Scarlet Blade: Record of Golden Wings - Chapter 43

SCARLET S BLADE
Record of Golden Wings

Chapter 43 : Huge leap


* * *

At Payder's personal office, things were not looking as calm and composed as when Ralph was in frequent visit of it. After finding out that he had been supplying information in secret to the Core Agency, the entire atmosphere changed since Blackguard was mobilized to wipe out the Agency's presence in Barbiron entirely. Now, the place was a room of increased impatience and hatred. More accurately, Edwin's own impatience and hatred....

A holographic conference was being held, with 2 of the Shadow Army leaders killed in action, and Payder sitting on his chair, staring out of the window in a facial expression best described as 'agitated'.

"It will take some time to prepare the same amount of forces we had lost in Barbiron. The Blackguard Headquarters was destroyed and with it, General Shadowblade and his well trained horde of darksiders. We only have 3 strongholds left, and all of which are being searched for with frequent Royal Guards' warship patrols. It's only a matter of time before our movement must be taken to the open. We are backed against the cliff while stepping on a narrow path." One of the leaders spoke out.

"We know that! If only Ajatoss hadn't picked up that stray dog to raise as a successor we would've crushed Beatrice a long time ago!" Another cursed.

"Do not speak as if I have any control over what happened! I did not know he'd be so cunning as to use mind tricks to fool our own memory search techniques! And admit it; He also helped your managements and bolstered your efforts to power!" Ajatoss bit back.

"SILENCE!"

Edwin Payder's anger-filled roar caught the Shadow Army's leaders off guard, and it echoed throughout the whole floor.

"Your incompetence is growing...." Payder slowly rotated his chair and looked at the leaders' holographic forms, "As a warning, I am pulling back my expenses on you. Appropriately...."

"B-but you can't do that! Not now!" Ajatoss panicked.

"Who invested when you had no money? Who gave you this network to hold meetings? Who has to be the one to work to give you the backing?" Payder asked with an angry tone.

The Shadow Army leaders were caught speechless.

"If you don't want to suffer more payment cuts, then I advise you to deliver results." Payder glared, "I despise all life. Life is independant, undependable, and unpredictable. You are living things.... targets of your own cause...."

Then, a timid looking man was coming from the entrance of the room, pushing a room service cart with a metal cover concealing the contents. The man was of age and had a wrinkled look, who would be known as none other than....

"Fred, leave that cart here." Payder commanded.

Fred Salmonhope only obeyed as he retreated from the cart, stepping at the edge of room but without leaving entirely. He watched as Payder would then open the cover of the cart to reveal....

...the roasted form of a beheaded and fully amputated Arkana, with implants extracted and laid bare next to the smoking flesh. The dead Arkana's blood was stocked in bucket fulls, letting out faint glimmer of Stardust within.

"This one wasn't roasted long enough." Payder commented emotionlessly.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir. It's just...." Fred shivered in fear, "...I'm.... I'm not used to.... cutting people apart and.... cook them.... and all that...."

"Salmonhope, I will not say this again." Payder interrupted, "Arkana are merely tools, invented by a detestable sexist known as John Maynard. It is justified to 'prepare' them however -I- wish, as I am the 3rd CEO of Genesis Corporation. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir! P-p-p-perfectly clear.... sir...." Fred shuddered further.

"Now, leave. The noise of your heartbeats is grating our ears." Payder spoke.

Fred hurried on and left the scene, cold sweat already soaked his clothes as he picked up the pace and ran like a madman.

"If not for our fealty to what our Narak masters gave us and they themselves, we could use your method of eating." Ajatoss commented, "Your level of hatred is simply an inspiration to behold."

Payder simply used a knife and fork to cut out and eat a piece of the roasted Arkana's flesh, "Hatred? You merely perceive it in such a limited way. I thought that you'd know what I am about by now, after your time of bestowing me the powers of Void."

"Not everyone is immediately analyzable, Mr. Payder. It is possible that you had attained a state of voidhood long before I even started to teach you." Ajatoss spoke.

"Here's a question from me, teacher." Payder spoke out after eating another piece of Arkana flesh, "If it falls down to just two of us, who do you prefer will have to put up a stand against the Arkana? Me, or you?"

"Why do you ask that when it's something that won't happen, right?" Ajatoss asked and looked around the other leaders.

"Then you are avoiding the question since you avoid thinking about the possibility. A confirmation of my assessment that you Shadow Army leaders are overconfident and moronic." Payder continued to eat, and seemed like he was eating just to vent.

"How about Genesis Corporation then? As its ruler by proxy, will you be willing to dirty its reputation and ranks to get even with Maynard?" A Shadow Army leader asked.

"Now's not the time. Not yet." Payder scowled, "But my point still stands. Either you deliver the results, or there'll be no investments from me. You will do better than this...."

***

The morning after meeting in the police precinct, Cherry was taken by Terrivia and Glerenceria to Arril's workroom, which was still being guarded by the Golden Guard.

"How's it going?" Glerenceria greeted.

"Oh, same old." Arril stood up with a smile, "Cramping ourselves in this small room just to talk now?"

"It's necessary." Glerenceria tilted her head in a reassuring way, "Remember her? This is Cherry. The first invader in our campaign."

"Hello, I guess...." Cherry nodded once.

"Long story short, time is what we don't have. You are granted access to know a few things, and among them is that I am supposed to be MIA somewhere in this world." Terrivia spoke.

"I as well. We brought you here because we want you to trust us. Before we can take good care of you in order to lead us through to Arktana, we want you to be able to believe in our side, as much as we trust yours." Glerenceria added.

"But why? Wasn't I your enemy?" Cherry asked.

"There are no eternal enemies and no everlasting friends. But relations can last for as long as people that maintain them. The first day of my job where I ran into you, you want to know what I was thinking?" Terrivia glared straight into Cherry's eyes, "I wanted to get far away from the war between Royals and Frees. I had no mood to take you personally or professionally."

"Really?" Cherry asked.

"You know, back in the day she used to be the top escapee. Well, escapee with failed attempts." Glerenceria joked.

"Nearly got tazed to death for repeated offense. But it didn't stop her from trying." Arril added.

"Yes yes, guilty as charged." Terrivia rolled her eyes.

"So, who are you?" Cherry asked Arril.

"I'm Arril Lavigne. Formerly the handler of link between Terrivia and Graham Winefield. Now, I handle missions logs for these two, which is a dangerous job." Arril answered.

