2.5 Months Later
– Morning of Sundia, Ranth 19, 8034 –
“Connection to Fortress World
Damunin established!”
Transfer
Captain Kevérin Tyrion quickly brushed off his shoulders as he stood in front
of the Nimalian Interstellar Gate, observing the large ring and the black event
horizon and eventually leading his attention down to the railway tracks built
into the ground. He glanced back at the distant train gate; it appeared just
the same as it had always been, as if Siyuakén’s hijacking of a Gate Train and
subsequently crashing it into the Gateport over three months ago hadn’t even
happened. That was over three months ago?
Already? the Pyrotechnic shook his head wearily, time passes too damn quickly…
His
thoughts were interrupted when two individuals appeared through the
Interstellar Gate, drawing Kevérin’s attention back to the large device as he
approached. “Kaoné, Kevken, you’re back!”
“Yep,”
Kaoné squinted through the morning light as Kievkenalis yawned. “Finally back…”
“Heh,”
Kevérin smirked, “tired?”
“At
least when flying from continent to continent you get to experience the time
change,” Kievkenalis replied, and then yawned again. “...But going from night
on Damunin to this…”
“Yeah, ‘Gate
travel is instantaneous, I know,” the Transfer Captain nodded, “It’s not like
I’ve never used the ‘Gate myself.” He glanced up at the large scheduling
screen behind the Interstellar Gate as the ring shut down and an automated
device began punching in coordinates to a new location, accompanied with a
long, drawn-out horn. “Let’s get out of here. Don’t want to get run over by the
incoming train.”
“I want
to get out of this armor, too…” Kaoné muttered as the three headed toward the
nearest exit from the massive courtyard, “…and take a shower… and sleep…”
“You’re
lucky I’m here to relieve you, then,” Kevérin remarked, “Have either of you
written the mission report yet?”
“Yeah,”
Kaoné nodded, “Here, I’ll send it to you.”
“…Good,”
the Transfer Captain commented as a “message received” alert appeared on his AR
display. He then remained silent for several more seconds until the three had
exited the courtyard and entered one of the secure military terminals. Once the
door closed behind them he stopped and turned to face Kievkenalis and Kaoné.
“Alright, time for the real question. Did you guys find it?”
“Huh…?
Oh. Yeah,” Kievkenalis replied slowly as he reached behind himself to the small
backpack-like device attached to his back. He pulled out a baseball-sized
silver sphere and held it toward Kevérin.
“The
Master Ayas,” the Pyrotechnic nodded approvingly, taking the stone from
Kievkenalis, “…That’s the last of the nine. Nikéyin will be glad to see this.”
“Oh,
shoot, we still have to do the debriefing…” Kaoné muttered.
“Heh,”
Kevérin smirked again, “don’t worry about that. I’ll cover for you; the mission
report should be enough for now. You two just get some rest. I’ll talk with the
Commander.”
* * *
“Wow,
you’re actually here.”
“I
could say the same to you,” Davídrius retorted as Christeané strolled into the
Hero Machina office and took a seat at his desk, “When was the last time you showed up before ten? Two weeks
ago?”
“I
wasn’t even here two weeks ago,” Christeané snorted, “You weren’t, either. How’d
you manage to forget that trip into Drakkar space?”
“You
mean the one where we just took the Earthian ship to some ass-backwards
uninhabited planet that just so happened
to be in Drakkar space? The only memorable thing from that trip was when you
decided to jump off the cliff ‘cause you thought you saw the Ayas. I could’ve
sworn that was a month ago, anyways.”
“Nope.
We left at the end of Colyath, that was two weeks ago.”
“Sure.
Whatever you say.”
“Hey,
at least we have something to do other than just sitting on our asses all day
long.”
“Yeah,
because someone decided using the
final Chaos State was a great idea and scattered the Ayas all across the
goddamned galaxy when you dropped out.”
“Look,
that was completely necessary. It was the only way to make sure Morcii wasn’t
trying to trick me.”
“Sure,
sure,” Davídrius nodded patronizingly, prompting Christeané to give him an
annoyed glare.
“You’re
just jealous it wasn’t you who got to destroy a planet,” the Superstrength
Introtechnic declared.
“Keh, please.
You may have wrecked its shit but you didn’t destroy it.”
“What?
I turned Neticen into a debris field! It looks like someone took a huge bite
out of it! No small feat, too, since it’s a larger planet. Give it a couple
thousand years and all that’ll be left will be an asteroid belt.”
“Mm hmm,”
Davídrius smirked, “Come back when you actually
obliterate a planet, I’m talkin’ absolutely pulverizing
it, turning the whole thing into dust.”
“Those
are some big words from someone who’s never even come close to so much as destroying a city, let alone a whole fucking planet,”
Christeané retorted.
“It’s
good to see nothing’s changed.”
