This Is the Endless Frontier Pt. 2/10

Haken: Okay, here we are at the famous Kurogane Island. Never been this far in before.
Arriere: It has long been a gathering place for many warriors. When the Holy Land of Regiment must defend itself with force of arms, the people of this island are the ones to whom we turn.
Haken: Sounds a lot like us Wandering Bounty Hunters. Only difference is where we call home.
Aschen: Sir, this does not seem like an appropriate time for sightseeing.
Arriere: Agreed. There are fresh signs of destruction here. Perhaps it was the Raven.
Sanger: Ratsel! Is Ratsel Feinschmecker here?!
Ratsel: Ah, you're back, my friend. I see you've brought some new companions. That landship outside, isn't that...?
Sanger: Giving you the full rundown would take all day. What I will tell you instead is that these are the Wandering Bounty Hunters, and they're trustworthy.
Arriere: I apologize for coming back without fulfilling my objective, Island Chief Ratsel.
Ratsel: It's fine, Lady Priestess. If Sanger vouches for these people, then they have my trust. I, too, am familiar with the descendants of the great Hunters. While I'd love to say hello to our new friends the old-fashioned way, there's a reason I cannot.
Haken: The Huckebein, right? We heard it headed here, so we came running. ...Oh, where are my manners? I'm with the Wandering Bounty Hunters. Haken Browning, captain of the landship Zeit Krokodil. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Island Meister, Mr. Ratsel.
Ratsel: Likewise, Captain Haken. Our issue isn't entirely unrelated to the Huckebein, but it hasn't shown up here directly.
Haken: Yeah, that adds up. It would've done way more damage than what we're seein' here.
Sanger: Do you mean to say that the raven that heralds death has absconded?
Ratsel: Indeed I do. Would that I could've taken it down on my trusty steed.
Aschen: Your... steed? With all due respect, I don't think riding a horse would accomplish much against it.
Ratsel: Oh, it would. Of the guardians of this island, Sanger pilots the Dynamic General Guardian unit 1. With the unit 2 that joins with it, I could have won.
Sanger: So you've finished the Dygenguar Unit 2?
Ratsel: I'm only sorry it took so long, my friend. Lady Priestess.
Sanger: Ratsel, will you tell me the name that you've granted the unit 2? The name of its soul?
Ratsel: It is the Tactical Device Aussenseiter. The black tornado that, together with unit 1, merge blade and steed as one.
Sanger: The Aussenseiter... It has a nice ring to it.
Arriere: Yes... Now it is as though victory is assured!
Haken: Okay, Soul Family. I hate to rain on your parade, but where is it?
Ratsel: Ah, pardon me. It's unfortunately not present. I need to go after it right now.
Sanger: Go after it? What happened?
Ratsel: When the Huckebein flew here, the island was in chaos. Someone capitalized on that chaos to sneak in.
Arriere: Oh, dear...
Aschen: After all the celebrating Goggle-boy over here was doing...
Ratsel: I've dispatched the people of the island to search for it. Its final adjustments weren't done, so it won't have a long uptime. It won't be able to leave the island unassisted. We'll corner it before it can be taken away.
Sanger: You'll have my assistance, Ratsel. I'm just surprised anyone could get the drop on a man of your caliber.
Ratsel: Not as surprised as I was. The instant I initiated an emergency activation to intercept the Raven, a blue SR armed with a sword attacked. I got thrown from the cockpit, and someone slipped in.
Haken: A blue robot with a sword? ...Ahh, crud.
Arriere: Does the description sound familiar to you, Haken?
Haken: That there's the Vaisaga. The pilot should be Lamia Loveless, one of the W-Series we excavated.
Sanger: Ah, yes. The companion that you mentioned set out for Kurogane before you ventured to the Neverland.
Aschen: Sorry for badmouthing you earlier, Mr. Seaweed Boss. Clearly I owe you an apology on behalf of my rotten, hopeless little sister.
Ratsel: Ah, so you're another W-Series android. I see... So you have a number of valuable excavated weapons... I don't want to point any fingers, but your goals are rather—
Haken: Ah-ah, hold up. We ain't bandits. I can't stop you from questionin' our motives, but I'll take responsibility for a failure on the part of my family. We'll get your precious Dark Horse back for you. I dunno what happened with Lamia, but I'll make her give a personal apology. Y'need to prove yourself if you wanna win back trust. Ain't that right, Mr. Samurai Sword?
Sanger: Heh... So it is.
Ratsel: Very well, Captain Haken. I'll avail myself of your services.
Arriere: Ah, Chief! Someone's coming!
Toma: The Dynamic General Guardian Unit 2 has been spotted! It's together with the caped blue swordsman!
Ratsel: You've found it? Got it, let's get there on the double!
Aschen: Captain, about Lamia...
Haken: She's hoity-toity and none too friendly, but she's a reasonable girl. I have a hard time believin' she'd go turncoat on us.
Aschen: Nonetheless, the Vysaga has enough output to carry a Dygenguar-sized robot.
Sanger: We must go! Everyone, prepare to board your machines!