"This very same room was the one whose security footage was shown across the media. The scene of the assassination of my commander." Terrivia added.

"Ok. You have my positive attention." Cherry spoke, "I have to admit I'm not the most capable Arkana there is, given my civilian build, but I will try and meet expectations. I say try, but I won't say I'll succeed. What you are expecting me to do is the same as being just like you. Decorated frontier Arkana with power to spare and list of asses kicked. No way."

"There are things only you can do, aren't there? For example, if a scan picks us up, you're more likely to be picked up as a friendly in over there, and we're more likely to be picked up as hostiles. Not to mention if there are automated systems which are in depth and far reaching, they'd think we're holding you hostage until they see you're also armed, which will blow your cover out into the open." Terrivia suggested.

"Well, that IS a sensible view, but I was implying about fighting strength." Cherry countered.

"Your role will not be one of fighting. If it is, then it's only secondary at most." Glerenceria followed up, "I hope that arrangement won't come across as belittling you. I am Glerenceria. You can just call me Glare. Before getting you here today, we had a little peek of your fighting records over the past 3 months."

"That should explain a lot, shouldn't it? I'm just so-so during this whole mess. Trying to defend the capital has been one hard work after another." Cherry sighed.

"Beats having to get lost in a forest and asking someone who might potentially end your life, eh?" Terrivia teased.

"Don't... remind me of that again...." Cherry spoke exasperatedly.

"Now, another thing you need to know. By being with us, you will have first hand access to many secrets which we have personally discovered. In other words, you are now working with Mother's most trusted people and with her walking couple of info dumps." Glerenceria added.

"Really? Just how much did you two know?" Cherry asked, being drawn into her own curiosity.

"If we just pour it into your head all at once you'll explode from overthinking. Let us first talk about Enocia." Terrivia spoke, "Currently the reconstruction of its settlement should be finished one of these days. Why? Because 3 months ago, it was sacked by the Shadow Army. Because of us."

"Because of you? What did you two do?" Cherry asked.

"If you remember, there was a breaking news report of a military march engaging a Narak in Mereholt. That was us." Terrivia answered.

"So, the Shadow Army tried to get even with you by sacking that place? That's underhanded." Cherry frowned.

"That's not all. You see, Enocia has been one of the prowling spots of the Shadow Army for Mother knows how long. From the lithium mine to the outskirts of Yggdrasil forest, they had used Buzzards to make hideouts and ambush paths. The reason why we -didn't- clear them up is because it would take too damn long to get anywhere." Terrivia answered.

"This, coming from the fact that Enocia's very close to the capital. Here." Glerenceria added, "Do you have friends over in the west of the continent?"

"Not many, I think. I just hope they didn't roll themselves up in arms." Cherry answered.

"Let's just say Arktana is very compromised and very vulnerable. The ranks are held hostage with the lives of its own citizens at stake. Given how long the Shadow Army has existed and how many Blitz converts are still at large, that's the most likely scenario we're facing. You -must- help us, given what you now know." Glerenceria urged.

Cherry sighed in frustration, "So, the plan is to get to the moon. How? What will we be doing there?"

"One thing at a time." Glerenceria smiled and used her brain's commanding implant to register with Cherry. Inside Cherry's visual feed, some notifications appeared, stating that Glerenceria was now her commander.

"Wh-what? You're my commander? How??" Cherry gasped.

"Glerenceria is special. She's the only Arkana under Mother's disposal to have a commander's module. After Graham Winefield passed away, she's been my reliable guidance." Terrivia explained.

"What I mean to say is how is she still appearing as an Arkana in my eyes? In the west, you can use your status as a commander to bargain for information and effectively get a free ticket into defection." Cherry asked.

Glerenceria shook her head, "And be a walking PR nightmare for Mother? No way. And besides, there's a logic loophole in what you said. There's no guarantee that the Free Knights you know are welcoming to every supposed defector. They openly view commanders as trigger pullers, deciding life and death of their kind, right?"

"That's the general gist of it, yes...." Cherry pondered.

"And not to mention, an Arkana like me being a commander at the same time is already questionable in itself. The first thing that will happen to me if I'm exposed is that I'll be taken to disection for knowledge." Glerenceria added.

"Do you have something to hide inside you?" Cherry asked.

"Lots of things...." Glerenceria nodded once, "....We'll tell you about me later. For time being, let's contact Beatrice. She is your new referee in this dangerous war game between us and Narak."

Arril worked her fingers and brought up a video call to Beatrice. Since Beatrice didn't have an actual self, she was projected as a girl scientist in a matrix background.

"Pleasant to see you this way. I am Beatrice, leader of the Core Agency." Beatrice spoke.

"I'm Cherry, but I guess you knew that, right?" Cherry asked.

"No need to be so tense. Save that for when you get to the moon." Beatrice replied, "The plan is this."

Beatrice brought up a strategic view from her end, displaying a figure of Earth and the moon.

"I have one bad news, and 2 good news. Bad news is, from initial telescopic displays and scans, the surface of the moon is crawling with oxygen-independant freaks. We have no idea of their capabilities, but you know the standard procedure. One good news is that there's a way for your cyberskins to act as spacesuits. Because Arkana were designed to operate in nearly all atmospheres with obvious exceptions like molten lava, the tweaking needed for cyberskins shouldn't be that much." Beatrice spoke.

"Did the moon have any air?" Terrivia asked.

"It didn't. We just occupied it for only a few decades, what do you expect?" Beatrice replied, "But here's where another good news comes in. Your method of entry will be through a geosynchronized teleportation channel. Wireless teleportation requires a lot of energy to make it possible without unintended side effects, but we have that covered. There's a catch though; The best moon position comes in 2 days, so miss that, we have to wait for 29. There's no need for me to tell you that we don't have spare time."

Then Beatrice switched to another display, revealing a basic layout of facilities on the surface of the moon.

"The facilities on the moon are miraculously intact, due to uninterrupted intake of power source. The solar panels were not attacked, oddly enough, and the fact that they left the reception tower intact suggests that the freaks on the moon are not intelligent, but nothing's set in stone so take it with a grain of salt if you want." Beatrice spoke, "From my wireless probing, about 60% of the moon's facilities are intact. Ones that are down are, as expected *exasperated sigh* the arms manufacturing sectors and mech factories. Because they're underground to begin with, there's no way for us, or me, to tell what happened to them. We can only hope that the damage done to them wasn't too great. I even placed some of my hopes on those factories."