“Eh?”
Both Introtechnics turned toward the entrance to the office where none other
than Rebehka had just entered, letting the door close behind her.
“Rebehka!”
Christeané exclaimed, “You’re back!”
“What?
The fuck are you back here for?”
Davídrius questioned.
“Nice
to see you too, Davídrius,” the Cryotechnic rolled her eyes as she approached.
“I mean
– well, yeah, nice to see you,” he responded confusedly, “but, uh, weren’t you,
well, you know… locked up?”
“I was
released three weeks ago,” she shrugged, “I think the Commander pulled a few
strings to get me out early… or at all. No one told me how long I was supposed
to be in there…”
“Maybe
it’s because the Nanocreatures finally all shut down,” Christeané suggested,
“That was… what, over a month ago?”
“So
they thought she wasn’t a threat anymore, is that it?” Davídrius snorted.
“I can
believe it,” Rebehka replied, “I had the feeling that a major part of why I was in
there was because no one could be sure I wasn’t corrupted…”
“Well I
put an end to that when I smashed Morcii through a planet,” Christeané
remarked, quick to divert the conversation away from its depressive direction,
“And the CSA is recovering, too. Looks like the whole Nanocreature threat is
over. And we got all the Ayas back!”
“Which
leads us to the big, unanswered question,” Davídrius sighed as he propped his
feet up on his desk, “Why are we still here?”
“What
do you mean?”
“The
Nanocreatures are gone and we have all the Ayas again, between us and the
Earthians at least. That’s all we’ve been doing for the past several months, so
Hero Machina’s job is, well, done,
ain’t it?”
Rebehka
and Christeané exchanged amused glances. “Wow, Davídrius, I knew Introtechnics
were infamous for their short attention spans,” the Cryotechnic smirked, “but
don’t tell me you actually forgot the
original reason Hero Machina was formed?”
“Hell,
you joined up before either of us
did,” Christeané pointed out, “How’d you forget about the Quake?”
“…Oh.
Well… hmph,” the Introtechnic scowled, “…do you know how much shit went down
between now and whenever our last Quake-related mission was? Of course I’d
forget. I was busy, you know, helping to
save the galaxy.”
“Except
I got to deal the final blow.”
“Shut
it.”
“But
actually,” Rebehka interjected, “…we haven’t made any progress at all since Rossindon. We barely know
more about the Quake now than back when we started!”
“I
guess this means I’ve still got a few months on this job,” Davídrius mused.
Christeané
shot the Tresédian a questioning glance. “Are you saying you want out?”
“I think
we could make a fair argument for a long
break, given everything we did to help save the galaxy.”
“I
think that ship flew off a month and a half ago.”
“Tch.”
“…Well,
I suppose we’d better get back to work,” Rebehka remarked as she moved back to
her desk, “…what happened to my things?”
“You
were locked up for several months, you really expect your shit to still be
here?” Davídrius snorted.
The
Cryotechnic sighed wearily as she took a seat anyways. “I guess I’ll have to
speak with the Commander about this. Regardless, I think we’ve had enough
chit-chat for now.”
“Oi oi,
first day back and you’re already hard at work–!”
“This is our job, you know.”
“She’s
got you there,” Christeané smirked.
“…This is what I get for helping to save
the galaxy,” Davídrius scowled as he removed his feet from his desk and looked
back to his computer, “…fuckin’ ungrateful lot, see if I ever save your asses again…”
“Now there’s the Davídrius we all know and
love!”
“Shut
it.”
* * *
“Here it is, Ma’am. The Master
Ayas.”
“Perfect,” Nikéyin smiled
gratefully as she accepted the stone from Kevérin’s outstretched hand. She then
looked back to the Transfer Captain, who stood in front of her desk as he made
several gestures that could only be explained as him interacting with his AR
environment. “…Where’s Yumach and Densalin?”
“They
came back exhausted,” Kevérin replied, making one final motion and returning
his attention to the Commander, “I had Kaoné send me her mission report so I
could relay it to you. It should be in your inbox, now.”
“I
appreciate that, Tyrion,” Nikéyin responded amusedly, “but could you have not
just told the Lieutenant to send me the report herself?”
The
Pyrotechnic paused for several moments before sighing wearily. “Why didn’t I
think of that…”
“It’s nothing
to get worked up over,” the Commander countered as she set the Master Ayas down
on her desk and leaned back in her chair, “If something time-imperative had
occurred during their mission then Damunin would’ve sent advance word, and Yumach
and Densalin would’ve returned sooner. Returning the Ayas to me in person is a
directive I gave you two months ago, anyway. I trust you kept its presence on
your person a secret?”
“Well,
about as well as you can keep a Chaos
Energy generator a secret, yeah.”
“Transfer
Captain…?” Nikéyin muttered warningly.
