Nagato rushed forth, continually swinging her katana to deflect Godslayer Watterson’s subsequent shots. The latter cursed the construct rushing at him. After seeing how badly hurt Godslayer May is, rather than wasting his time fighting, he should be getting his former Proctor to safety. On contact, he immediately switched from his tek-bow to dual Fiery-Ethereal Swords.
“Not a very good time to call!” Godslayer Watterson responded to the sudden call whilst exchanging blows with Nagato’s weapon.
“Hold on a little longer,” Godslayer Fortepiano instructed. “We’re en route and E-Sat’s headed your way.”
E-Sat? Oh, whatever!
As they fought, Godslayer May forced herself up to her feet. Light-headed and the sharp pain she felt in her chest and waist, all of it pointed to the possibility of severe abdominal trauma. She had been through this kind of injury before when her SHADE’s regeneration function was still working. If she does not get medical help or a replacement SHADE soon, she will not survive for long.
“Mate! (Wait!)”
Alarmed, Godslayer May looked back to see Konata picking herself up, just as the arrows piercing the construct’s upper body dissipated. Shit...
“Where do you think you’re going!?” the construct jeered. “I’m not finished with you yet!”
Konata seemed to only sustain minor damages and was not weakened at all. She flexed her arms and body, looking eager to continue the fight, before marching forth.
Snowflake, help me please, Godslayer May prayed.
Too weak to get away, the Godslayer braced herself when Konata raised a fist to strike her. At this point, jet boots-equipped Super E-Sat streaked down from the sky. He slammed into the construct at blazing speed.
Godslayer May watched them crashed into the third floor of a nearby building. Soon after, the mech hurtled out from the second floor across the street and crashed against a dumpster.
The angered Konata jumped out of the window onto the street below. The construct would have wanted to take the mech apart for what he did until she came under heavy fire from barrages of high-caliber Ethereal bolts. She dodged out of the way but the bolts tagged her everywhere she went. The pavement along of the length of the street and walls of the surrounding structures were shattered to pieces as a result.
Seeing that Konata is in trouble, Nagato broke away from her fight with Godslayer Watterson and rushed to the hokai’s side. She protected themselves with the use of her bubble shield. The Ethereal bolts burst into sparks as it came into contact with the shield.
“Daijoubu-ka, Konata? (Are you all right, Konata?)”
“Hai!”
Godslayer Watterson felt relieved when he saw Super E-Sat coming over from the trashed dumpster unscathed. He then looked up at where the shots are originating and spotted the Catgirl in the distance above the skyline. The cruiser is revealed to be equipped with a rapid-firing cannon, deployable from a hatch underneath the bow.
Hopping onto the mech’s back, he said, “E-Sat, get May!”
Super E-Sat complied and went over to Godslayer May. As much the mech tried to be careful and gentle when carrying her up in his arms, Godslayer May grunted from her pain, just as blood started trickling down from her mouth.
“Let’s go!” Godslayer Watterson said urgently as soon as he saw this.
Super E-Sat activated boot jets then took off.
“Dude, who’s manning the gun?” Godslayer Watterson asked during the flight back to The Catgirl.
“The human defined as Iris Dashiell,” the mech answered.
Dash? the feline thought. Oh man, Forte’s gonna blow a gasket when she finds out.
Asahina took up position on the Monster’s top hull. She switched her rifle to its secondary firing mode before taking aim. She had The Catgirl’s cannon right in her scope’s reticle. Holding the trigger, the rifle began to charge up, indicated by the bright glow at the muzzle’s tip. On release, a giant, powerful Ethereal bolt traveled almost instantly across the skyline before striking its target. The cannon was destroyed in a fiery explosion along with a large portion of its mount.
In the bridge’s fire control station usually occupied by E-Sat, the view screen went dark. Letting go of the joystick, Dash uttered a short cry of frustration.
It was not that hard after E-Sat taught her how to manipulate the joystick. Ignore the rest of the screens and some of the more intricate controls, it felt similar to playing Beach Head 2000, a stationary shooter arcade game.