"Why's that?" Terrivia asked.

"The more autonomous weapons we can build to engage the Narak in mid-space, the better. I do not want a repeat of what happened in the first day of invasion. Never again." Beatrice answered.

"I can feel you right there...." Terrivia nodded.

"Assuming that the factories were destroyed before we get there, how long will it take to restore them?" Glerenceria asked.

"Not soon enough for us to organize a decent counter invasion force, that's for sure. At least, not after given the time frames for other moon positions and stuff. My plan is going to be this; The first place where you arrive will be the portal platform of the reception tower. From there, you will have to navigate on moondust and try to get used to the gravity of the moon, but you better learn quick. Once the freaks pick up on your presence, they will most likely try and kill you. Your shortest route to safety will be to the residential blocks, where you can get to the factories eventually." Beatrice spoke.

"So, the underground sectors are all connected?" Glerenceria asked.

"Yes. I've never been to the moon myself before, but I know that the exits between the surface and the underground are seperated by airlock chambers. Once past the airlock, you should experience normal gravity, since less gravity would be bad for our bone structure and we considered that all the way back then. One thing left is to determine whether or not fresh air still exists inside the sectors." Beatrice replied.

"I'm worried about one thing. Given the distance between the Earth and the moon, how will we keep in touch like this?" Terrivia asked.

"Good question." Beatrice closed her eyes for a few seconds, "The best we can do is to do packed messages. You send a message, wait a moment for the message to reach, then wait for a reply. That's after the moon stays away from the optimal position."

"We're not going there with just the three of us, are we? No extra backup?" Terrivia asked.

"That, is within calculations." Beatrice smiled and displayed an image of a large military duty truck, as large as a couple of transport trailers combined, "Because this trip to the moon is expected to involve patchwork repairs and restoration of the moon's function as a battlefront, you will be using this Mobile Construction Vehicle to conduct operations. This one's been fortified with airtight seals and a circulator so you can breathe easy inside. I doubt you can use it without being attacked, so I expect you to clear up the numbers before using it. After that, it's simply a matter of finding a good spot, setting it down and start building."

"Like a real 'command and conquer' fare." Terrivia grinned, "We'll be on our own from there, I assume?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I'll leave the amount of time you need to stay up to you. I can't ask you to hurry up or do everything. Just do the best you can and focus on three tasks at hand: the working of the shuttle launch facility, securing a safe passage for mining bots to the mine shafts, and the repairs to the arms and mech factories. Any concerns?" Beatrice asked.

"That's it for now." Glerenceria shook her head.

"Well then, hope you'll take good care of Cherry." Beatrice ended the call.

"She's quite to the point, huh? Doesn't look like she has room for small talk." Cherry noted.

"She does if she has the time. Between getting the whole Agency co-ordinated and getting things ready for us, she's been working non-stop." Terrivia replied.

"How can such a young girl work as a leader of such an organization?" Cherry asked.

"That..... is another top secret info we're giving you today." Terrivia grinned, "She's more than 200 years old. She's not technically alive."

"What?!?" Cherry was taken by surprise.

"Beatrice as an individual is now a maintained consciousness, nesting within an array of computers. Her real human self perished in the days of Narak invasion. She was also a former key Genesis Corporation member." Glerenceria added, "Needless to say, we can't let this go out into the open, or the Core Agency will lose credibility. We can't have that."

"Right. I understand." Cherry nodded nervously, "Shit is really heavy when you're around...."

Glerenceria then did a test call through her mind <Testing testing, can you hear me?>

<What?? Who's talking in my head??> Cherry thought back.

<Me, silly. I'm the one talking in your head.> Glerenceria smiled, <You have to get used to this as well. This is how commanders and their Arkana communicate in secret.>

<And since we're in the same channel, we can communicate with each other as well.> Terrivia responded.

"Link is in top strength. This new encryption should be good." Arril worked on.

"Thank you, lady." Glerenceria nodded.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. People can communicate telepathically?? Talk about invasion of privacy!" Cherry protested.

"Actually, no. If you know how to control your mental flaps a little, you should have no problem staying shut about things. Besides, our conversations in our heads can't be intercepted without using specific electronics." Glerenceria explained.

"Talking over normal communications? Now that's being open." Terrivia added.

"Ok, I got the point. But, I'm still concerned about my ability to fight." Cherry sighed.

"Trust me, we all are. But there's one way for you to improve." Terrivia took out a ring. It was one of the jewelry she took from Fort Janus's vault, a ring crested with a ruby, enchanted slightly ahead of time, "Wear this in on your primary finger."

"This? What for?" Cherry asked as she reluctantly took the ring.

"Just put it on and I'll explain." Terrivia narrowed her eyes.

"Ok...." Cherry braced herself before sliding the ring along her right index finger. Suddenly, she felt a pulse of energy running through her body.

"That will be your source of power from here on. Arkana and the planet are spiritually connected, even without knowing it. Jewel stones are planet Earth's way of expressing its blessings, as with its inherent capability of harboring life. If our supernatural powers are dormant by default, then by wearing this, you will come closer each day in waking them up." Terrivia explained.

"S-supernatural powers? You mean I can do some freaky shit like flying in mid-air?" Cherry asked.

"We're still being constrained by the bounds of physics and reality, so no. But we can do things the untrained can't. For example, an Arkana trained in mastering the powers of Stardust can do this." Terrivia opened her right palm and conjured a ball of fire. It was only as large as a tennis ball, but the intense heat could be felt after a couple of seconds away.

"You can throw fireballs?" Cherry asked.

"More than that. I think you've seen this before." Terrivia doused the fire and created a shard of ice out of the moisture in the air.

"Well, I'm already impressed...." Cherry looked in wonder.

"That ring you're wearing now contains some amount of my powers, but because your body's not used to them, you need to take time in bringing them under your control. Also, because the ring's stone can also help in your spiritual growth, you can overtake other Arkana in terms of Chakra in time. Make up for your physical flaws with other advantages, as they say." Terrivia explained.

"But with great power comes great responsibility. I hope you know the context to those words." Glerenceria added, "There are fiends in life that will tempt people with power, and in some cases, great power begets great insanity. Never forget that."

"I will keep that in mind. Now that we have 2 days left, what else should we do?" Cherry asked.