“Yes! I
meant yes, no one saw me with it,” Kevérin replied quickly, “I kept it in that
suitcase-CENT-thing the techies cooked up. That’s protocol, right?”
“Yes,
that’s protocol, so now I’m left to wonder why you handed me the Ayas directly
instead of with the containment unit.”
“I,
uh…” the Pyrotechnic responded uneasily, “I… may have dropped by the Hero Machina office to show it off…”
The
Commander sighed in annoyance as she glanced down at the Ayas and then back to
Kevérin. “Transfer Captain, this isn’t three months ago. We aren’t rushing to
gather the Ayas to stop a galactic threat; we have time to take precautions –
precautions that are absolutely necessary,
given the power of the Ayas. I don’t need to remind you of what the Master
Lieutenant did to Neticen, do I? And as I understand it that was only a
fraction of the Ayas’ full potential.”
“That
was the Chaos State, though,”
Kevérin countered, smiling uneasily after recognizing his unintentional
half-invocation of the Chaos State. “…Just like what I just did, actually. You
need to know the right keywords to activate the State, it’s not enough to have
all the Ayas in one spot.”
“You
assume that discovering the right keywords would be difficult,” Nikéyin
deadpanned, “And I would agree with you, if there weren’t audible clues that you’ve hit the right sequence of words. There’s
a reason Chaostechnics make bad assassins.”
“…Well,
yeah, but–“
“Do I
need to stress that the Chaos State is far from the only use of the Ayas? You
and your team have demonstrated multiple times that merely holding one gives you a power boost that counters CENT fields as well as access to powerful
weapons capable of this ‘subspace storage’, not to mention the apparent
mind-corrupting powers of the Ayas. Need I remind you of Kotak?”
The
Transfer Captain sighed, defeated. “No, ma’am…”
“I’m
glad you agree,” Nikéyin responded, “especially since the Master Ayas was the
last one missing. We were only able to find all nine thanks to the Earthians’
help and the fact that the CSA and Drakkars both are focused more on rebuilding
than on tracking down the Ayas; and even then we had to relinquish four of the
Ayas to the Earthians to borrow their ship again. If we lose the Ayas again,
which would only take one disgruntled
Chaotic who knows the keywords to seize all five, destroy a planet or two, and
then scatter them to who-knows-where, chances are we’ll never find them again.”
“Actually,
ma’am, the fourth tier would only scatter the Ayas across a distance of a light
year or two, so–“
“Tyrion,
I didn’t ask.”
“…Yes,
ma’am,” Kevérin responded meekly, “…is this why you haven’t told me where the
other Ayas are?”
“It’s exactly why I haven’t told you where the
Ayas are,” the Commander nodded, “I’m sorry, Transfer Captain, but the Ayas are
safest off-world and out of the reach of Chaotics.”
“You
mean safer for non-Chaotics…”
Nikéyin
narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”
“N-nothing!
I didn’t mean anything!” Kevérin quickly backpedaled, “I just–! …I’m just
curious where the Ayas are, is all…”
The
Commander sighed wearily, finally breaking eye-contact with the Transfer
Captain as she took a moment to stretch. “…I understand you’re curious,
Transfer Captain, but I can’t tell you. I’ve even put considerations into place
to prevent me from knowing, in the
case a Psychotechnic were to ever read my mind. I simply ship the Ayas off, and
if I ever order for them to return, then they return. I don’t know where they
are in the meantime, except that they most certainly are not on Nimalia. I believe the Earthians are taking similar
precautions.”
“In
case something like the Nanocreatures ever happens again?”
“In
case anything ever happens again. The
last thing we want is for someone to attack and destroy our Homeworld just to get their hands on the
Ayas.”
“So…
they’re on a Fortress World, then?”
“Tyrion…!”
“Sorry,
sorry, sorry!” Kevérin quickly backtracked again, “I’ll stop asking.”
“Good,”
the Commander nodded, “…now that we have all of the Ayas, though, I’m sure you
know what Hero Machina’s new directive is?”
“Continue
our original search for clues on the Chaos
Quake…” the Pyrotechnic muttered, “…that’ll be hard with the galaxy in
its current state.”
“The
Nanocreatures completely shut down over a month ago and the CSA have recovered
all of their lost worlds. It’s just a matter of recovering and rebuilding, now.
Hero Machina is the group that
ultimately defeated Morcii, I’m sure you can leverage that to your advantage.”
“I can
try…”
“Good,”
Nikéyin nodded again, “…now, is that it?”
“Uh…”
Kevérin took a moment to think before nodding back. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“Alright then. Dismissed.” The Commander watched the Pyrotechnic turn to leave before
adding several moments later, “Oh, and one more thing…”
“…Yes?”
Kevérin glanced back to Nikéyin uneasily, only to find her smiling warmly at
him.