On one of the side tactical screens, what she described as a ‘flying mechanical crab-shell’ approaching from the starboard was displayed in the inset live feed.
“Whoa,” she uttered in reaction to an object whose magnitude dwarfed even the Catgirl. “Look the size of that thing,”
Dash became alarmed when she took notice of the turrets, unaware that the Monster was not yet battle-ready. “Come on, you guys! Get back here quick!”
No longer under fire, Nagato disengaged her shield. Looking up, she saw the Monster flew by, passing The Catgirl over to their position.
“Ikou (Let’s go),” Nagato instructed Konata.
“Hai.”
They proceeded to walk over to the glowing aurora projected by the Monster.
Dash ran up to Super E-Sat after the latter landed in the hangar bay. “You guys made it!”
“How the hay did you managed to get out of your cell!?” came a familiar hostile voice from behind her.
Brimming with anger, Godslayer Fortepiano grabbed hold of Dash’s wrist and pulled the young woman close to her. “Didn’t I made myself clear that I will toss you overboard if I find you somewhere you aren’t supposed to be at!?”
“Owww!” Dash flinched as the grip on her wrist increased. “Let me go! You’re hurting me!”
Godslayer Watterson came to Dash’s aid but was shoved back by Fortepiano.
“You’re really asking for trouble now,” Godslayer Fortepiano jeered at Dash, ignoring her pleas. “Did you think I wasn’t being serious about-”
A call from Godslayer Kurogane interrupted her. “FM.”
“What is it!?”
“We need you at the bridge ASAP,” Godslayer Kurogane replied, whom is monitoring the tactical screens in the bridge. “The Monster’s starting to take off as we speak.”
Godslayer Fortepiano released Dash. Her sight fell upon Godslayer May dazing in Super E-Sat’s arms.
“Don’t you just stand there looking pretty!” Godslayer Fortepiano scolded both the mech and Godslayer Watterson. “Take her to the medical bay now!”
“And for the time being,” she immediately added, “the bridge is off limits for you two!”
“FM?”
“On my way!” Godslayer Fortepiano shouted to her COM then made tracks into the corridor.
Dash rubbed to soothe her aching wrist. And then she remembered. Sunny Emerson. She did something similar to the former high school bully. Even though Sunny changed her ways and did the best she could to make amends, Dash refused to believe it. It was not just anger she felt at the time. For less than a moment, she seemed to enjoy the pain she inflicted on Sunny. No matter how much Sunny had suffered, it did not seem enough for Dash.
Godslayer Watterson walked over to Dash, worried. “Hey, are you-”
“I’m okay,” Dash assured him, then looked at the Godslayer she did not recognize being carried away. “You should go help her.”
The SHADE was in the worst conditions she had ever seen. Somehow Dash felt the armor’s self-repair function was going not to help the poor Godslayer this time.
On her main view screen, the Field Master watched the Monster flying off towards the Light materializing over the city edge.
“Going at full throttle!” Godslayer Fortepiano announced, hands on the flight controls. “We need to to get as close as possible!"
“We’re going to following it?” Godslayer Alkarin asked from the co-pilot seat.
Godslayer Kurogane voiced out her concern. “We don’t know what’s waiting on the other side. We could be sitting ducks.”
“We’re not losing that thing!” Godslayer Fortepiano maintained.
Amber, Cobalt and Jade witnessed The Catgirl pursuing the Monster from atop a skyscraper.
The former spoke in an accented, low pitch voice. “We oughta stop ‘em or Zirconia’s gonna skin us alive!”
“Let’s trash this freakin’ place while we’re at it,” the energy being added. “What you say guys? For Ruby!”
Her cohorts nodded their agreement.
Cobalt made a broad gesture as Amber and Jade rose into the air. Waterspouts burst from the ground all around Robotropolis, extending high up into the clouds. The skies darkened almost immediately, as if it was nightfall already, by the unnatural build-up of black stormy clouds covering the city and the surrounding regions.
Amber and Jade made the same gesture. Lightning flashes erupted across the cloud surfaces, leaving brief diffusing glows in its wake. The whole city was soon pounded by gale-force winds and hailstones showers that grew in intensity every minute.
