Scarlet Blade: Record of Golden Wings - Chapter 42

SCARLET S BLADE
Record of Golden Wings

Chapter 42 : Distraction guaranteed


* * *

(Because of the confidential nature of the operations in Barbiron, most details within were omitted)

Around the end of the first month since settling in Barbiron, Terrivia and Glerenceria had managed to accustom themselves to weapons meant for different class Arkana than their own. That way, they would not fit the Defender and Medic typecastings the Shadow Army had been expecting. During that period of time, they had been struggling to deal with horde after horde of Blackguard fighters, on top of their cruel and lethal bio experiments.

A common Blackguard soldier's uniform was that of a black trenchcoat with Stardust linings, giving them the release of powers like those of Arkana. Each of them were bald as their brains were planted with mind programming electrodes, and their bodies were infused with powerful chemicals that give them as much physical raw strength as Defender class Arkana. Their weapons were also powerful. They would use a pair of Lightsabers, which were far beyond any reach of copyright infringement. The blades assembled out of intensified photons, generated from the hilt, were glowing crimson to make their evil clear. An ordinary weapon would not last, since it would melt under prolonged contact.

Fighting them was hard enough, but when they charged forth with the mutated animal experiments in tow, it would be a series of hard fights to come. Brushing past death for near countless times had given Terrivia and Glerenceria the time to analyze them and come up with a way to overcome them. More over, in that 1 month alone they had helped Beatrice improve themselves, by field testing new prototype Core Modules and personal implants.

In order to fight more entities, it would require more than just improved body workload and food intake. Terrivia and Glerenceria would need Core Modules that could keep up with the energy they could produce, and turn it into usable power. Things such as replenishing speed, compactness and power output were constantly being improved, re-evaluated and studied. Inevitably, it also caused surgical strains on their bodies.

To help coping with that problem, a new frontier Arkana was put to assist them: Niwatori Miki, blood sister of Yuki. Educated in the ways of using birthstones and trained under the frontier Arkana program, Miki was still a High Hand, but she survived the Barbiron frontlines in her first day. Uniting with Terrivia and Glerenceria, she swore to live up to her sister's name while helping them take down a clout of Cabal exiles. At this point, one thing seemed clear: the Shadow Army was not without its internal conflicts.

Despite the amount of Narak substances composing their bodies, the exiles had managed to come up with their own doctrine to displace the once absolute loyalty towards Narak. Furthermore, local Dybbuks and Wormoles had also gained individualities, and sought shelter and companionship out of fear, as a sign of beginning to form coherent thoughts and retaining individualities. However, all of them were still too far gone to be rehabilitated, and the exiles had no intention of becoming human. They were all put down along with a giant Stardust extraction array they had occupied as their sanctuary.

In the second month, things were taking a dramatic turn, as who were presumably enemies had chances to become temporary allies. The falling out within Shadow Army had caused one of their battle divisions, the Rustblood Batallion, to become more distrustful of their mystical Cabal allies and radical Blackguard comrades. As if that wasn't all, Terrivia had managed to communicate with a collective of Stygians who had, just like the Cabal exiles, broken free from the control of Narak enslavers. The Stygians claimed that they had all been forcefully taken on a voyage after their home planet's fall under Narak attack, to attack other words and set foot in them. Through time, their kind became from rebellious to submissive, as a result of direct raising under Narak's influence.

While an uneasy alliance was bargained with the Rustbloods, and the Stygians agreed to cooperate, all hopes of fighting enemies with their enemies, were dashed aside in a cruel twist of fate. The Rustbloods were implanted with memory chips and genetic sequences that effectively prevented them from cooperating with the Core Agency and any sane entity other than Shadow Army itself. When the time came, the Rustblood exploited the hole in the Agency's defenses, and a research camp was destroyed in the process.

But that wasn't all. In the same chaos, the Stygians were reduced to mindless drones once more, one by one, because of genetic attacks using a dreadful technology called VeriChip. In ages long past, what began as animal-tagging devices were turning into detection implants, and secretly, Genesis Corporation worked in a variant that the Shadow Army could use: a mind controlling and gene altering variant. Nearly all aberrant mutations of life and living experiments put forth by the Blackguard were caused by the same VeriChip technology, and at one point, one was modified to hit an Arkana, which resulted in information loss.

With the Stygians and Rustbloods both gone, the Arkana were starting again from square one in engaging the Blackguard and Shadow Army reinforcements. Sensing that the loss of their greatest foothold was near, the Shadow Army brought in many forces from across Chromia to bait the Arkana into a battle of attrition in a worse fashion than before. Fortunately, learning from the incidents, the Arkana managed to stall the fights until the third month by baiting and switching, using the landscapes to their advantage.

But by the end of the month, something unexpected happened. A Ralph too far corrupted had shown up to give information, but at the cost of his own life. His betrayal apparent, Ajatoss left him to die in a fateful battle for the Blackguard headquarters. Still holding on to his humanity, Ralph would give Terrivia all of his memories.... The key to understand the state of the Shadow Army.

***

Mereholt...

Uncovered HAARP site....