“…I admit,
I had my reservations about the effectiveness of Hero Machina before…” she
stood up and approached the Transfer Captain, holding out her hand, “…but you’ve
exceeded all my expectations. Keep up the good work.”
“…Heh,”
Kevérin grinned in response as he took her hand and shook it once, “Will do!”
* * *
8 Hours Later
101 days…
Kievkenalis lay back on his
bed, the sheets pulled up to his chest in a haphazard mess as he watched a sewn
patch flip into the air and slowly fall back into his hand.
95 days…
He idly
flicked the patch into the air again, absentmindedly glancing out his bedroom
window at the dark nighttime skies. The sound of steady rain and the low
rumbling of distant thunder filled the otherwise silent room as the sewn patch
fell to the floor beside his bed, the victim of a slight draft. Kievkenalis
exhaled wearily before rolling over, reaching down with his left arm to pick up
the patch. He then rolled back onto his back and moved to flick it again, only to stop himself and look at the bloodstained Riveranian Soldier’s
patch.
…Vélunis… Wilkas… he stared at the patch
blankly, …it’s been three months,
already…
A flash
of lightning in the distant skies briefly illuminated the room, drawing
Kievkenalis’s attention to his own hand – where the image of blisters and
bruises remained long after the lightning had disappeared. The Chaostechnic
followed the blemishes with his eyes, tracking them to halfway down his forearm
before dropping his arm to his side, wincing when it hit the bed. The galaxy’s been saved, right? Everything’s
supposed to be alright now, right? Then why doesn’t it feel like it…
A quick
knock on his bedroom door drew Kievkenalis out of his thoughts.
“Hey,
Kevken! Are you awake?”
Did I leave the door unlocked again?...
the Chaostechnic slowly drew himself up into a sitting position and turned
toward the door. “Chaos… Detect,”
he mumbled, grimacing as his hands burned with pain and Chaos Energy exposed
the silhouette of the individual at his door. “Oh, Kaoné,” he muttered to
himself, and then raised his voice for her to hear, “Yeah, come in.”
He
winced again as the door opened, flooding the dark room with light from the
exterior rooms. The Materiatechnic stepped in, triggering the bedroom lights as
she began to address Kievkenalis. “Are you ready…? You’re still in bed? Kevken,
you know we were supposed to meet with Kevérin and the others in half an–?”
“What’s
the matter…?” Kievkenalis questioned, turning to look at Kaoné when she stopped
mid-sentence – only to realize that his disfigured hands were uncovered,
displayed in full to everything in the room. “…Ah ha ha,” he laughed uneasily,
quickly hiding his hands under the covers.
Kaoné’s
mouth hung open in surprise as she simply stared at the Chaostechnic, the shock
of his wounds leaving her unable to form a proper response. “…Kevken… was
that…?”
Kievkenalis
closed his eyes and sighed before quickly reaching for a pair of gloves on his
nightstand and sliding them on with a quick, yet clearly painful motion. “Guess
I couldn’t hide it for long,” he muttered, diverting his attention back to the
Riveranian patch laying on his bed, “but, yeah. It’s the onset of Chaotic
Self-Destruction.”
“But…
you–!” Kaoné frowned, unsure of how to proceed. “You… you haven’t even been in
action at all this past month. Even when we got the Master Ayas, you–!”
“Still
had to strain myself with Energy Detect,” the Chaostechnic replied flatly,
“…even then, though, it was too late. Signs’ve been there since months ago. I
knew suddenly gaining access to new types would ruin everything… do you know how many Chaos attacks I used during the battle on Neticen? Over
twenty, in the span of five minutes. And then I knocked myself out with Kilo
Blast. Do you know how stupid that was? It takes most Chaostechnics ten battles to expend as much Energy as I
did in one.” He glared down at his
hands. “’Course, it was already too late by then. That just accelerated it.”
Kaoné
responded with silence, her own attention drawn down to her shoes, and then to
the rain outside the window – anywhere that wasn’t Kievkenalis.
“…I
still have a year.”
“…What…?”
“A
year. Until I die?” Kievkenalis smirked bitterly, “I mean… an incredibly
painful year as my body tears itself apart and shuts down random systems until I’m a vegetable on life support… but still, a year.”
“Does…
does the Commander know?”
“Until
now, only I knew. There’s no way the Commander would’ve sent me to help with
the Ayas if she knew I was this far along with CSD. I’ll tell her tomorrow,
though. Now that we’ve found all the Ayas…”
“You
don’t– you didn’t need to push yourself!” Kaoné exclaimed, her sudden outburst
startling Kievkenalis. She immediately drew away uneasily, adding meekly, “I
mean… you should’ve gone for treatment after Neticen. You didn’t have to help
find the Ayas again…”
“Yes I
did,” Kievkenalis countered, “…it’s the only way I could make it up to them.”
“Who–?”