In a small cave in the outskirts of Robotropolis, Sonic held Tails in his arms as they and the rest of the Freedom Fighters watched the thunderstorm, its scale was nothing like they have seen before, ravaging the city.
Already less than half of the city have lost power due to the power lines damaged by the hailstorm and lightning strikes. The blackout spread to other areas one block at a time
SWATbots in the open areas were blown off their feet. Hurtling through the air, they collided amongst themselves, with uprooted objects and debris and against various structures, thereby reduced to scraps in the process.
Zinc roofs were blown off the warehouses and factories. The hailstones trashed the industrial machines and SWATbots taking cover in the building interiors through the exposed ceilings and shattered window panels.
Ignition by lightning strikes led to the successive explosions of fuel and weapons depots across the city. The lightnings also brought down several radio transmission towers and aerial defense towers, either by damaging the upper section of the mast or setting the oil-filled foundation insulator on fire.
Dr. Robotnik’s air car was brought down to rest in the middle of a freeway after its engine sustained major damage by the hailstones. Inside the cockpit, the despot hummed whilst tapping his fingertips nervously as the windshield started to show signs of cracking.
“They are trying stop us!” Godslayer Alkarin cried, the booming sound of the storm outside partially drowning his voice.
He was wasting his breath though since it was already apparent to Godslayer Fortepiano. The entire bridge was shaking heavily from the extreme turbulence outside. The Catgirl was built sturdy enough to handle such a severe weather thanks to its mithril alloy hull plating and fusion-powered propulsion. Even so, she could not help feeling anxious since this is not a normal storm.
In the corridor, Dash felt the shaking too. That can’t be a good sign.
“Dash,” Godslayer Watterson called, stay with E-Sat!”
“Where’re you goin’!?”
“I won’t be long! Just stay together!”
He moved ahead of them, leaving Dash to follow Super E-Sat into another corridor.
Amber flexed her arms and legs, her hair tendrils glowed intensely like it was emitting energy.
The Catgirl’s hull showered with lightning bolts. The overwhelming electrical discharge from the simultaneous lightning strikes instantly wiped out the cruiser’s energy shielding, leaving The Catgirl vulnerable to the following strikes.
“Shield’s down!” Godslayer Kurogane reported the readings on her screens. “Let’s hope the static dischargers hold-”
She yelped in shock when her console burst with sparks.
The lighting strikes were so intense the static discharge wicks and dielectric insulation layers covering along the length of the hull practically melted. With the lightning mitigation measures failed together with the fact there is a delay of five seconds before the generators begin recharging the energy shielding and it takes another four seconds for a full recharge after the delay has passed, subsequent strikes sent surge currents throughout The Catgirl’s wiring system.
One by one, the virtual screens on Kurogane and Alkarin’s station shut off. Godslayer Fortepiano had some controls left, albeit some of the digital readings on her screens went erratic. The surveillance feeds were also lost. While Alkarin lost all controls as co-pilot, it was Kurogane’s predicament that made the situation much direr. As a ship engineer, her job is to monitor the parameters related to all The Catgirl’s systems. One of them being the power reactor.
Screen panels throughout the engine room went dead as sparks from the instruments flew around the reactor. Right after the electrical surge malfunctioned both the coolant circulation pumps and the heat exhausts controls, indicator lights on the reactor flashed red. Yet the reactor was working at maximum power output. In a flash, the temperature level inside its core jumped dangerously over the safe limit.
Godslayer Watterson was about to enter the storage room the when the corridor went dark, save for the flickering lights at the far end. Fire alarms went off at the same time.
Let The Catgirl be okay, he hoped. This thing is already in worse shape than it was before.
The same situation happened in the corridor where Dash and Super E-Sat are pacing through unsteadily.
Godslayer Kurogane scrambled out of the bridge as soon as she heard the alarms. When the Field Master notified her that The Catgirl’s propulsion had dropped slightly, that could only mean there was something wrong going on in the engine room. There was a thunderous boom. Almost all the lights in the corridor burned out instantly. Yet she pressed on, undistracted by the sudden darkness.