Using the Arkana's struggles since the beginning and Mereholt's status quo of having no Narak entities alive, an excavation to uncover the HAARP Mainframe was taking place. By increasing the focus on Barbiron, Mereholt was effectively being protected by the lack of attention. The excavation did not require a lot of excavation machines, but plenty of holographic and jamming equipments instead. The process required some amount of stealth as both Royal Guards and Core Agency would not want satelites to show a lot of people moving in and out of the supposedly sealed cave. They picked their active times carefully and would use the holographic projectors to mask their approach. Then, surrounding the jamming equipments around the entire range in a circle, the risk of HAARP Mainframe firing off one of its blasts unwantedly would be reduced.

The question was, how much of the risk would be diminished?

With the jamming equipments fully camouflaged, and the core of the mainframe located, Beatrice was all set for a joint hacking effort to bring HAARP into control. With operatives working on jamming all outgoing communications, a long cable was hooked from the mainframe core to the outside, letting Beatrice take a lag-free approach. By the time said hacking was done, Beatrice learned a great deal about the origins of HAARP as well as its utility.

HAARP would be utterly useless if not for calling Narak down. Originally based on the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program from Alaska, the intact facily would be used to inject energy into the ionosphere, one of the highest parts of the atmosphere. However, testing was not complete, and with too much energy being fired off incorrectly, the excess was enough to tell the Narak lightyears away, that a civilized planet ripe for plucking, slaughtering and domination was in this solar system.

But the Narak arrived at the fate of near total annihilation. Already pregnant Narak that were carrying offsprings were killed along with others of same groups that made landfall on planet Earth. With the massive showering of nukes, almost everything on the surface of the planet was torched, which included the things HAARP used to fire off the energy into the ionosphere.

But Beatrice's discovery wasn't fruitless. With whatever data that was left inside the mainframe core, she managed to pilfer her way through important login details which she could later use to access some key files in Genesis Corporation - in secret. The concerns of leaking were adressed since HAARP was not traced and thus had no risk of exposing the activity to Shadow Army.

***

The sky was just getting dark in Barbiron and in the climax of the battle, the Core Agency and Blackguard forces were fighting all out. Tanks, machine guns, mortars, explosives, missiles, beams, nearly all forms of land weaponry were being utilized, with the Blackguard welcoming them with alien beings which were formerly ordinary living beings. With the Agency's Arkana taking cover behind the tanks, the latter fired off highly explosive rounds so that the enemy would not be on the offensive.

This allowed Terrivia to chase a signal of life she knew too well to forget: the signal of Ralph.

"This is Levi. I'm approaching the target. Keep on attacking." Terrivia commanded under her alias. After 3 months of constant battling for this desolate environment, her grown hair had formed out of the ragged hood.

Bypassing the fierce clash, Terrivia barged through the Blackguard forces by throwing 4 Cyberclusters at once, but soon they regrouped with lightsaber wielding soldiers ready to strike her down in the middle of transit. With Ralph in sight for just a mile away, Terrivia unleashed her cards: an experimental channelling staff that matched the most suitable attack range for a Defender. It was built to be both durable, and powerful, given its titanium frame reinforcing a Stardust infused core structure, while the head of the staff was like a bifurcation of a 10 pound industrial hammer and a nebulous green crystal ball gilded with steel.

In just a couple of seconds, Terrivia's power was amplified through the body of the staff and into the crystal ball, which transmitted into an attack of Terrivia's choosing: a multi-directional lightning spell that would spread with the hit upon each target. The dozen of Blackguard fighters which were chasing her got electrocuted to death in an instant.

Terrivia instantly knelt down near Ralph, who was struggling to hold up a dark green crystal, his chest already slashed open by something sharp.

"STAY WITH ME!!" Terrivia yelled.

"No.... No time.... Must.... give this.... Take it....." Ralph struggled to talk out of his bleeding mouth.

Terrivia grabbed both the crystal and Ralph's hand tightly before putting the crystal into her own pocket, "Thank you. You will be missed."

"Heh.... So, my last moments.... are spent as a human.... after all...... "

With his last words, Ralph drew his last breath and he was entering the state of death. Rescue wasn't possible, for no known medicine was available to treat a Narakified person. In rage, Terrivia 'controlled' something psychologically: a crystal that was pink in color, affixed to the body of a dagger. The dagger flew out of one of the pockets of Terrivia's rags, and in command, it flew to stab itself into the heart of an incoming Blackguard fighter, while Terrivia held the staff with both hands and proceeded to fight.

With each swing of the staff, Terrivia called forth the powers of natural elements. Electricity, flames, water, wind, light and shock, all were generated by the amplification of Terrivia's powers as she intercepted the Blackguard's attacks. Just as she was attacking, she used her mind at the same time to control the flight of the dagger. No doubt, the crystal was being controlled by her personal thoughts linked to it.

Just as Terrivia was guarding Ralph's corpse, Glerenceria approached from behind after taking another route.

"This is Occulus. Rendezvous with Levi right now." Glerenceria spoke through the communications under her alias. Unlike Terrivia, Glerenceria went the opposite direction with her own hairstyle and cut her hair short. In her right hand she was holding an experimental Scourge that was silver in color.