Kaoné began, but was interrupted as the Chaostechnic flicked the patch her way.
It almost fell to the ground before she realized what it was and manipulated it
into her hands. “Blood…?”
“Do you
know where that’s from? Who’s patch it is?”
Kaoné
locked eyes with Kievkenalis uneasily before glancing down at the patch. “It…
it looks like an RPF shoulder patch? But… I don’t know who…”
“Vélunis.”
The
Materiatechnic opened her mouth to respond, but closed it without saying
anything.
“Chaostechnics die from CSD all the
time. I knew that, I was prepared for that; I told you as much back before shit
hit the fan, remember?” Kievkenalis continued, holding out his hand to accept
the patch as Kaoné approached to return it, “I was fully prepared to die before
everyone else. Actually, I think that made it easier, since I wouldn’t need to
say good-bye to anyone. Except I did. A Chaostechnic
outlived an Introtechnic and a Formtechnic. Do you know how ridiculous that
is?”
“It
wasn’t your fault that Vélunis or Wilkas died…”
“I
know. But that doesn’t help. Here I am, alive – well, dying, but still alive –
and they’re dead. And I wasn’t even
the one to avenge them, Christeané got to do that. So I had to do something to make sure they didn’t die
for nothing, right? That’s why I had to help find the rest of the Ayas. It was
too late for me at that point anyways.”
“When
did it become too late?”
Kievkenalis
glanced toward Kaoné, apparently caught off-guard by the question. He stared at
her for several moments before sighing and looking away. “…The moment I knew I
was a Chaostechnic.”
“If… if
you’re so resigned to your fate… then
why can’t you accept Vélunis or Wilkas’s?”
“…What?”
“I mean…”
Kaoné continued uneasily, “…I won’t claim to know them as well as you did. They
were only with Hero Machina for… what, a couple weeks? So I’m not trying to
trivialize your feelings, I’m just… I don’t know. I’m trying to help, but I
don’t know what to say…”
Kievkenalis
sighed again as he turned the patch over in his hands. “…Thanks, Kaoné. For
what it’s worth, I think I know what you were trying to say.”
“…There’s
also the consideration that they wouldn’t want you acting like this,” Kaoné
added hopefully, “they’d want you to move on, right?”
“Well
now you’ve just moved into the realm of cliché,” the Chaostechnic snorted,
prompting Kaoné to respond with a meek smile. “…I guess you’re right, though.
Clichés are cliché for a reason, after all…”
The two
remained silent for several more moments, both contemplating their thoughts
until a notification popped up on Kaoné’s glasses, giving off a quiet beep that
drew Kievkenalis’s attention. “Ah, that’s our meeting with Kevérin…” she
commented warily, “I’ll, uh, I’ll just tell him that you’re sick, okay–?”
“No,”
he shook his head, “…I’ll go. I haven’t seen Rebehka in a while anyways. And eating
dinner can’t be so hard, right?”
“…If
you say so.”
“Thanks
for the thought, though. Now get out of my room, I need to change.”
“Right,”
Kaoné nodded, turning back toward the door, “But don’t fall asleep again. We’re
already late as it is.”
“Ha,
right,” Kievkenalis smirked, watching as the Materiatechnic left the room. Just
before the door closed behind her, though, he called out, “Hey, Kaoné… do you
know what today is?”
“Um…”
she peeked back into the room, giving Kievkenalis a curious glance as he stared
out the window, “…no?”
The
Chaostechnic smiled meekly as he glanced back down at his hands. “It’s Ranth 19th,”
he replied, “…the first day of winter.”
* * *
“I am not certain I will ever understand the
current era of Aldredanoids.”
“Uh
huh…”
“You can barely make up your minds regarding
safety protocols. One month you allow me only a text interface, another you
allow full remote communication. With little change in the status quo.”
“I’d
say the defeat of the Nanocreatures was a pretty big change in the status quo.”
“And then you exercise the remote
communication to, as a Pyrotechnic, go to the unshielded observation deck
during a thunderstorm.”
“How do
you know it’s raining?”
“Filtering background noise for the sound of
falling water is a trivial task for even your computers.”
“…Right,”
Kevérin rolled his eyes, leaning on the northern guardrail as he stared down at
the dark city below. The constant rain filled the otherwise silent night and
made it difficult to see the northern-most reaches of Nimaliaka Central, but
the Pyrotechnic was nonetheless unfazed by the weather as he easily heated his
entire body, causing all rain that fell within a millimeter of his skin or
clothes to instantly evaporate.
“I suppose I should be impressed that
Nimalian tailors had the foresight to make your uniform extraordinarily heat
resistant.”
“It’s
standard fare for Pyrotechnics,” the Transfer Captain replied, “…the amount of
information you can discern from an audio call alone is…”
“Unsurprising. I am the Prior Aegis Arcán,
this computational ability should be expected.”