---

Arriere: There they are! I see a lot of smaller, unfamiliar models as well!
Sanger: Mh... So that blue, cloak-clad SR is the one that attacked Ratsel.
Aschen: There's no mistake. That's my dumb sister's Vaisaga. The black one behind it, is that...?
Ratsel: Indeed, that is Trombe, the gust of wind that blows across these rough lands.
Aschen: Wait, is it the Aussie-whatsis or not?
Ratsel: Neither name is wrong. My steed, by any other name, remains my trusty steed.
Haken: Whatever you say, Two-Names. As long as that's the Tactical Device we're after.
Sanger: Who is riding unit 2?! Show yourself!
???: ... (a blond guy in a backwards SRX jacket shows up)
Sanger: Hm. He's young. And his attire looks familiar to me.
???: You amassed your forces sooner than expected, Ratsel Feinschmecker.
Ratsel: Oho, this young one speaks with a bit of class. I doubt he's a mere thief. I take it from his clothes that he's from the SRX Commonwealth.
Arriere: The SRX Commonwealth... The great nation to the west, right?
Aschen: If they're willing to go out this far east on a robbery spree, they must be serious cheapskates.
Rai: There's nothing west or east about this, now that we've heard the Raven flapping its wings.
Ratsel: Ah, you have a very poetic way with words. I can appreciate that. But that hardly justifies you stealing my Tactical Device.
Ratsel: (It's close to what I predicted, though.)
Haken: Whatever your reasons are, that Blue Knight you've got with you is Wandering Bounty Hunters property. I'm gonna have to ask you to give it back, along with what's inside.
Rai: You know, I was wondering what country would have something like this. That explains that. It also explains why it's got a W-Series for a pilot, one of the ancient mechanical soldiers that are supposedly near-impossible to excavate.
Aschen: If you know that much about her, I suppose that says some things about my overly green sister.
Haken: What the hell did you do to my family member?
Rai: Don't worry. She's serving nicely on our team.
Arriere: What do you intend to do by amassing so much firepower?! Do you mean to start a war?!
Rai: I'm not at liberty to say. I've got a duty to fulfill, and I'm going to do it.
Ratsel: (In other words, the attack on Kurogane Island was one orchestrated by the SRX Commonwealth.)
Haken: Okay, Ice Man. I can see you mean business. But I don't give a flip about your duty.
Aschen: You're going to hand over Sister Jiggles one way or another, Raidiese F. Branstein.
Rai: I told you, I'm going to do what must be done. You can curse the misfortune that put you in my path.
Ratsel: You'll be eating those words soon enough. You won't escape Kurogane so easily, Raidiese... For you have kindled something that should never have been lit aflame.

---

THIS IS THE ENDLESS FRONTIER
THE DARK HORSES OF KUROGANE

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Rai: I'd like to take the Dynamic General Guardian Unit 1 if I could, but...
Rai: (Unit 2's output is a flat line. Even if it was a prime opportunity to hit the chief of Kurogane before he could get his defenses up, I think I jumped the gun.)
Haken: Okay, Genius Pilot. Don't move, or I'll miss when I shoot.
Rai: They're not going to give me time for spot fixes, huh. Sounds like it's time to field the blue SR.
Aschen: Wait a minute, those motions...
Sanger: You noticed it, Aschen? It's called the Vaisaga, right? The way it's moving...
Aschen: I hear you loud and clear, Sideburns. That's not how my silly sister moves it.
Ratsel: Then the pilot is already gone?
Rai: ...

---

Rai: (Argh, my machine's immobilized. How am I supposed to face the major now?! I'll just have to survive and do what must be done somehow.)
Rai: I'm abandoning the Dynamic General Guardian Unit 2 and escaping Kurogane Island!
Arriere: Ah! He jumped over to the Vaisaga!
Rai: I'll have to settle for the W-Series sample and this blue SR!
Haken: Tch, you think you can run?!