Even without being a Whipper, Glerenceria had months' worth of time to practice along with other kinds of weapons, and with skill, her thumb was constantly on the trigger button, telling the weapon whether to extend like a whip made of hard-hitting flexible tendon, or to retract and resume the form of a sword. What made this Scourge so special was the fact that it didn't have a gaudy construction like those of what other Whippers would use. Each segment resembled a round blade which looked to be like a kitchen utensil.

When extended, the Scourge was like a silver tentacle that lashed forward at its unfortunate target. Upon being impaled, the Blackguard fighter continued on, only to be kicked face first by Glerenceria's nimble bodywork when she pulled herself -at- him, rather than pulling him directly. Pulling the weapon out, Glerenceria made the Scourge extend one more time, doing a round spin while releasing 3 crystals out of her pockets. Each were like pendulums of different colors. Yellow, red and blue, glowing ferociously as Glerenceria transmitted her power through them without contact. Each of the crystals then shot out intense piercing beams matching their colors, greatly injuring any approaching Blackguard.

"Take Ralph away. I can handle this." Glerenceria ordered.

"Ok. Don't overdo it." Terrivia nodded.

Meanwhile, another Arkana came in and backed them up. It was Niwatori Miki, who wore a black and pink outfit instead of rags, her face masked up to avoid recognition. Her hair had also grown out, her twin buns tied with earrings which Terrivia obtained in Fort janus. Using the power contained within the earrings, Miki held up her grey guns and shot some mutants who got close to Terrivia's path of exit.

"How are things looking, Hitomi-sama?" Miki asked, keeping on with her attacks. Occulus is the name for 'eyes', and Hitomi happens to be 'eye' in Japanese.

"We are winning, but not for long. We just need to keep the Blackguard in place until 'the delivery' arrives." Glerenceria answered, "You go cover Levi. I will distract them for a little while longer."

"Affirmative." Miki nodded and started to provide cover fire for Terrivia, who was controlling the crystal-embedded dagger while carrying Ralph's bloodied corpse. Without using her weapon, she could have greater focus in controlling the dagger to stab multiple enemies.

With a few more sweeping strikes from Glerenceria's weapon, she let the yellow crystal float over to her hands, and held her palms open as if to pour her power directly into it. With an outward push, the attack that came was not a 'hadoken'. It was a brilliant yellow beam of Chakra energy that would burn and cauterize through any living being that was in its path without prior protection, with the crystal itself being the origin of launch. This move gave Glerenceria some leverage without actually having a gun.

Before leaving the place, Glerenceria placed her red crystal on the ground for a second and then ran away from the Blackguard. The spot where the red crystal was began glowing. By the time the Blackguard realized what was happening, it was too late, for the ground exploded in red light, generated by Glerenceria's power.

Just as the trio of Arkana left the scene, the Core Agency's forces were pulling back after drawing full attention of the Blackguard's forces. The latter did not know that the point of the battle wasn't about invading and capturing Blackguard's headquarters: It was total destruction.

In just 30 seconds, the ballistic missile which came down from stratosphere, launched off coast, hit the target building. It wasn't nuclear since it would violate the PNEA and the world's armament conventions, but it was almost as powerful, for the warhead was built to destroy underground targets while the body of the missile housed widespreading explosives. It was intended to destroy the landscape, for better or for worse, though anyone from the Core Agency back then would unanimously say it was for the better.

The Blackguard headquarters, base of operations and staging centre for all Shadow Army forces in Barbiron, was gone from the face of the planet. With no place to resupply, the Blackguard forces and their dangerous experiments were all put down like animals being gunned down in the name of poaching.

***

Later at night...


Nights in Barbiron, like nights in desert climates, were like polar extremes compared to daytimes. Temperatures reaching below minus 10 degrees Celsius would make resting for the night a challenge on both health and life itself without proper shelter. However, Terrivia and the two were not living in a mobile shelter like a camp or mobile house. They were living inside a furnished cave, and the night after the missile strike was a night to celebrate.

Using remote access to open the camouflaged door, the three of them entered the hideout and made themselves home. It was home for all three of them for the past 2 hectic months in Barbiron. It was also the only place where they could remove their disguises and alternate identies and be true to themselves.

"Whew, finally this whole thing is over and done with!" Miki peeled down her mask and jumped in joy.

"Yeah, I guess...." Terrivia sighed, holding up the crystal which Ralph had given his life to pass.

"You don't sound like you're happy about the Shadow Army losing this whole state-wide land, Terrivia-nee-chan." Miki looked at Terrivia in concern.

"I am, but that's just one thing. We've lost a lot of good people for all of this.... And him...." Terrivia frowned.

"Try and think that they're the last ones to go, then." Glerenceria added, "Perhaps now we can finally focus on the main task at hand. We have been distracted for too long."

"What task is that? I came here only thinking that it's the Shadow Army we need to uproot." Miki asked.

Glerenceria approached a safe box and typed in a passcode to open it, "And who said that the Shadow Army is the only threat in this world? Well.... maybe 'world' as a definition deserves changing. Our immediate dangers include the invaders from the outer space: the Narak."

"We were told they're coming over and we've checked with long range telescopes. It's legit. Stragglers since the 200 year old invasion are now coming back to pick on us." Terrivia added.

"H-how many of them are there?" Miki gulped.