She finally arrived at the door to the engine room. After keying in the password on the keypad, the door opened and true enough, she found the engine room on fire. She thought of using her ice powers to put the fire. But she took a moment to step away from the scorching heat. A few seconds of delay proved to be fatal. Flames blasted from inside the engine room, engulfing her as the inferno spread into the corridor.
The violent jolt threw Dash against the wall.
Super E-Sat, whom was momentarily off balance, managed to find his footing. His jerking however had elicited an uncomfortable groan from Godslayer May in his arms.
He turned to check on Dash. “Miss Dash, are you all right?”
“The heck was that!?” Dash exclaimed, unsteady on her feet. It felt like an explosion just happened.
Suddenly flames erupted through the floor between Dash and Super E-Sat. Its force flung them both though the corridor in opposite directions.
The Monster, under the protection of Nagato’s bubble shield, pushed through the raging hailstorm into the Light. The Catgirl soon caught up to it. By the time the cruiser’s bow came in contact with the glow, a minor explosion burst from the underside of its midsection. Another similar explosion followed shortly before The Catgirl vanished into the Light.
***
Grand Forest is an alternate version of Great Forest. Like its counterpart in Mobius, it is a vast evergreen forest with small rivers crisscrossing through it. The main difference however is that it bordered between Acorn Empire and Crystal Empire. The territory used to belong to the former until its ruler King Maxx died in a battle with Crystal Empire’s forces. A civil war erupted henceforth between two rival siblings, Prince Elias and Princess Alicia (Sally Acorn’s Moebius counterpart) over the right to the throne, in which the latter’s paramilitary faction eventually won.
The forest became a sanctuary for refugees who fled the violence that continued long after the war ended with the princess coming to power. To galvanize her rule, Queen Alicia retained the Suppression Squad that supported her against Prince Elias and ordered them to viciously crack down on resistance fighter groups, various political and social movements, anything she deemed dangerous to her totalitarian regime. Civilians suspected of having links to such organizations or being sympathizers were executed without trial.
But the notorious Suppression Squad did not stop there. Refugees, whose actions of taking shelter in Grand Forest or fleeing to other nations were viewed as treason by the regime, were also hunted down to be mercilessly executed later on.
In order to protect the refugees, one genius Overlander successfully created a machine that can generate force field big enough to cover the entire forest. Cut off but safe from Moebotropolis’ oppression, camps were set up all over Grand Forest to house the refugees expanded into settlements that years later became autonomous villages.
In order to minimize conflicts between the villages and promote co-operation working for mutual benefits, the Council was established whose membership consists of all the village chiefs and headed by a Mayor elected amongst them to a five-year term, thus turning Grand Forest into a confederacy of sort.
One of those villages is Knothole. As of right now, within its territory, a blurry trail and a rainbow-colored streak emerged from the forest into a wide clearing where a centuries-old castle ruin stands. The former was catching up with the latter, as if they were in a race. Both zipped across the clearing towards the castle’s entrance. In the castle’s main courtyard, Jenga the Flamingo waited by the specially set up flags before him. The rainbow streak came in through the entrance first closely followed by the blur, grabbed the flag and retreated back to where they came in.
The blur and the rainbow streak went back into the forest, still locked in the race with the latter in the lead. On separate paths, they zigzagged along the forest floor to avoid the trees.
The blur dashed down a steep slope up ahead. At the bottom, there was a bush of wild berries at the bottom which the blur failed to avoid. A pink female hedgehog emerged from the other side of the bush, sprawling to the ground. It is Rosy Rascal. In this universe, Rosy possesses some of Sonic’s abilities hence she is the amalgamation of the blue hedgehog and Amy Rose from Mobius. She wears a form-fitting bodysuit whose design bears reminiscence to the Arcanist SHADE worn by Zach, Mika and Aegnor.
The rainbow streak stopped dead, revealing it was actually Rainbow Dash in flight. She gazed back with pure concern at her friend.
“Rosy,” she called out, “you hurt???”
“I’m okay! Go ahead!” Rosy insisted, waving Rainbow Dash away after spitting out leaves and berries of her mouth with disgust. The berries are not poisonous, Just the skin tasted very bitter.