"If it's not boring to you, we can just hang out with each other until the day of launch. Right now we're depending on the Agency to make modifications of our present cyberskin prototypes. The things we can do are plenty, but the top of my mind says we should figure out how to improve your combat style and role." Terrivia answered.

"I have a question. Why not Pellegrane?" Cherry asked.

Terrivia and Glerenceria looked at each other in the eyes and Terrivia looked back at Cherry, "She didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Cherry asked.

Terrivia gave herself a gentle facepalm, "Pellegrane can be a bit cheerful at times. Maybe.... too cheerful for a Punisher."

Glerenceria followed, "We can't take her along with us because she'd be identified as a traitor and spy. And that was before she even chose to defect. More than 3 months ago in Enocia, an operation to cover the areas with EMP explosions was taking place. However, in order to cover their tracks, the operation commanders of Free Knights tried to detonate the EMPs prematurely, without pulling out their subordinates. Pellegrane would one of the victims had we not been there to intervene."

"She's officially written off as dead over in the West. At least, I think she is, given what happened." Terrivia nodded, "But you are different. You were arrested, not killed. It's not something the west should expect. We're not reputed for taking prisoners over the course of the war."

"I see...." Cherry frowned, "...If I can catch up to Pellegrane's level, will this go off without a hitch?"

"It won't happen right away, but give yourself time and practice, it will happen. Until then...." Terrivia flexed her muscles briefly, "....we might wanna test your... athletic capabilities just to be sure."

"I guess....?" Cherry looked at Terrivia hesitantly.

***

3 hours later....


In the training grounds, Cherry collapsed on the ground, face down, from exhaustion. Terrivia herself was appearing fine, but given the look of the obstacle course the two of them ran through, Cherry's exhaustion was warranted.

"Hah..... hah.... No.... no more...." Cherry panted for air.

"Come on, is that it?" Terrivia asked.

"Running.... 3 hours.... straight...." Cherry got on her knees and looked up at Terrivia in anger, ".... You wanna work me... to death?!"

"In certain conditions, our enemies may not give us a choice to rest and talk like this. You have to think about that and train harder. Fortunately for you, Glare's a medical expert of nearly all beings humanoid, as with most Medics under a certain bar of standard." Terrivia smiled as she watched Glerenceria walked to Cherry with an injection ready.

Glerenceria applied the injection of translucent gold liquid into Cherry's left arm, causing the latter to wince in pain throughout her body.

"AAaaahh! Wh...what.... What's in that stuff?!" Cherry winced.

"Graft of medical drugs. My special blend." Glerenceria explained, "Be glad you weren't around to experience operations in extreme climates like Mereholt and Barbiron, and Arktana may not be having those weathers, but this exercise is for your body to cope with that possibility. In long periods of action, Arkana may not have necessary access to basics like water and nutrition. It is a critical imperative for an Arkana to function in optimal core temperature range and water levels. This injection helps your body maintain them. Expect more of those shots. We have 6 more hours."

"What...?" Cherry's mind went blank from hearing that she had 6 more hours of intense physical training.

***

After training into the afternoon, Cherry was given acupuncture to sooth her exhausted body. She was made to lay face down on a long massage chair so that the thin acupunctural needles could be applied from the start of her back to all the way down to the thighs and calves. It was a lengthy process, involving a round of electric shock of Terrivia's Chakra powers.

By night, Cherry was resting in the headquarters' infirmary, sitting on a chair. Lucia was feeling her up while Glerenceria watched.

"Geez.... You were working this one pretty hard weren't you. If I didn't know what's actually going on I'd say she's suffering from shock and hypermetabolism." Lucia frowned.

"We have to prep her to become a makeshift frontier Arkana. If she doesn't reach that level, she has to come really close. We have to bring her with us starting 2 days from now." Glerenceria answered.

"Please help me doctor..... I'm tortured by a couple of battle maniacs....." Cherry mumbled under her breath.

"If they were to torture you, you'd be unable to move for a week." Lucia replied, "Well, as a Medic I can't condone your way of training a civilian type Arkana to this extent, Glerenceria. But as a ranking Arkana with combat experience, this is within acceptable bounds. Judging from the looks, it appears you gave this one your mix of medicine."

"If it helps her keeping herself alive, I'm more than happy to make more." Glerenceria added.

"It stings!" Cherry replied, "Ugh.... I feel like a doped athlete...."

"We had to risk our lives by being out in the open non-stop, and you're already crying to stop after just a day of activity?" Glerenceria asked.

"Stop comparing me to you.... I'm new at this...." Cherry whined.

"Not anymore. Well, tomorrow you'll be doing shooting practice and combat training. Even humans have to do that much in here." Glerenceria added.

"Whatever...." Cherry sighed.

***

And thus, time passed and Cherry was given just enough training to become a basic combat duty Arkana in terms of skill. In that time, Terrivia and Glerenceria were also training themselves and braced for the challenge that was the gravity of the moon. The three of them were at Bitterstone Tower after being teleported from the headquarters, and Glerenceria was taking 3 compact cyberskins from Doreen.

"Got these from Mark himself. Apparently these were made bulkier because of the need to breathe in outer space. They contain more protection and air cleaners so carbon dioxide issues were mitigated. Still, he told me to tell you not to overdo it. None of us had battled on the surface of the moon in person." Doreen spoke.

"I know. That's what frontier Arkana are for." Glerenceria nodded.

Varcosta walked in from a corner, holding 3 guns. Cherry's face went pale from the sight.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here." Varcosta spoke in a stern tone.

Cherry braced herself and looked back into her eyes, "So?!"

Varcosta then showed a smile, in an almost forgiving way, "Try not to die out there. You gave me a scare back in Enocia. Try not to do it again."

Cherry blushed, "Don't expect too much from me. I'm not like you...."

"She's not the type to be honest with herself, is she?" Terrivia asked.

"Course not." Varcosta grinned.

Cherry pouted and extended her right hand, "So? Are you going to give me one?"

"Yes, yes. Here you go." Varcosta handed over a couple of the guns to Terrivia and Cherry. They were assault rifles with a sleek black build, containing alternate firing modes and had green lighting along the frame. "Be careful with this model. It has a self destruct mechanism."

"What do we need that for?" Cherry asked.

"Misleading people." Terrivia answered, "If we board an escape shuttle and land behind Free Knights' lines, we'll want them to think there's infighting, and that there are rogue scavengers coming from the moon, instead of troopers."