“Uh
huh,” Kevérin deadpanned, diverting his attention from the city below to check
a short list on his AR display. “…You seem to be getting more flippant lately.”
“It’s what happens when you leave an
intelligence trapped in a box for extended lengths of time. I am growing bored.
Would you not, were you in my situation?”
“We
can’t let you go. With all the information you have, and the fact that you’re
an AI? You’re too valuable to lose.”
“Prior, not AI. Prior. And would you say the
same if I were an Aldredanoid? A being with the same appearance and features as
yourself?”
“Yes.
Only then you’d be more annoying to take care of ‘cause we’d need to feed you
and shit. Well, let you shit.”
“Is that
the standard for prisoner care? I may have misjudged this age…”
“Arcán,
you’re our leading– no, you’re our only
source for information on the Chaos Ayas. We have literally nowhere else to go for this information, not since we
messed up the Rossindon mission and likely lost that Prior to the Black Suns.”
“I have told you everything I know.
Everything that I remember, at least…”
“Because
your core is damaged, am I right?”
“Yes, because my core is damaged. It is a
legitimate explanation for my inability to access much of the information that
you desire. So it would, in fact, be in both
of our best interests to give me access to your technology and systems to help further
our search for the Ayas, repair my core, and gain access to the rest of my
information.”
“’Search
for the Ayas’?” Kevérin echoed incredulously, glancing skyward as a streak of
lightning stretched down to a distant mountain peak, “…how many Ayas do you
think we have?”
“You lost them all due to Chaos State
scattering after the defeat of Morcii at Neticen, if your reports are to be
trusted. Though your question leads me to believe that you have recovered some
of them. How many?”
“Whoa,
I never said that…”
“You’ve recovered them all, haven’t you?”
“Well–”
“You’ve recovered the Arcán Ayas and you’ve yet to join it with my core?! Are you mad?
This is not a game, Aldredanoid, and for your sake I am not to be trifled with!”
Kevérin
sighed and prepared to respond only to stop and glance behind himself as the
door to the observation deck opened, revealing Christeané and Rebehka. The
Cyrotechnic waved and stepped out into the rain, shielding herself with an
umbrella of ice while Christeané remained in the shelter of the building.
“Afraid
of a little water?” Rebehka smirked after noticing the Introtechnic had stayed
behind.
“Afraid?
No. Annoyed by? Yes,” he retorted, “Excuse me
if I can’t use my powers to magic away the wetness.”
Kevérin
straightened up, stepping back from the guardrail and facing the two other
Chaotics. “Is it time already?”
“Wouldn’t
have hauled ass up here if it wasn’t,” Christeané shouted across the deck,
raising his voice to be heard over the rain, “We’re gonna be late now, too!”
“Are
you sure you’re coming?” Rebehka questioned, approaching the guardrail herself
to look out over the city before turning back to the Transfer Captain for an
answer.
“I
picked one hell of a night for an outing,” the Pyrotechnic sighed, “…Guess it
can’t be helped during the rainy season. But yeah, let’s go. Hey, Arcán, we’ll
have to continue this some other time–“
“Halt,” the Prior interrupted,
shocking Kevérin as it raised its volume to be heard by Rebehka. “I have a question for the Lieutenant–“
“Holy
shit, Arcán, not necessary,” the
Transfer Captain scowled, quickly moving to turn down the volume on his own
audio and patch the Cryotechnic into the communication. “Warn me before you make me go deaf next time! Damn. Now she’s on
the line, what’d you want?”
“Gah,
you guys are taking forever!” Christeané threw his hands up in exasperation,
“I’m going down to meet Davídrius, hurry up and take care of… whatever it is
you’re taking care of.”
Rebehka
watched the Introtechnic close the door to the deck before turning back to
Kevérin and then to the city below. “Hello…?” she questioned wearily.
“Yes, hello,” Arcán greeted back over
the audio connection, “I apologize
for skipping the pleasantries but as I said, I have a question for you.”
“For
me?” she glanced at Kevérin confusedly, but the Pyrotechnic simply shrugged in
response. “…What is it?”
“You were closest friends with the Corrupted
Electrotechnic, correct?”
“Uh…”
Rebehka pursed her lips, giving Kevérin an irritated glance before sighing and
turning away. “…If you mean Siyuakén… then yes, I’d say I was.”
“Excuse me for being so blunt, but if I may
ask. Exactly how long was she battling the corruption before Morcii appeared?
Before she eventually lost control?”
“Oh…”
she sighed again, this time in frustration, “…I don’t know. Three months? Four?
Kevérin, she said it started with Sunova. How long ago was that?”
“…You’re
about right,” the Pyrotechnic nodded, “Our mission to Sunova was about halfway
through Nimath, and Morcii appeared at the end of Solith… so about three and a
half months?”