---

Arriere: He got away... We got the chief's unit 2 back, but...
Aschen: I wasn't expecting him to hop into the Vaisaga's hand and ditch. I hope it squishes him!
Sanger: It won't. Judging by the machine's mechanical motions, it had unmanned controls. I couldn't speculate as to whether your companion was still in it, though.
Haken: Well, the SRX Commonwealth's gonna find that messin' with my family carries a real steep price. C'mon, Aschen. We'll get him... We'll get all of 'em.
Aschen: Aye-aye, Captain Angry.
Ratsel: A moment, Captain. Are you going to launch an open attack on them?
Haken: ...
Arriere: You call yourselves Wandering Bounty Hunters, but that would be an act of war!
Sanger: War... Judging by their actions on Kurogane, that may have been their intent.
Ratsel: Or at the very least, a possible outcome they were willing to accept.
Arriere: So the SRX Commonwealth is engaging in acts of war on purpose?
Arriere: (Are they also the ones who stole the secret treasure Fau Kern from the Holy Land of Regiment?)
Ratsel: We will not stand idly by and wring our hands, but we must nonetheless proceed with caution. I have a proposal, Captain Haken.
Haken: You look like you've already got an angle worked out. You're on, Kurogane Leader. Let's hear it.
Ratsel: Are you familiar with the Principality of Riksent to the south of here?
Sanger: A principality that... sends wrecks?
Arriere: Oh, dear... That sounds terribly barbarous.
Aschen: I think you're completely off-base here.
Haken: Riksent to the south, huh. What's there? Gimme the scoop, Aschen.
Aschen (DTD): Right on! Let's kick out the bad vibes and kickstart a nice, steamy DTD! Search: Principality of Riksent! It's an aristocracy that's made Princess Shine Hausen, a spunky 12 year-old girl, into its head of state! Pretty much zero excavated weapons! They're like, super mineral-rich and regular-rich, so they've got no real motive to wage war!
Aschen: That concludes my summary of the nation.
Sanger: You would ask Riksent for aid? I wouldn't wish to drag a non-aggressive nation into a war.
Ratsel: I know what you mean, Sanger. We'll travel with the captain and explain the situation. We would be asking for cooperation on a... personal level.
Arriere: Define personal?
Ratsel: Riksent is a beautiful place said to have once been home to fairies. I couldn't say if those strange beings are connected or not, but the princesses of House Hausen are said to be gifted with a special power.
Sanger: From the way you're talking, it's not a gift for combat, I take it.
Ratsel: No, it's something far more rare. Precognition, the ability to see into the future.
Haken: Boy, that's a real doozy of a skill. I think I get where you're goin' here. If we use that...
Arriere: We can learn where the raven that heralds death, the Huckebein, will strike next!
Ratsel: As Aschen says, the nation has little in the way of excavated weaponry that could be considered a war asset.
Sanger: Ah, of course. Because of that, they would be beside themselves with worry over the revival of the Raven... Not to mention all the other disturbing signs of activity as of late.
Haken: So your pitch is that we'll be the heroes of justice to quell Riksent's unrest if they can help us out, huh? And that way, we reach the SRX Commonwealth folks that made contact with the Huckebein. That'll be our chance to nip this thing in the bud.
Aschen: And if the Huckie's found the Fau Kern, we might be able to yoink it.
Arriere: Yes, that would be ideal...
Haken: Hnh. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Especially when we got this many uncertain factors floatin' around.
Ratsel: Are you dissatisfied? And here I thought you enjoyed these sorts of roles, Captain.
Haken: ...
Aschen: You're annoyingly good at reading people, Smug-Goggles.
Haken: Heh, no kiddin'. Guess I'm no match for a boss that leads a way bigger group. Okay, Trombe Master. The Wandering Bounty Hunters will take you up on your proposal. Let's get back to ship and set a course for the Principality of Riksent.
Haken: (You'd better be safe, Lamia.)

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??? (blue hair): Ah, so the Huckebein showed up on Kurogane Island.
Rai: Yes, sir. I hijacked their latest Tactical Device, but I had to give up on bagging the Raven.
??? (spiky bangs): And you let them take the Tactical Device back? You're slippin', Rai.
Rai: I didn't come back empty-handed.
??? (bare shoulders): Yes, you certainly have something to show for it. You took a personal trooper from the Wandering Bounty Hunters, not to mention...
??? (blue hair): A highly valuable human-sized excavated weapon. You did well to bring one of the W-Series in.
??? (bare shoulders): You can go now. Get some rest, Lieutenant Raidiese.
Rai: Yes, ma'am.
??? (spiky bangs): Man, the instructor always goes easy on Rai.
??? (bare shoulders): Next up... Mai. Are you there?
Mai: Here, ma'am.
??? (blue hair): You performed well on Kurogane. I'd like you to head for the Principality of Riksent.
Mai: Riksent? Isn't that where...?
??? (blue hair): That's right. I want you to look into 'it', and if anything arises next... there.
Mai: Roger.
??? (blue hair): (Now the actors are gathering in place. Depending on how things play out, there may be a use for this.)
Lamia (green ODE version): ...
??? (blue hair): (Heh heh heh...)

(end of chapter 2)