing. Little piece of brightness fall off the main body of the fog until it disappears entirely.
Later that day the rightful Queen of England, Queen Zerium Cabore III, makes a shocking announcement of her false death, and of the plan against Vis Vires. She announces the defeat of the Vis Vires fleet, and of the little boy who saved the world and everyone’s life on it. She also officially gives Dmitri a full pardon for the crimes he had to do while under the guise as a Vis Vires terrorist.
It seems like a golden age. Although the mysterious fog and the boy with the Angel wings leaves everyone with question upon question, it still feels good not having to worry about Vis Vires or any other threat to Earth’s safety. Good times.
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