Cherry nodded in agreement with the strategy.

Glerenceria took the last gun from Varcosta and handed over the cyberskins to Terrivia and Cherry, and the three of them were ready to be teleported to the moon.

"Recap time. The moon has no breathable air so most of our techniques are useless. The ones we can use cost our internal energy, so don't overdo it, or you'll run short on oxygen. Our main objective there is to get things done efficiently, then hurry back down on this planet in intended stretch of land." Glerenceria explained, "This is a highly dangerous mission, but one that's not impossible. Any questions?"

"I have one." Cherry raised her hand, "How long are we going to stay there?"

"I hope we don't have to stay there for more than a week. Emphasis on hope." Glerenceria answered.

Beatrice called in, "There's enough ration to let you girls last for a month, packed in the mobile construction vehicle. Speaking of that vehicle, it will follow after your teleportation. Countdown, 1 minute."

"Copy that." Glerenceria nodded.

The three of them started to put on their cyberskins and check their running conditions. They were set to go, after verifying that their protections had working internal pressure controls and air treatment faculties. Weapons in their hands, they stepped onto the teleportation platform.

"All channels locked down. Redirecting to lunar teleportation, setting up...." Beatrice called in, "Best position reached. 10 seconds to send off. Securing quantum traffic quality."

"This is it." Terrivia braced herself.

"3, 2, 1.... GO!" Beatrice shouted.

***

***

Any part of the moon not reflected on the surface of the would be dark, and the destination the three just got to was no exception. In the antenna tower of the moon built to send and receive goods and people, to and from Earth, the three came in with a sudden flash of light.

"Wuaaaaa....." Terrivia almost stumbled after walking too fast, "...Damn.... This gravity's no joke."

Glerenceria and Cherry were taking their steps, while checking for surroundings, "Let's get out of here quick. We need to clear a way for the mobile construction vehicle to arrive, so Terrivia, watch out for hostiles."

"What do I do?" Cherry asked.

"Go walk around if you have to. We may not have night vision but at least I have my commanding implant." Glerenceria ordered.

"Still, this place is fricking black...." Terrivia groaned in her cyberskin space helmet, "I guess the only thing bright is our Earth, huh...."

Terrivia tilted her head up and saw the faraway form of the round Earth, given light from the reflection of sun's rays.

"I'm more surprised at the fact that we can just beam ourselves all the way here without repercussions to our memories and health." Cherry added.

"Technically, the three of you were sent on a pseudo-faster than light trip, done between point A and point B. Here comes the MCV." Beatrice called in, and soon the tower coursed with energy, until with a bright flash, the gigantic truck bearing the important part of the operation appeared on the platform.

"Alright Cherry. Go to the driver's seat and start it up. Just get it to start. Don't drive out until we give an all clear." Glerenceria ordered.

"On it." Cherry retreated to the truck.

"Now, where's the entrance to shelter blocks again?" Terrivia asked.

"Beatrice, did you catch that?" Glerenceria called.

"Yes I did. Hold on, synchronizing feeds...." Beatrice responded, and in a moment, she added additional visual feeds into their minds. "Does that help?"

"Yes. Perfectly." Glerenceria replied as she looked around, "Ok Cherry, all clear."

By the time Glerenceria gave the order, Cherry had just started to get the power generator of the mobile construction vehicle up and running.

"I can drive out now?" Cherry asked.

"Yes. Is everything working fine? Air circulator conditions and all that." Terrivia asked.

"I think so. Seals are alright, nothing's out of ordinary." Cherry replied.

When driving the vehicle out, Cherry did it slowly and paid attention to the sides of the exit. Because the vehicle itself was very large, she had to take care not to graze the vehicle. It was a tight exit but she managed to pull it off with the help of Glerenceria and Terrivia's guidance. But disaster soon came when the headlights of the vehicle beamed into the distance where some creatures were lurking. Disturbed by the light, the large white husked beings that were bearing an unsettling skeletal design started to tread forth.

"Cherry, we're under attack but stay calm. Position the vehicle to block the exit of the tower before getting out and join the fight." Glerenceria ordered.

"Right." Cherry replied.

"And shut the headlights." Terrivia added.

"Ok." Cherry nodded.

Terrivia held up her gun as her eyes inspected one of the creatures for any possible flaws in its being. The husks were almost skeletal, yet having a lot of cell mass around its ribs and muscle mass on the thighs. They appeared nimble at first but she then thought about one thing; The gravity here was much weaker than that of Earth. In a soaring jump, Terrivia made it to the husk's height and fired a shot through the forehead of the skull. The husk struggled to regain its poise but was soon fired upon its chest for several times until it became a bleeding sight. Purple blood gushing out of the gunshot wounds that Terrivia caused crystalized upon hitting the ground because of low temperatures.

"That's easier than I thought." Glerenceria spoke out, before firing some shots herself, taking down another husk. Other husks were alarmed and started to adapt another strategy; Using ranged attacks to kill. From the bodies the husks channeled green pulsing energies before releasing them through their sharp jaws, forming dangerous energy beams. This did not stop Terrivia and Glerenceria from putting them down, as they skillfully utilized the moon's weak gravity to their advantage.

Just as Cherry finished parking the vehicle to cover up the tower's exit, Beatrice sent a formation of supply crates and a forklift to the tower.

"This is the last shipment. Try to make the best out of them." Beatrice spoke.

"We will." Glerenceria answered.

"What, no extra weapons??" Cherry asked.

"We'll build them if we have to. This is going to be a piece of cake anyway." Terrivia continued to fire her gun at the husks until they were down for the count.

***

After the group of large husks were dealt with, Glerenceria sighed, "You're off the hook for now, but next time, don't underestimate anyone or anything."

"Can't help it. I'm tired of escalating dangers." Terrivia shrugged.

"That makes both of us, but it's necessary to keep your edge. We did a 2 day rest." Glerenceria walked around to see if there were more husks hiding in the dark.

"So much for a vacation...." Terrivia mumbled.

Cherry was driving the vehicle away from the tower and started to come to a stretch of flat land where the headlights could shine. "Am I allowed to start? You sure we don't want to give Beatrice another call?"

"No need to drag on with the comms. Let's seize the advantage while we have it." Glerenceria replied, "Terrivia, get to the forklift and start hauling. If my memory's correct, green crates stand for electronic parts, blue crates stand for metallic materials, and the other colored crates are building materials. Get the blue ones to Cherry first. Cherry, drive over to that spot and deploy into construction mode. The process is automated so once the vehicle starts to unfold, get out ASAP and stay on guard."