Rainbow Dash was glad that her friend was not hurt in any way.
“Try to keep up, ‘kay?” she said before continuing the race.
The next flags were held by a bat named Rad waiting on a branch of the largest tree in the area. In order for Rainbow Dash not to cheat by flying straight to the bat from the beginning, a wooded arch had been erected a few yards away from the tree. Keeping low to the ground, Rainbow Dash passed through the arch and made a sharp turn, flying up vertically up to Rad. She was given the flag then immediately went down through the same route. A second later, Rosy appeared and accomplished the same feat with a vertical wall run.
In order to get to the third flags, Rainbow Dash and Rosy has to cross a three miles-long canyon from one end to the other. At the ledge, Friz, Solarhawk and Nero, a falcon, eagle and owl respectively, monitored the two racers along the length of the route.
Rainbow Dash and Rosy navigated through the many sharp bends without ever slowing down. Apart from large boulders, palm trees and small spring-fed pools, there were not many obstacles along their path. Half way through the canyon, a broad fault cutting through the canyon floor came into their view up ahead. Rainbow Dash of course crossed over it without problem.
The gap was not a hindrance to Rosy either, for she has a little trick called Jump Dash. She began by accelerating past the sound barrier, a feat she could only maintain for a short duration due to the enormous amount of energy it drained. With precision timing, she launched herself from the cliff’s edge forward in midair. The burst of forward momentum hurled her forward to clear over the gap. Landing on the other side, she instantly broke into a sprint. The result was there seemed to be no break between her actions.
The final flags were placed right before the canyon’s exit. Rainbow Dash got to it first. Rosy soon followed. After grabbing the flags, they exited the canyon then headed back towards the Grand Forest via a nearby trail leading up to the canyon’s cliff.
Danix the Duck who was waiting nearby the exit talked into his walkie-talkie, “Final flags taken. They’re now heading back.”
The final portion of the race is very straightforward. The forest track leading to the finish line is mostly straight so the outcome now depends on speed rather than skill. Boosting her speed further, Rosy dashed past Rainbow Dash. The latter was not about to lose either. Both racers took turns on taking the lead as they go.
A tortoise named Tank manned the finish line which is located at the edge of a circular clearing with a garden in the middle. His hummingbird companion, Arial spotted the racers deep in the forest through her binoculars. At her signal, Tank readied his checkered flag. They need not wait long until Rainbow Dash and Rosy arrived, the latter clearly trailing behind. Due to Arial’s petite nature, when Rainbow Dash sped passed her, the hummingbird spun around dizzyingly like a spinning top. She spun again in the other direction when Rosy passed her opposite side.
Tank waved his flag as Rainbow Dash crossed finish line first. Rosy came in second. Only a few seconds separated them. Jenga, Rad, Friz and Solarhawk came in to cheer for both the racers. At this moment, Danix and Nero arrived on their hoverboards (called Extreme Gears).
“You guys missed it just now,” Tank told them.
“Can you blame us?” Danix said. “This thing is light-years away from coming close to their speed.”
Tank remembered it surely. In the initial years after meeting Rainbow dash and Rosy, they were highly impressed by the duo’s speed ability. One day they decided to test their Extreme Gears against them in a lap race around the forest. The result? Rainbow Dash and Rosy made their Gears look snail-paced by comparison.
“What’s wrong with you?” Danix asked when he saw Arial came over tottering about and looking sickly.
“She’s fine,” Tank said flatly then went to update the tally scoreboard.
“This month’s race goes to Rainbow Dash,” the tortoise announced to everyone’s cheer. “With this win, her tally now ties with Rosy.”
“Thank you! Thank you! Luv you guys!” Rainbow Dash said as she exchanged congratulatory high fives with her Moebian friends.
Nearby, Rosy was bending down on her knees, gasping and coughing. Rainbow Dash had never seen the pink hedgehog looking this exhausted before after every race.