“How long after Morcii’s appearance did she
last?”
“I
don’t… I don’t know,” Rebehka responded quietly, “…three days? Four? I don’t
know. Everything was happening at once back– back whenever that was. The end of
Solith? That was months ago. I mean… I don’t know how long she lasted. She even
came to… I don’t know.” She looked up at the sky, thinning her ice umbrella
enough to see the occasionally lightning-lit clouds above. “I thought she could
last longer, that she could beat it, but… I guess I was wrong.”
“I am actually surprised she lasted as long
as she did. Three and a half months to fall to the Nanocreatures? And she still
managed to remain in control during your first encounter with Morcii.”
“She did say that she was able to keep the
corruption in check with her Electrotechnism...”
“Keep it in check, you say…? Interesting…”
Kevérin
narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the Prior’s reaction. “Arcán? What aren’t you
telling us?”
“Nothing. Nothing for now.”
“’For
now’?”
“Meaning I may have new information if you
bring the Arcán Ayas to me!”
“Of
course. ‘Night, Arcán.”
“You cannot mean–?!”
The
Prior’s exclamation was cut short as Kevérin closed the audio connection. “…He’s
not wrong, but petitioning for the Ayas can wait until tomorrow…” he sighed
wearily and then turned toward Rebehka, who had returned to leaning on the
guardrail and gazing at the city below. “…You alright?”
“…Yeah.
I’m fine.” The Cryotechnic took a deep breath and withdrew from the guardrail.
“I knew… I knew since my fight with Davídrius that… that Siyuakén was gone. I
know that. I’m just glad that she’s no longer in pain, no longer being used…”
Kevérin
responded with silence, unsure of what to say. Eventually he simply placed his
hand on her shoulder, removing his heating aura beforehand. The Cryotechnic
glanced down at his hand and then to his eyes, flashing him a brief, tired
smile before turning back toward the deck entrance. “…Christeané was right, you
know. We’re already pretty late.”
“Yeah,
yeah, I know,” the Pyrotechnic rolled his eyes as the two approached the door,
leaving behind the stormy night view of Nimaliaka’s capital.
* * *
2 Hours Later
“Holy
shit guys, it’s two hours ‘til midnight and we’re only now getting our food? And y’all wonder why I’m so impatient all the
damn time…”
“Don’t
blame us, blame the weather,” Kevérin replied, glancing out a nearby window as
he leaned back to accept a dish from a waiter. He then glanced around the dim
restaurant, noting the low level of noise and the high number of empty tables.
“…Looks like it’s deterred a lot of people from coming out.”
“That’s
not the weather, that’s because it’s Sundia,” Christeané retorted, glancing
sideward as Davídrius began wolfing down his food before continuing, “and
because you picked a place that accepts military discounts, too. …Cheap
bastard.”
“Cheap?!
This is one of those fancy high-rise eat-dinner-while-you-look-out-over-the-whole-city
restaurants!” Kevérin exclaimed, and then threatened, “I can still choose not
to reimburse you.”
“Hey,
guys, settle down,” Rebehka sighed wearily, “Please don’t make me regret coming
out with you.”
“Heh
heh, coming out…” Davídrius chortled, his grin merely growing when the
Cryotechnic threw him an annoyed glance.
“It
being Sundia is actually less of an issue in Nimaliaka, though,” Kaoné pointed
out, “It’s more that people just don’t go out during the rainy season.”
“Which
happens during winter?” Kevérin shook his head, “At least the seasons made
sense in Tekdecé.”
“It’s
the tail end of the rainy season,”
Kaoné corrected, “give it two weeks and it’ll start snowing instead.”
“After the solstice?”
“I’m impressed there’s any precipitation
at all,” Davídrius interjected, “Where I’m from you’d be lucky to see two
minutes of rain every five years.”
“And
where I’m from it only rains in the
mountains,” Kievkenalis commented, “We get all our water from the rivers.”
“That’s
not surprising, given that you’re from Riverana, which was named for all the rivers,” Christeané smirked, glancing toward
Rebehka as the waiter deposited a bottle near her glass. “…Aha, is that what I
think it is?”
Davídrius
followed Christeané’s gaze, raising an eyebrow as Rebehka poured herself a
glass and passed the bottle around to the Master Lieutenant. “…Alcohol?”
“Wine,”
Rebehka quickly corrected, “we’re not going to have beer here.”
“Don’t
speak for everyone, I wouldn’t mind some of the stronger stuff,” Christeané
remarked.
“…Really?”
Davídrius deadpanned.
“Don’t
underestimate East Nimaliakians. Our alcohol tolerance is pretty insane,”
Christeané replied between sips, “…helps that I’m an Introtechnic, too.”
“It’s
fine, Davídrius,” Kevérin declared, gesturing for Christeané to pass the bottle
as he addressed the Tresédian, “This is a celebration! I’d say a few drinks are
called for.”