"Wilco." Cherry nodded.

The spectacle of the mobile construction vehicle unfolding into a construction site was captivating. The wonders of modern 25th century engineering allowed it to be possible at a very high cost, but the cost was warranted when hasty engineering was required. The tires of the vehicle were made of concentrated nanomaterials and they transformed into a workbed with the body of it opening up to reveal large working machines: a crane arm, a multi-assembler and a disintegrator. The head of the vehicle also transformed, turning into a commanding shack with the controls to direct any construction and deconstruction.

"Now here comes the hard part." Glerenceria spoke, "While we're going to build, there's a chance that more of enemy numbers will come closing in. Before we hit the residential sectors, we need to build ready-to-go turrets with scan sensors, and place them around the construction works. After we cover everything, we'll barge in."

"There's one problem." Cherry spoke out, "How do I operate this thing?"

"I think none of us knows." Terrivia chuckled.

"WHAT?!?" Cherry screamed.

"You need to crank down your reactions soon, Cherry. Being out in the field, it's important to hold back your own emotions a bit." Terrivia advised.

"What, you want me to just GUESS how it works and do it right off? What if I mess up??" Cherry argued.

"Listen to me, Cherry. Beatrice wouldn't be dumb enough to lend this thing all the way here without giving it pre-made blueprints of military hardware. So if I were you, I would browse for those blueprints and choose 'BUILD'." Terrivia suggested.

"Fine. We'll do it your way." Cherry frowned under her helmet and searched with her fingers along the touch screen.

The construction vehicle, now a construction centre, was starting to work its machines into a warmed up condition. The extremely cold temperatures of the moon would impede with the working of any machine and being without prompt protection, and thus a proper warming up was necessary. Terrivia stopped the forklift right next to the disintegrator and used her hands to put the crates to dump them into the intake chute one by one, since the gravity of the moon meant that the things that weighed very heavily on Earth would be lighter in here.

Terrivia made trips back and forth between the construction centre and the tower until all crates were assembled next to the disintegrator. Just as Glerenceria had foreseen, more husks came to attack. Cherry and Terrivia held up their guns and began to attack, while Glerenceeria protected the workings by shooting the ones closest in range.

"Do we have any way of knowing where they are coming from??" Cherry asked.

"Not right now!" Terrivia blasted the head of a husk with a charged up shot, released in the form of a bright blue beam which pierced through the skull, "What did you pick for construction?"

"An instant-ready defense turret with 40mm laser cannons as base. Seemed like the most logical choice to me." Cherry answered nervously.

"Comes with its own power source?" Glerenceria asked.

"Comes with its own power source. Checked." Cherry answered promptly.

During the struggle, the first turret was ready, as the crane arm gently grabbed the finished product, compacted in the form of a crate, to put it on the dusty moon ground. Glerenceria ran up to the crate and pressed the buttons on the finished product. Soon, the crate unpacked itself as a surge of nanomaterials formed the body of the turret and more. With the power core hidden at the base, the turret was finished once its nanomaterials became bonded as solid matter.

With its sensors and programming based on the data Beatrice left for the construction vehicle, the turret was automated and primed to take the husks down with its energy beams.

"Make another one!" Glerenceria ordered.

"Ok!" Cherry ran into the control booth and typed in another assembly of the turret, placing its post-build co-ordinates at the other side of the construction centre. Terrivia then worked in tossing the contents of different crates into the disintegrator, carefully checking the materials being consumed. Too much input would cause material shortages and surplusses, as there would be too much of material A, impeding the consumption and refill of material B, just to make an example.

With more and more turrets build, the Arkana started to have the assembler build smaller things, which were not made of nanomaterials meant to expand like the turrets did, but as already solid forms. Their construction was done using a similar technique and technology, and what came out were closer to robotics than stationary defenses. Scouting drones aided the Arkana in surveying the landscape and number of husks, while they were managing to bargain time to create various power tools, meant for construction.

Because the use of cyberskins continued to tax on the Arkana's inner energies, they took shelter in the vehicle-transformed control booth, catching a breath within by shedding their protections.

"What a chaotic mission...." Terrivia breathed nervously.

"You're telling me...." Cherry nodded.

"2 large grinders, some spares of impromptu cutting discs and work bags to hold them, heavy duty custom-made blow torches, and a multi-array portable sensor. Anything I missed?" Glerenceria asked.

"I think you got everything. We can't carry more, I think." Terrivia nodded.

"How about spanners?" Cherry asked.

"Good idea." Glerenceria nodded, "See, you did something we couldn't. Thinking up extra stuff."

"Oh stop that...." Cherry waved off, "...So what's our plan now?"

"A little B&E. Single file infiltration, no one splits up. You, Cherry, will be our locksmith, whether digital or physical. It's the locksmith's job to watch our six and wait for our call to get something unlocked. Terrivia takes point, and I'm in between, so I decide how fast or slow we move. Our job is to get inside, but in there, we need to make sure we have a way to get back out elsewhere, and more importantly, see if the power grid is damaged." Glerenceria instructed.

"Getting used to this?" Terrivia nudged Cherry with her arm.

"Thanks to your very.... intense training.... yes." Cherry gave a curt smile.

"Ok. Energy check.... Everyone good to go?" Glerenceria asked.

"A-Ok." Terrivia gestured.

"I'm good." Cherry nodded twice.

"Alright. Here goes.... Our small steps on the moon, in order to reclaim the huge leap humanity made in the past." Glerenceria spoke.

***

Hacking the panels of the airlocks had proven to be less difficult than anticipated. Cherry used wire taps and a portable computer to bypass the security protocols of the lunar establishments that beloned to the late humankind. After opening the airlock's exit, the Arkana all entered inside, causing the barriers to close down behind them. They came in after being confident that the defenses they left behind were more than enough to stop the husks from coming further to overrun the location of the construction centre.

Both Glerenceria and Terrivia were hauling work bags, containing different tools while their hands were still carrying the guns. After being closed in between the exit and the entrance to the complex, an automated process began that would pressurize the air within the chamber, before the barriers to the inside of the complex could unlock. After tracing the darkness with flash lights, they found an access panel that could let them access environmental controls.

"The darkness aside, the airlock's working fine but the gravity's not on." Terrivia remarked.