“Hey, you feeling all right?” Rainbow Dash asked with worry as she placed a gentle hand on Rosy’s shoulder. “Should I the get-”
“No, I’ll be just fine,” Rosy insisted, bent on her knees. Her breathing was heavy but as bad like a minute ago.
“Whoa, would you take a look at that,” Friz uttered, when his sharp eyesight spotted a strange phenomenon began materializing at the distant clouds.
Solarhawk looked up in the same direction and saw it too. “What do you supposed that is?”
Arial looked though her binoculars. A glow had appeared as though it was punching a hole through the sky. It then stretched out into a tear-shape, big enough for everyone to see without the use of binoculars.
The still-shielded Monster emerged from the Light, banked right towards Grand Forest and soon thundered over where Rainbow Dash and the rest are at before disappearing out of view above the canopies.
“What the hay was that thing!?”
Apparently no one holds the answer to the Pegasus’ question.
“Whatever it is,” Tank said grimly, “it’s headed in Moebotropolis’ direction. That can’t be a good sign.”
They all heard a faint boom, prompting them to look back at the Light. It was closing but another craft, its bottom midsection ablaze, managed to get through shortly before the portal shuts off for good. It banked right towards them.
Electrical sparks burst everywhere in the bridge. The shaking intensified and the rumbling grew louder by the moment. At Godslayer Fortepiano’s station, screens shut off simultaneously and all the flight controls were no longer working.
“Kurogane’s not answering!” Godslayer Alkarin cried as he staggered away from his seat.
That finally did it for the Field Master.
“Abandon ship!” she immediately ordered her second-in-command.
The final explosion blew out from the bottom of The Catgirl, cracks spread around the hull and severed the entire midsection of the cruiser.
Rainbow Dash saw the airship broke apart in midair. Its burning front half appeared to be heading this way in a crippled flight. But that was no concern to the Pegasus. She shot up to the sky, climbing up until the cityscape of Illumina, characterized by its tall landmark structures, was spotted, though it was barely discernible due to the great distance. Sure enough, the rear portion of the separated airship was descending in the city’s direction.
Alarmed by what she saw, Rainbow Dash dived straight down, streaked past her friends and disappeared into the forest.
“Hey, where is she going?” Rosy asked around about her friend.
Everyone shrugged their shoulders.
Godslayer Alkarin was now a free fall from a tremendous altitude. He had only vague memory of what happened beforehand. One moment he was following his Field Master to the airlocks. The next moment, there was a loud boom and he was sucked out from The Catgirl the moment everything shattered in front of him.
Damn it, where’s FM? the minotaur thought to himself. Did everybody else made it out?
By then, Godslayer Watterson with a backpack slung on his back dropped down in front of him.
“Dude, don’t worry!” the feline shouted. “I got a table cloth inside my bag! We can use it as a parachute and float safely down to-”
“Oh, to hell with that plan!” Godslayer Kurogane chided from above, revealing herself still alive. “It’s ridiculous! I got a far better idea!”
She dived right between them. An ice platform materialized beneath her. Godslayer Kurogane landed nimbly on her feet with the other two right behind her. The structure rapidly extended at an inclination, turning into a slide of sort. As the three Godslayers moved in line along the slick surface at high speeds, they steadied their posture and footing to keep themselves on course while maneuvering down the bends and corkscrew-shaped loops like a coaster.
Godslayer Kurogane worked hard to form the ice surface in front of her faster than the rate of their descent. Godslayer Alkarin cast a brief glance back over his shoulder. The ice slide was collapsing behind him, the resulting work of gravity and lack of structural support. Fortunately, the pace of the collapse was not fast enough to overtake them. At least to him, it was moving at the same speed as they are.
At last they reached several hundred feet above the tree canopies just beyond the forest’s edge. Godslayer Kurogane detected something was amiss as soon as she saw her ice slide ended abruptly, the ice spreading outwards instead as though it had hit a surface. There was no way for her to stop. At the speed she was going, there was not time to brace herself for impact either. She hit the invisible surface face first with a loud smack. Shortly Godslayer Watterson slammed against her rear. Godslayer Alkarin in turn slammed against Godslayer Watterson’s rear.