"If not enough to kill us all, then enough to make our forces look like wet paperbags." Glerenceria answered cynically, "Point is, if we look at the amount of firepower and co-ordination, AND the manpower it took for us to take down just one Narak baby, then it's extremely hard for us to nail them without the use of powerful missiles. And I -am- talking about adults, ranging from multi-legged beings to flying spawning pods."

"We are fortunate that the world isn't very civilized at this point. Should most Narak make landfall outside of cities, casualties will be at the minimum. Flip side, that also means we don't have enough staging points to flank them when they get down." Terrivia added.

In their hideout was a large computer system, similar to what Commanders use to monitor their Arkana. It was shared between them, and the monitor showed the holographic image of Beatrice.

"I can't help but overhearing your conversation. Before we talk about how to intercept those giants, which we clearly have no immediate effective methods for, we should get you up to speed on what yours truly just got from HAARP." Beatrice interrupted.

The three Arkana were instantly hooked to the statement, with Glerenceria leading the charge, "Really? What you got?"

"It's nothing much. Besides helping myself to the login credentials of several key staff of Genesis Corp, the mainframe gave nothing. But, whatever I got, it got my memory running." Beatrice answered.

"This is going to be a long one, isn't it?" Terrivia asked.

"Just stick around. It's going to be interesting." Beatrice tilted her virtual head and continued, "I was, and still am, a processing cloud. Some may be right in calling me an AI, but I am not made out of lines of code and spliced together with multiple rows of servers while composed of a super computer. While I am technically living inside one, my state of self is stored inside a black box. To be more accurate, a box frame with its insides working just like grey matter."

"Ok, that's kinda high tech for your time, but why telling us now?" Terrivia asked.

"I'm telling you that there are things I either forget by choice, or forget by subconscious. Unlike hard memories which are etched into disk spaces, fuzzy memories like the thoughts and tidings inside your brains are fluid and shifting. I too needed a reminder to fetch those forgotten memories, and I just found one." Beatrice explained and then put forth a rather simplistic rebus, showing stick figures resembling people, with something like radio waves coming from them and into the sky and clouds.

"What.... is this?" Glerenceria asked.

"A special, secret unit Genesis Corp used, to measure energy emitted from masses of people. It's called Socio. I believe you and I heard it 3 months ago. Socio is one of the major subjects tangently related to the cause of Narak's descent into planet Earth." Beatrice answered, "One of HAARP's secretly intended purposes was mind control, and to do that, a mish mash of methods was necessary. I'll spare you the details and just tell you the cream of the crop. Socio study as well as social studies, were some of Genesis Corporation's most active fields, despite making no products. Here's where I remember a bit of my past: my time with John Maynard, and wait for it...."

Beatrice replaced the stick figures with a profile picture and face photo of Edwin Payder.

"Edwin Payder...." Glerenceria tensed her fingers.

"You might not believe this, but he was a samarithan. When you people first saw him at Asurian Altar, I just could not remember how good he was since I could only think of how he would be connected to the workings of Shadow Army. Before the world ended, and before I died, the three of us were like.... well, you can say we aspired to become worldwide innovators."

"Do you remember how he came to be the 3rd CEO?" Glerenceria asked.

"Yes. I do now." Beatrice answered bitterly, "Me and John were around our fifties, and he was just in his thirties. By every right, reason and logic, John should've been the best candidate for the position. But Maynard's field of research was not attractive to investors, while Edwin's research broke grounds in a widely acceptable way. Back then, the general masses failed to notice the right uses of genetic alteration. The stigma against it was as great as it was the early 21st century. John Maynard's field of research was the very same thing that led to the creation of you girls. The birth of better beings, using a then highly regulated and yet unknown substance: Stardust."

"And let me guess. Edwin Payder's research was social energy?" Terrivia interrupted.

"No. His marketting eyecatcher was medicine. It was an application of Stardust that focused on treatment, rather than prevention. It was that line of difference that drove a wedge between me, John, and him." Beatrice answered, "If I'm to go into details it will take forever, so, long story short, Edwin wasn't all about catching deals and producing moneymakers. He was much more idealistic, and not to mention, far less ruthless like the man you saw him."

"Well, now that you remembered that part, what about Ralph's body?" Glerenceria asked.

"He's still in the middle of highly isolated autopsy, but rest assured that he will be treated with utmost dignity. He is, till the very end, a responsible Earthling." Beatrice closed her eyes.

Suddenly, Erin interrupted the call by appearing in another corner of the monitor, "Well, besides him, I think some announcement is in order when it comes to your performance. This is like, a mind boggling study."

"Bring it, Erin-chan~" Miki spoke with a friendly smile.

"Ok. Here goes.... I hope you don't mind, madam." Erin readied some report sheets.

"Go ahead. I was about to have you start anyway." Beatrice nodded.

"Right." Erin adjusted her glasses and started to put the displays on the monitor, "This study proves that everything that was experienced and studied by the Batrachians to be practically accurate, but some things are yet to be scientifically proven. First up is the growth of an Arkana in terms of power. Last week we had you test your outputs in an isolated chamber with measuring devices. We had to analyze the data many ways so that explains the lack of speed for these things."