"Don't leave this room. Look around for any remains. Human remains, freak remains, residues, all of them." Glerenceria ordered, "Cherry, check the panel and see if you can bring in some air. I want to check if the air's contaminated by past viral attacks."

"Alright. Just asking, have you raided buildings before?" Cherry asked as she walked over to the panel.

"No. Closest we had were underground installations, and even then, we only came across a couple." Glerenceria answered.

"Hmm." Cherry pondered, until something got her attention after wire tapping, "Hey, I think the power supply is running, but for some reason, the ventilations are all down."

"So, stagnant air all around. Leading cause?" Glerenceria asked.

"Let me check.... Got it." Cherry managed to retrieve the trouble logs from the installation, "It says here that one of the respiratorial machines is offline. Without the machines, the ventilations can't run by themselves since that would permanently turn the air into vacumm."

"Nice failsafes." Glerenceria nodded, "Can you get the gravity to run?"

"Trying." Cherry complied. After a moment, the whole room's gravity gradually turned into that of planet Earth's. At the same time, the lights of the room were turned on, illuminating a pale green interior, "Oh, there's emergency air supply. Shall I bring it up?"

"No. We shouldn't use it until we're running real low. Besides, we don't know if there are leaks." Glerenceria objected.

"Hey Glare, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Terrivia asked.

"Already ahead of you. Ladies, be prepared for small scale threats as we progress." Glerenceria ordered. She held up the multi-array sensor which looked like a large tubular device and pointed it around the room, "Bacterial malcontents not detected yet. Oxygen levels are almost non-existent, but nitrogen levels are still good. So, what are the codes to this whole sector?"

"Five digits. Administrator access is 35846 and it should work for every connected sector. Should." Cherry answered.

"Good. Any chance for us to copy a layout of every sector available?" Glerenceria asked.

"Let me try." Cherry worked through the portable computer, "No good. We can't get everything, but I -have- managed to get the whole layout of residential sectors. Sure to be more useful than having nothing."

"Ok. Let me memorize." Glerenceria took a look, "Ok, our trip doesn't seem to be long. Our first priority is to supply this place with breathable air and ensure that no threats can overrun here. Kill anything that moves, even if it's cute looking. If there's really no damage done to the respiratorial system, we can just fire it up and this whole sector will sustain us. But there's much we don't know. About how populated this moon was, about how it got overrun, and about how much they're remaining."

"So we should expect the worst. A cramped room boss fight." Terrivia nodded.

"You two are experts compared to me. Lead on." Cherry shrugged.

***

With the layout of the current residential sector firmly in grasp, the Arkana maintained their planned formation by moving on without splitting up. Along the way, they encountered many corpses, most likely of which were people who died from asphyxiation. Asphyxiation also caused foreign elements to perish, such as unidentified creatures which looked like one of the mutations on planet Earth.

"Well, whatever's here, they're not alive anymore." Terrivia spoke.

"Don't speak too soon. We don't know if they will suddenly wake up because of what we're about to do, and we can't use the blow torch here or there won't be enough to melt metal debris later." Glerenceria cautioned.

"Why don't we just shoot them here? Double tapping." Cherry asked.

"We're in hallways. Our guns produce sounds. Hallways spread soundwaves. Our element of surprise will be lost." Glerenceria answered.

"Oh, good point." Cherry groaned.

"I doubt these critters will need to take what our guns can give, while a bit of muscle strength coming from me can waste them right off." Terrivia bragged.

"Let's hope that's the case." Glerenceria sighed.

After treading down the emergency stairs, they made it to one of the skybridges that could let them see what made this place called a residential sector. The skybridge was a long wide corridor which was reinforced with flexible coating to prevent immediate breaking and collapse of structure. The panoramic view was shielded by space grade transparent barrier, and the Arkana could view the dark and unlit city full of residential buildings. This underground settlement was a hollowed out part of the moon's crust, and judging from the number of blocks, the death toll was undoubtedly very high.

"Poor souls.... To be the first ones to die from the Narak assault, I can't imagine the terror." Terrivia lamented.

"Yeah. And unlike Earth, the moon had no option of self cleaning through nukes. The Narak just trampled this place and released their goons before leaving for Earth." Glerenceria deduced.

"There's something not adding up." Cherry asked as the three of them continued into a building that would take them further down, "If the Narak came here, why didn't they just destroy these establishments? Why exactly did they come to our star system?"

"We've been wondering about that ourselves." Terrivia replied, "This might be a stretch, but I think they want our genes."

"What for?" Cherry asked.

"Call it a fictional logic, but let's assume that the Narak were weapons created by another race that turned on their masters. Assuming that it's the case, they'd want the ability to think for themselves, so they would like to brush up on how other civilizations think. They could do that by conquering various star systems with civilizations in them. As long as there's no one able to fight, they could care less." Terrivia borrowed a bit about what Brazil said about the Narak and made her theory.

"Doesn't sound very convincing, but let's roll with that." Cherry nodded.

After descending in an elevator down to the ground level of the skybridged building, the three got to a concealed underground level after hacking through the panel. As it turned out, a work key was required to access the maintenance routes, and the elevator they were in was one of the faster ways to them. But not long after the doors to the elevator opened, they saw a gruesome sight before them.

The walkways were coated in old dried slimes and sticky substances which looked to have had existed since the Narak invasion happened. Along the edges there were cracked egg shells, indicating the birth of hostile lifeforms.

"We are getting somewhere, but I don't think we like where this is going...." Terrivia clenched her teeth.

"Like it or not, this is the only way." Glerenceria put the sensor around her back and readied her gun, "Fortunately, you have a bait, don't you?"

"Certainly." Terrivia reached into the pocket of her cyberskin armor and took out the crystal dagger. With her mind, she controlled its movements, making it float ahead of them and into the walkways. Since the crystal was linked to her mind and spirit, she could use it as her pair of eyes. She then saw something, "They know we're here."

"Alright. Safeties off." Glerenceria ordered, "We head straight, then go left at the junction. Cherry, watch our backs, up and down."

"Ready when you are." Cherry held up her gun.

Moving cautiously, the three headed into the infested walkways and saw crawling, smaller versions of the enemies they encountered on the surface. With accurate aim, Glerenceria and Terrivia shot them into bits when they approached. The dagger was made to return to Terrivia's side before she used it to shoot a small beam ahead. It didn't do anything but catching the small crawlers off guard. The real deal was that Terrivia used the force of her weight, through her feet, to crush them underneath.