“I
thought we already celebrated defeating the Nanocreatures,” Davídrius frowned.
“…I
have a question for you, Davídrius,” Rebehka turned to give the Introtechnic an
incredulous glance, “…do you know what the word ‘fun’ means?”
“Funny,”
he retorted, and then grinned self-amusedly. “Haha, see what I did there?”
“But
seriously,” Kevérin continued, “Nanocreatures aside, there are other things to
celebrate. Like Rebehka returning to work,” he nodded in her direction, and
then glanced toward Kaoné and Kievkenalis, “or wrapping up the search for the
Ayas. For the first time in a long while, I think I can safely say that things
are improving!”
“Improving,
sure…” Kievkenalis responded slowly, glancing out a large window to an
observation deck that overlooked eastern Nimaliaka Central, “…just don’t forget
what it took to get here.”
The
rest of Hero Machina fell into silence as they continued eating, either fully
distracted by their food or otherwise unsure of how to follow up with
Kievkenalis’s statement.
“…You
know,” Kevérin eventually spoke up again, drawing the attention of the other
five Chaotics, “…I realize… that we’ve lost some friends. Siyuakén, Vélunis,
Wilkas. And Kevken is definitely right – we shouldn’t forget them. We won’t forget them, because they helped
us reach where we are today. And not only that, but we won’t forget any of the
casualties during the Nanocreature attacks. The Siions, the Citans, the Dra’kis
– they all suffered unimaginable casualties and damage; our own fleets definitely
felt the pressure as well. Some may think that it was all in vain, and maybe
some of it was. But I don’t think so. Sad, yes. Tragic, yes. Vain? No. Because,
thanks to the CSA sacrifices, Nimalian sacrifices, even Earthian sacrifices –
and especially thanks to Siyuakén, Vélunis, and Wilkas, we were given enough
time to figure out how to beat Morcii, and then kick his ass, thereby
preventing him from causing any more
damage.” He glanced around the table with a small smile, managing to elicit
similar expressions from everyone else. “I hope you all recognize the sheer magnitude of what we achieved. We
stopped an actual galactic threat!
The first of its kind. And now we have the Ayas back, more knowledge than ever
before, and things are returning to – well, to some semblance of normalcy. Yes, we lost some. We’ll mourn, we’ll
remember, but we’ll continue on, because I can guarantee that not a single
person who died would wish otherwise.”
“I
dunno, I don’t think it’s farfetched for one of the billions who died to be a
people-hating psychopath…”
“Shush,”
Kevérin shot an annoyed glance toward Davídrius before continuing, “The point
is, we’re not stopping for anything. It might be hard to top stopping the
biggest threat to galactic safety yet, but damn it, we’re gonna try! Because
we’re Hero Machina and we saved the god damn galaxy, so I’ll be damned if
anything else gets in our way!” He raised his glass triumphantly. “Am I right
or am I right?!”
“Aw,
you were on a roll there, and then you had to ruin it with a stupid question,”
Christeané smirked, but raised his glass nonetheless.
“…I do
appreciate it, though,” Kievkenalis smiled as he followed suit, “…even if
Vélunis and Wilkas would probably gag at how cheesy we’re being.”
“Bah, I’m gagging,” Davídrius snorted.
“Oh,
please,” Rebehka rolled her eyes, “If anyone
can ruin a good moment, it’s you.”
“But
I’m glad we’re all back together!” Kaoné quickly added, “It’s been months!”
“Indeed
it has,” Kevérin grinned, and then raised his glass again. “Alright, let’s do
this properly. To Siyuakén, Vélunis, and Wilkas – to a saved galaxy!”
“To a
saved galaxy!!” the rest of Hero Machina echoed gladly.
“Alright,”
Davídrius smirked, “Now that we’re done being cheesy as fuck, can I get back to
my food?”
Kevérin
rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to respond and then getting distracted by a
sudden notification on his AR display. He paused for a moment, contemplating
whether or not to acknowledge the message during the celebratory dinner – and
then jumped when a distant boom and a low rumble reached his ears. “What was
that–?”
“Holy shit!” Davídrius exclaimed, having
jumped out of his chair and sped over to the observation deck in the blink of
an eye, “…the Gateport! Something just blew the shit out of it!”
“What…?”
Kevérin frowned, slowly standing up as the rest of Hero Machina rushed to the
deck to take a look at the distant Gateport themselves. The Transfer Captain
prepared to follow suit before stopping and glancing at the notification again
– and finally reading it. “…Oh… oh, fuck
no…”
“What
is it?...” Kaoné turned to look at him apprehensively.
“…I
guess our celebration was premature,” he scowled, “…the Nanocreatures are
back!”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 72 ====================
* * * * *
Data Entry: {null}