"Lay it down, sweetie." Terrivia urged.

"Ok. An experienced Arkana, without birthstone assistance. 3 minutes of continued exertion of heat-based Chakra." Erin started off, "You, Terrivia, 10 minutes. Miki, 5 minutes. Glare is 12."

"Wait, what??" Terrivia looked at Glerenceria and back at the screen.

"I'm as surprised as you really. This confirms another saying that... er-hmm, hermaphrodite Arkana being more powerful. Now, here are the microscope pictures and nanoparticle scans." Erin continued, "As you can see, the experienced Arkana without birthstone has a relatively ordinary looking blood with clean and uniform Stardust particulates. But originally, Stardust isn't supposed to be this large."

Then Erin changed the display a little to show Miki's, "Now, Miki's growth is more amazing compared to that. Just like you, Terrivia, 2 years old Arkana. The blood appearance is lighter, while the scans show that the shape of the particulates are becoming sharp and uneven. Yours, Terrivia, are even more eyecatching. It must be due to extended use of birthstone and greater combat experience. The bonding between blood cells and the particulates is more obvious. The size of individual particulates vary greatly, and using slight electric shocks, Terrivia's Stardust particulates just... split up and mutiply, starting from the largest ones."

"So, what you're trying to say is that Arkana can all potentially become renewable Stardust resources?" Terrivia asked.

"That will have to wait until you see this." Erin changed the displays to Glerenceria's samples, "Guess whose blood this is. Just the microscopic image alone shows insane amounts of glow, like the blood sample itself letting out light. The vial stopped glowing after 3 minutes. The nanoscan shows exactly why...."

Everyone was then looking at the picture where the blood cells had not only been merged with sharp looking sparkles, but also surrounded by crystal-like substances. Glerenceria herself was only half-surprised.

"The amount of Stardust inside Glare's body had so much and become so dense, the particulates most likely condensed in the form of crystals. I don't see any ill effects this can cause. Yet." Erin added.

"Me neither, but I don't want this to make me look like I'm some sort of anomaly." Glerenceria replied.

"We'd like to think you're not, but factually, you are the first of a kind. We don't know if there are other 'awakened' hermaphrodite Arkana out there to draw comparisons. What we do know at the moment is that in terms of power output and Stardust quantity, you come in first place, despite the amount of time you lived as an Arkana and the amount of time you spent with your corresponding stone." Erin spoke.

"Well, at least Glare's still not as athletically superior, right?" Terrivia looked at Miki.

"What do you expect? You're more beefed." Miki replied.

"Another thing is about your ability to create crystals with just the focus of your minds. We can see it happen but we can't use anything to measure it. All we could get from Terrivia's session was energy fluctuations. But one thing is clear. Different Arkana create different crystals. Without getting into specifics, let's just say all three of you managed to create crystals that have different base molecules." Erin added.

From this, the Arkana were all stunned from the implications.

"I guess that's all for today. The Blackguard HQ is down for the count and I guess it's another time before we get into open confrontation against the Shadow Army, right?" Erin asked.

"Y-yeah, I guess...." Glerenceria composed herself, "Thank you for the data. We need it."

"It's my pleasure." Erin ended the call with Beatrice still in touch.

"What.... are we?" Terrivia asked.

"I'm not sure." Glerenceria shook her head.

"To me, it doesn't matter what you are. You are people with names and you fight for Earth's integrity. That's more than enough for me to recognize you as friends and benefactors. I can even go so far as to say you are my family since the absence of my real body." Beatrice spoke out.

"As expected of Grandma Bea!" Miki laughed.

"I told you to stop calling me Grandmother!" Beatrice yelled.

"Pfft..." Terrivia chuckled, "But you are. Distantly related, yet it's because of you and John Maynard's efforts, we get to be where we are today."

"We're not hearing the end of this, so let me shift to another point." Beatrice sighed, "Before Erin interrupted me, I was going to say this to you. Did you check the crystal Ralph gave you?"

"No, I didn't. But if you want me to I can do it right now." Terrivia responded.

"Better not. It's just, there's something I want to share with you." Beatrice added, "Among the things I remembered, there's something that holds great importance. Just like me, John Maynard's rank as a senior researcher held some military directions. Genesis Corporation was a private entity on paper, so it had enough money to raise an army illegally. And we all know how -that- ended up. Only, I recall that John was working on a private flyer. I don't know how large it is, but I intend to find it. It's somwhere in Barbiron grounds, but there's also a chance for it to be under Viledon. If it's the latter, then it's going to be a messy search. But do think about it. It's impossible for him to just work on a civilian carrier since I the only time I saw that thing was when it was under construction."

"Was it designed to have weapons?" Glerenceria asked.

"Yes, and no." Beatrice answered, "While there's going to be weapon systems planned, the chassis looked awfully small to be an airborne destroyer when I saw it's frame. But thinking about it, there lies the advantage. You know the Royal Guards' warships?"

"Yes, I know. There are 3 in service since 30 years ago. Lota was keeping everything under tight wraps until recently, so there's no open knowledge of their capabilities. RGS Andromeda, RGS Valkyrie, and RGS Venus. All of them are large and act as weapon platforms, but at the same time they're bogged down by gravity and are open to anti-air attacks. If not for their powerful VOID generators, their means of combat would be meaningless since they would be financial losses waiting to happen." Glerenceria answered.