Godslayer Kurogane let out a groan, both of pain and humiliation from getting pinned by her male comrades. She is not the only one though. Godslayer Watterson was not enjoying it either, being sandwiched between her and the robust minotaur. The ice slide below their feet collapsed instantly. The three Godslayers dropped, sliding down following a slight arced path. This suggests the invisible barrier was of massive in scale and has a curved surface.
The three landed on the ground with a heavy thud then lay there for a moment until they heard a loud crashing sound. At the same time, they felt a minor tremor on the ground. They all immediately got up to see what was happening. To their horror, The Catgirl’s bow was plowing its way in their direction. They immediately scrambled out of the way, running until the massive eruption from The Catgirl knocked them off their feet.
They picked themselves up to see the burning remains of their cruiser. Godslayer Kurogane saw that the flames did not reach the trees, as if it was being contained. Observing the scattering of debris around the squashed main wreckage, she speculated that the explosion was partly caused by a violent collision. She stepped forth towards the forest, her hands held forth like she was trying to reach for something.
She finally found what she was looking for when she felt her palms pressed against something. Whatever the object is, it is not visible to the naked eye. Moving her hands along the smooth, transparent surface, ripple effects, barely noticeable, were observed emanating from the point contact.
“What is it?” Godslayer Alkarin asked her.
“Some kind of energy barrier,” Godslayer Kurogane told the Ensign. “It’s solid hard.”
Meanwhile, Godslayer Watterson looked upon the wreckage with worry. Where are the rest? Ensign’s here, so Forte should’ve made it out too. But what about E-Sat? May? Dash...
Super E-Sat appeared with Godslayer May safely in his arms. He safely touched down on his feet
“Where’s Dash?” Godslayer Watterson demanded when he saw Dash was not around with the mech.
“We were... we got separated.”
Infuriated by the reply, Godslayer Watterson snapped at the mech. “What the crap, man!? How did this happen!? You two were supposed to stick together, darn it! Explain how exactly did-”
“Watterson! Get your shit together!” Godslayer Alkarin stood next to him, motioning him urgently at the unresponsive Godslayer May. “May is our first priority!”
Only after calming himself a little, then Godslayer Watterson realized his emotions made him almost forget his ex-Proctor’s condition. He crouched, putting down his backpack, his hand reaching for its content. At the same time, Super E-Sat carefully set Godslayer May down on the grass.
Godslayer Kurogane turned around when she caught a glimpse of two figures emerging from the forest. To her bafflement, the figures walked through where the energy barrier should have been. By then, she recognized the two figures as this world’s counterparts of the characters from Mobius. She remained on guard. A question played in her mind. Are they friendly or potential foes?
Alarmed students all over Crystal Heart gazed upwards at a strange metallic object, its burning end left a long trail of black smoke, falling from the sky. Among of the witnesses are Cloudchaser, Moon Dancer, Maud Pie and Muffins Hooves. While many students wondered what is it that they were seeing, none was more sure than Muffins. It has to be related to Acorn Empire’s technology, she speculated. But what had caused the explosion? Midair accident, experiment gone wrong, or maybe it came under attack, the list in her mind goes on.
Godslayer Fortepiano was hovering high above Illumina. She was faced with two choices. Either saving Dash first or immediately prevent The Catgirl’s remaining half from crashing into city below thus preventing potential loss of hundreds of lives. It was not a hard decision to make. She went with the latter.
Dash could feel her heart beating fiercely in her chest. As every minute passed, she gets nearer to death. Aw, gawd! I’m gonna die for sure this time!
Every now and then, she finds herself repeatedly getting into situations involving falling from a great height. Unlike last time, she no longer wears the Fleet SHADE like she did in back in Canterlot. Perhaps E-Sat could save her from ending up in bits and pieces. But where is the mech? Dash remembered they got separated the corridor they were in blew apart. Had the explosion killed him off? If so, then the next person who could save her is Fortepiano. Unfortunately, she was not around either.
By now, she was a thousand feet away from splattering on the field beneath her.
Aw naw, this...This is it...!!!