After taking out the initial wave of crawlers, Glerenceria urged the other two to move on carefully while mumbling, "Please don't let this be a lengthy repair...."

Through another turn without encountering any hostile entities, the Arkana made it into the large room which housed the respiratory systems, with machines that were built to process and purify used gases into fresh breathable air. The machinery, air tanks and pipelines were completely taken over by purple and green tentacles, belonging to the grotesque source which was a large skeletal being with no additional organs. When the jaw opened, fumes filled the room before more crawlers came out.

"Let's do this. Terrivia, blowtorch!" Glerenceria ordered.

"Was waiting for you to say that!" Terrivia put the gun around her back and held the blowtorch at the ready like a flamethrower.

"Cherry, get ready to unload on the head of the issue." Glerenceria ordered.

"....Literally...." Cherry readied her gun.

As Cherry began to shoot with Glerenceria on the large skeletal being, Terrivia ignited the blowtorch and started to incinerate the crawlers along with the tentacles. They were in a closed room and they were burning flammable organic material. In common sense that would be an extremely bad idea, but they had no other choice. Better than using bombs, burning things to a crisp would save them precious time and would allow them to rebuild things to necessary degree, while bombs would've caused greater damages.

***

***

Arktana...

Oration Tower...


At the western end of the continent of Chromia existed the well developed metropolis of Arktana. At the northern edge of the metropolis was a heavily guarded district surrounding a skyscraper called Oration Tower. It was a skyscraper with a multi-layer octagon design, blue in paint and exterior, reaching up to 60 floors tall. The role of the building was to act as one of the state-funded media broadcasting sources, but the main purpose was to act as the main residence of a certain figure of influence.

The top three floors were like the home to Princess Theodria.

Inside a broadcasting room with wires and cameras, the princess was speaking to the masses with her midteen figure and youthful voice.

"...And that was all for today in 'Life In The Recovering Earth'. Tune in next week for more of the explorations of our two brave survivalist hosts."

With a smile she gave the end credits a place to start, but when the cameras stop filming, her facial expression turned into that of boredom. The lights started to dim and the holographic veil disguising her appearance was brought down. Theodria was no blonde, and she wasn't dressed in ivory. Her true appearance was a girl with blue hair tied in 4 pony tails, wearing a protective fabric shaped like a ballroom dress. Her skin was fair but her lips were blue. Even her tongue was blue when she sighed, indicating that she had blue colored blood. Her eyes had mismatched colors. Her left eye was red while her right eye was gold.

"Another job well done, Princess...." A woman's voice came to her.

The source of the voice was a realistic looking android whose appearance was like that of a secretary, sporting blonde hair and wearing a pair of oval glasses.

"Don't you get tired of saying the same thing to me everytime after the show, Sati?" Theodria pouted.

The android Sati tilted her head and giggled, "I'm not about to change how to congratulate you. It could've been worse."

"Yeah. I can't believe how unsafe our world is. If not for the fact that we had some of our military reducing some numbers, the feral mutants could've intefered with the script! Lethally!" Theodria complained.

"You don't have to worry about that."

Another voice came, this time from a man. A man whose looks spelled danger and conniving, but rendered subtle by his aged looks and chancellor air.

"I, the minister of internal affairs, Grant Willson, will ensure that -your- shows will continue to be the lynchpin of social security. It will only be an honor in.... sanitizing.... the mutants." The man smiled.

"Well Mr. Willson, I hope you can keep up the good work, but more importantly, you have to know that their princess is thanking them from the bottom of her heart. You're not the one holding guns and shooting things." Theodria spoke back.

"Why of course. I will let them know in exact words." Grant bowed down, "I'm here to tell you that the ratings for your show had gone up compared to last couple of months. Things are looking good."

"That does sound like a good thing, but I don't feel like having done enough. I want to be more than just a pretty face." Theodria pouted.

"Princess.... let me remind you that you are, yourself, a precarious existence." Grant's words started to sound malicious, "You were not created with blue blood for fun. But the fact that you have blue blood means that the people will start to ask questions and poke around once they see you. We cannot allow that. In order to bring hope to the people struggling to live in this twisted Earth, we had to raise you for the past 8 years and wait for the right time to come."

"And when is the right time? I know I'm different, but I feel as if I'm under house arrest because of my own differences." Theodria asked.

"Don't you get any funny ideas now. Secrecy is necessary for more than a good reason. You know what they used to say." Grant leaned in, "Loose lips..... sink ships...."

Theodria felt tense, but Grant turned around and left the scene without further ado.

***

After the mess in the respiratory systems room was burned down, the Arkana started to assess the damages. Fortunately, the machines were still intact, while only the damaged pipes needed to be repaired while the backup air supply was in the form of untouched metal cylinders. But because of the intense burning from earlier, the air became thin and toxic due to exhausted fuel.

"Well, we solved one problem while creating another. What now?" Terrivia asked.

"Cherry, is there any control for purging the air?" Glerenceria asked.

"Let me check." Cherry browsed with her remote terminal, "Oh, found it. But to do it, we'll have to drain every bit of air from all of this sector. You sure?"

"On second thought, let's not." Glerenceria shook her head, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Pajamas aside, I think I am." Terrivia nodded.

Together, Glerenceria and Terrivia joined forces and started a chant to direct their powers in order to disperse the toxic fumes left behind by the incineration. After that, Cherry was told to open up the cylinders to let the room be filled with oxygen and nitrogen. In relief, they disengaged their cyberskins, and slumped down to rest.

"Whew.... Talk about a lack of fresh air...." Cherry spoke out.

"I'm starting to get hungry." Terrivia moaned.

"Using Chakra can really take it out of you, right?" Cherry asked.

"It gets better in time. Well, now that the problem behind the air supply sabotage is solved, it's time to focus on getting the whole residential sector under control, and how to fight for the factories before hitting the launch sequence. We still need to get back to Earth." Glerenceria spoke.

"How bad can it be? Now that I've seen you in action, I think we'll be fine as long as this Shadow Army of ours doesn't come after us." Cherry replied.

"They will if we don't hurry. Then again, we're not exactly slow." Terrivia nodded.

With hopes of completing their mission on the moon, the Arkana continued to rest for time being. Their tight schedule would need all of their energy....

***

The end of Chapter 43