"Precisely. The flyer vessel I saw was much more compact compared to them, so perhaps it's going to be a solid asset if it's going to be a part of our agency. Fly fast, hit fast. Nothing wrong with that, right?" Beatrice nodded.

"That's only if it's found. Was it completed?" Glerenceria asked.

"Long completed and resting dormant within underground, I believe. Using the geographical location of where I had been to, and comparing it to the long changed geographical positions of today, I might be able to narrow things down relatively quick. But I will definitely need some time to dig, since everything was pulverized by nukes around 200 years ago." Beatrice answered.

"I can only hope that fitting it with present technology won't take too much time. We don't have a lot of time until the Narak remnants make landfall." Terrivia spoke out in concern.

"Well, about that, there is one approach you can take, but it will be risky." Beatrice added.

"Tell me something we don't know. We had been through dangerous instant-kill lifeforms, land poisoning Mandragoras, Star Wars wannabe Blackguards, Shadow Army rejects, enemies turned friends turned enemies again, so what's more surprising?" Terrivia asked.

"Gravity of the moon." Beatrice answered curtly, "When the Narak came to our planet, it first went through our satelite. Our moon was actually the first of our footholds to fight against the Narak with. It didn't end very well, and all establishments on satelite were overrun."

"Shit, Beatrice. Your troubles and ours just keep on escalating. When will it end?" Terrivia groaned.

"But how will we get up there? Considering the amount of ground we actually have on Earth, if we get up there by shuttle, we'd be shot down before we even leave the atmosphere. You're not telling me the Shadow Army don't have warships of their own, are you?' Glerenceria asked.

"Of course they do. I am far too intelligent to place the world's only hope of salvation, aka the three of you, on a highly improbable trip to the moon and risk attack from all sides, and it doesn't have to be the Shadow Army. Anyone can take a shuttle down given enough means. But, there's an opening, and we can use that." Beatrice answered.

"Well, I'm all ears then." Glerenceria nodded.

Suddenly, a call from Lota interrupted the conversation, "I'm sorry for calling in all of a sudden, but I have a plan that needs your immediate discussion, my children."

"And what plan might that be?" Beatrice asked in the line.

"Councillor Vauxhall has all the details, but the plan is to head into Free Knights' territory and investigate its inner workings." Lota answered.

"Whoa, really?!?" Miki was surprised, "So we're gonna like.... infiltrate there?"

"While we're talking, we were discussing on how to head to the moon. Securing the footholds of the moon will ensure that the pending Narak landfall will be far less catastrophic." Beatrice interrupted.

"Before anything can be done, my calculation of the situation makes me agree with Vauxhall's proposal. Please, it will not take long. We only require the frontier Arkana for just the remainder of this day." Lota pleaded.

"Well.... you did say 'please'...." Beatrice rolled her eyes, "What do you say, Glare?"

"We will return to the Headquarters in our real identities. The Shadow Army doesn't seem to have caught on to our disguises." Glerenceria answered, "But while we are at it, we're not coming back without taking a break. We've been at this for 3 months without stopping."

"Glare...." Terrivia smiled.

"I wanna meet with Oneh-chan!" Miki exclaimed.

"Alright alright, you can go. We'll try and hold the fort, so the three of you can just go." Beatrice waved her digital hand as if trying to shoo them away.

"It is decided then. Thank you all for continuing your efforts. You don't know how relieved I am." Lota smiled before dropping the line.

***

3 months' time was enough for situational changes to set in on an entire area, or the whole world. Mother's Capital of Chromia had seen fighting and bloodshed over the days as the battle against the Shadow Army took place in multiple levels. Secret cops, disguised agents and mercenary collaborators were all mobilized to rat out, exterminate and interrogate the Buzzards and Blitz addicts. However, it would not stop the more armed and dangerous Shadow Army soldiers from coming into the capital's streets, bringing death and destruction each time.

Vauxhall's working place had been relocated from Headquarters to the capital. Pellegrane and Cherry had been fighting in their own pace in bringing the Buzzards down in order to make sure that civilians could continue to live on the streets and fight against fear, but the process was far from easy. In a rather sudden fashion, Terrivia, Glerenceria and Miki had all been sent there at night, after teleporting into HQ and took the subway transit.

A police station had been converted into a special office for Brad Vauxhall's use in order to counter the Buzzard problem. So far, there were no public objections and the place functioned as a police precinct all the same. Wearing clothes not of military standards, the three of them head to the lobby and up the stairs. They were unarmed.

As soon as they entered the office, they saw Vauxhall and Cherry. Terrivia raised her finger, "What's she doing here?"

"Eek!" Cherry seized up.

"Don't worry, she's one of us. As far as the official situation goes, she's currently drafted as the local police member." Vauxhall spoke with a slight laugh, "At any rate, it's been a long while, Terrivia. And you must be Niwatori Miki."

"You know me?" Miki tilted her head.

"I know your sister. She should be coming soon." Vauxhall nodded.

"Yay!" Miki hopped in joy.

Terrivia approached Cherry and gave her upper belly a gentle rub, "This doesn't sting anymore, does it?"

"I-I'm fine! I don't need you to be concerned about me." Cherry pouted.

"I heard you said 'thank you' to me through someone else, so I'm just checking you out. Is that wrong?" Terrivia asked.

"I was just grateful you didn't kill me like a bloodthirsty killer, that's all!" Cherry turned aside.

A deadpan voice came in, "Tsundere levels increasing~"

Glerenceria chuckled, and Terrivia could see the origin of the voice. It was Yuki, wearing a scanty black yukata.

"Who are you calling a tsundere?!" Cherry yelled.

"Heh~ " Terrivia grinned at Cherry, "You're welcome~"

"D-don't get the wrong idea, you broad with a sword!" Cherry scolded.

"DEH! Wrong response!" Terrivia placed her fingers along Cherry's neck and sent a jolt of electricity, paralyzing her for 3 seconds before putting her on the ground.

"Oneh-chan!" Miki hugged her sister.

"It's over in Barbiron, isn't it?" Yuki smiled, "Oh, you changed your hairstyles."

"We have to use fake identities. It's only necessary." Terrivia nodded.

"Before we get distracted any further, let me get straight to the point." Vauxhall spoke, "I'm sure you realized this, but we've been trying to get in contact with Arktana's government."

"How did it go?" Glerenceria asked.

Vauxhall shook his head, "No progress, whatsoever. Stranger still, when we confronted them about their use of media to discredit our efforts in fighting the Shadow Army and Narak remnants, they could not give straight answers. Only canned responses and repeated words."

"Either they were threatened to maintain the status quo, or they're colluding with the Shadow Army." Glerenceria added, "No matter what, this has to stop. What's your plan?"

"Well first, let's hear what Yuki has to say. She called me to get you here for tonight." Vauxhall gestured.

"Yes." Yuki nodded, "I have been training myself under the pristine skies of the farm. I think I have a new revelation."

"Really?" Terrivia was surprised.

"The most coherent thing I could place was..." Yuki began to prophesize, " 'The lights of life will guide the princess of blue. On the wings of life the salvation is carried' "

"Princess of blue?" Glerenceria asked.

"Wings of life?" Terrivia asked.

"I don't know the details myself. But that's what you get for trying to form words out of countless stars in the skies." Yuki shrugged, "Whatever the case, I thank you for bringing Miki and your own selves back in one piece."

"It's the least we could do. I myself wouldn't have the nerve to face you if anything happened to Miki." Terrivia smiled.

"Terrivia-neh-chan is great!" Miki smiled.

"I could also sense from the stars that the Narak are getting closer with each passing day. What of their reactions to telescopic proof?" Yuki inquired.

"As with the pressing concerns, they denied everything." Vauxhall grunted, "But my plan is this. If normal, long distance calling methods aren't bearing fruit, we have to greet them in person, where we meet face to face, or kill each other. We cannot engage in personal diplomacy with the way things are. Not on our own, at least."

"You want -us- to head in?" Glerenceria asked.

"These are desperate times, and we need desperate measures. It just so happens that Duke Thormen's counterpart, Foreign Relations Dexter, is one of the sane people remaining." Vauxhall answered, "He told us a part of the life in Arktana. It's reaching sickening levels compared to when I left."

"What's it about? I don't think we've ever heard you say anything about that place even after such a long period of defection." Glerenceria inquired.

"Well, let me ask you then. Do you seriously think that Arkana and humans, both have vastly different anatomies, different destinies and different lifespans, can treat one another as equals?" Vauxhall asked.

Cherry was alarmed at the question.

Glerenceria closed her eyes for a second then looked at Vauxhall, "Even if they're not equal, both sides have the right to enjoy fair treatment from each other. Earth has never been a planet where it had bred species that can coexist without conflict. Not now, not ever."

"Hmph...." Vauxhall smiled smugly, "... how would you define fair treatment then?"

"What's fair for one side isn't necessarily so for another. At best, there can only be an equilibrium from the way things are right now. The most ideal situation would be that humans have their jobs, and Arkana have theirs. Arkana having jobs that don't relate to agression or war would be vital to the creation of opportunities for both beings." Glerenceria answered.

"Truly, you are a doctor for the world." Vauxhall smiled.

"But what makes you say that life is sickening in Arktana?" Cherry asked.

"It's because you are an Arkana and you were being catered to." Vauxhall answered, "Right now, humans over there are slaves to Arkana."

"What?!" Terrivia was alarmed.

"Yes. Slave labor to serve Arkana." Vauxhall clenched his hands, "Before I defected, the framework of the society was getting to be out of hand. Free Knights' movement wasn't as altruistic as what was initially claimed, and one has to think it's strange to begin with; Over the years under Mother's rule, there hasn't been a single case where Arkana would attempt to rebel just because of human mistreatment. She had many ways to determine if humans would abuse their power to detonate the Arkana, and made sure they'd be punished for doing so. The most notable case being Silphid's commander, during an op 12 years ago."

"So one has to wonder how the whole thing got kicked off to begin with, right?" Terrivia asked.

"Yes. And that's where the Shadow Army came in. Thanks to Graham Winefield's command, and your personal involvement since Enocia, we have info that the crimson sunset flag was spotted somewhere around the west. More reason to have you go there." Vauxhall spoke.

"It's too early to say that the Free Knights' movement was just a sockpuppet play. It couldn't last this long without extensive buildup of distrust or some faith in Arkana seperatism. Either way, I must go there on foot and learn about the reason why." Glerenceria spoke.

"Then follow me to the meeting room. I have a plan." Vauxhall stood up from his seat.

***

Inside the meeting room, which the police would use to conduct meetings of operations against organized crime, Vauxhall was setting up the holographic projection of geographical data by plugging in a data device.

"How many attackers did you fend off, Yuki?" Terrivia asked.

"Over the months, there were enough Buzzards coming a day that could rob a bank..." Yuki grinned, "...but not enough to take down a family guarded by two Arkana."

"Still, it's better than not being there in person." Terrivia nodded.

"Yes. And I will need to stay there, but I'm still willing to help you in your efforts. However, I'm not about to leave my home without risking having it sacked by the grunts." Yuki spoke.

"That -is- true." Glerenceria nodded.

"Oneh-chan, how about you go with them, and I'll stay?" Miki asked.

"I'll think about it." Yuki smiled.

Soon the whole room's lighting dimmed as the holographic projection came to form, "I'm calling this, Operation: Tribute Feather. Your goal is simply to head over to Arktana through smuggling route, and bring forth either Princess Theodria or any of the Administrata back for diplomacy. You cannot do this forcefully or there'll be long term rammifications to come. But despite this, you have a bunch of optional objectives. This is an open ended operation. In Arktana, you have a period of time where you can try and gather information as spies, verify the human rights violation in the environs, and pinpoint any Arkana rights radicalists. You can also see if there's concrete, undeniable proof that the Administrata is being controlled by the Shadow Army."

Glerenceria and others were looking at the projection of multiple human figures, with one Arkana figure standing out. It was the figure of a metaphorical princess, with blonde hair tied in 4 tails and dressed in ivory drapes.

"For a movement calling itself Free Knights, they sure like to play hierarchy." Glerenceria remarked, "How do we get there? What's the route?"

"Realistically, you cannot get in without some form of inside help. I'm sure.... Varcosta had told you that there are a couple of Arkana she had been keeping tabs on. We can try and contact them, and have them smuggle you from Viledon. You will then be carried in like cargo, reaching Arktana in 2 days. That's the only safest way since going airborne will only get you shot down by anti-air." Vauxhall proposed.

"I object." Glerenceria refused.

"Do you have an idea?" Vauxhall asked.

"You call this operation Tribute Feather, without considering the 'feather' part more? Here's my idea." Glerenceria started to gesture along the holographic projection in order to draw lines, "First, we'll try and go to the moon and liberate it from all forms of Shadow command. After that, we'll board an escape shuttle and make landfall from atmospheric re-entry."

"That's crazy! You're not saying that the Shadow Army won't have warships up in space, are you?" Vauxhall onjected.

"I'm not saying we're going up there by shuttle. We will get up there somehow. It depends on the Core Agency." Glerenceria replied, "After being MIA for 3 months, and with how you pushed for dialogue, I'm sure that distraction has been guaranteed. With the Shadow Army distracted, we will calculate the moon's rotation and plan our return. We'll descend from the heavens like feather, and after crash landing, we'll make for Arktana, pretending to be defectors. That's our tribute as the feather."

"Bypassing the enemy lines entirely while restoring the moon's functions. Creative." Vauxhall nodded, "I'm sure you know about the lore."

"Of course. It was a short but effective tale, of how a tribute had gone wrong and the only thing to give to another kingdom was just a goose feather. At times, we have to show everyone that we have nothing more to give than our sentiments." Glerenceria smiled.

"That's nice and all, but how will they fit in? We have different ID styles and formats. Just going in head on will give everything off." Cherry asked.

"That's why the calculated point of landing won't be near Arktana. It will be Marden." Glerenceria answered.

"That should be where Bullet Face Maciel is stationed. If nothing's changed that is." Vauxhall spoke as he turned off the holographic projection, "Finally, the time limit for the operation. It's already begun as we speak, and the conditions for failure are as follows: Unable to establish diplomacy, and unable to form an alliance between Royal Guards and Free Knights before estimated time of Narak arrival in 1 week."

"Ultimately, we just want to get the Free Knights to fight the Narak with us, right?" Terrivia asked.

"Well, if that's all there is to it, then the whole point is missed." Glerenceria shook her head, "I intend to unite humans and Arkana. This undeserved war should've reached its end long ago. Only I and Terrivia will go. Yuki and Miki, you'll come in later after we cleared a way."

"I understand." Yuki nodded.

"Don't we need to learn how to pilot a space shuttle first?" Terrivia asked.

"We do, but it's not relevant right now. And... hmm...." Glerenceria pondered, "We're taking a tour guide along. Cherry will come with us."

"Wha- Who, me?!? I've never met you before! How do you know my name??" Cherry panicked.

"Your name's in the registry for some time, honey. Deal with it." Terrivia snickered.

"Ugh...." Cherry shook her head.

***

The end of Chapter 42