She braced herself. Though she knew that will not do any good. It was just natural instinct in which any living things try to avoid pain as much as they could. Just as her eyelids was about to fall shut, she glimpsed something coming into her view. But she was unable to make out what it is. It began with a mass of colors, as if a rainbow was passing before her eyes, immediately followed by something feathery. She felt a jolt. After that, she remembered nothing...
Putting as much speed as she could on the thrusters, Godslayer Fortepiano traveled through the sky just barely above supersonic speed. Throughout the flight, she appeared to be surrounded by a midair aura. In fact, this is a vapor cone. The shock wave around her was made visible via the formation of condensation cloud.
Even at such speed, her mind and sight remain focused. Godslayer Fortepiano guessed she was somewhere near the heart of the city. In all directions, urban structures seemed to stretch up to the horizon. There did not to be any safe place where she could shove The Catgirl to. There were patches of undeveloped wooded areas. Unfortunately, they are not spacious enough and constricted by the urban surroundings.
Approaching the falling wreckage, just minutes away from crashing, she spotted it. Miles away from her position, a broad clearing, the size of a superblock and completely devoid of vegetation. Most likely, it was recently cleared to make way for development. For Godslayer Fortepiano, it was the perfect about-to-be crash site. Now, time was about to run out. She has to get to work immediately.
She dived down to follow the wreckage’s descent. Once she got to the lower part of the wreckage, the Godslayer held on to it by pressing her front side firmly against the hull. Thruster nozzles on her rear breastplate and leggings pitched upwards to a near-perpendicular angle.
By now, she saw that they were heading down directly towards a tall building complex. Possibly a shopping mall, judging from the billboards and banners decorating it, and crowds of people dotted around the premise. There was no better time than now to test her limits. Exerting every ounce of her willpower on the SHADE, continuous blast of the jet streams, its intensity growing by every second, thundered from the thrusters.
The stern began to level from its rapid descent thanks to the momentum provided by the the jet streams. It gradually changed its direction away from the complex, hurtled through the skyline towards the intended destination.
Amore Plaza has been a gathering place for Crystallites since ancient times. For centuries, it served as a venue for seasonal ceremonies, royal proclamations, festivals and religious events. A grand building housing government offices, a courthouse, a temple and a museum complex border the plaza. The centerpiece of the plaza are the twin statues erected on a marble plaque in honor of the summer and winter goddesses.
It is here where Photo Finnish is currently having an outdoor photo shoot. The model posing in front of the statues is Fluttershy.
“Shtretch zous vings!” Photo Finish instructed the Pegasus, whilst snapping her camera non-stop in exaggerated postures. “Oh, you are such graceful creature, Fluttershy! Ja! Ja! JA!!! Vork your magick!”
Pixel Pizza nervously tapped on Photo Finish’s shoulder from behind.
Not looking back, the irritated photographer snapped her fingers at the assistant. “Ha tat tat tat! Do not interrupt vile Photo Finish vork on her meistershtuck!”
She was getting back to taking more photos when Fluttershy all of sudden broke character. She stood looking up, her eyes wide in horror.
Photo Finish put down her camera and scolded the model. “Fluttershy, vat is za matter vif you!? Focus!”
Shaken, Fluttershy pointed up at something in the sky. Before Photo Finish could see what is it that the Pegasus was seeing, The Catgirl’s stern passed low over the plaza, taking the photographer by absolute shock. The wreckage was losing altitude fast, to the point of almost toppling the museum’s top structure. Moments after it vanished over the museum complex, there was a loud boom and massive fireball was seen rising in the distance.
Photo Finish murmured a few curses in her mother tongue. Just now the weak-hearted Fluttershy had collapsed from utter shock. Smoke churning from the out-of-view crash site ruined the setting. There was nothing more the Earth Pony hated than having her photo shoot interrupted. Then again, this unexpected occurrence presented an opportunity for her to do something she has never done before.
“Vat vas zat saying again? Every cloud has a silver lining? Yesss...”
Godslayer Fortepiano staggered away from the crash site. She flinched when she heard more explosions behind her. Looking back, the cruiser’s stern was now mangled beyond recognition after being blown further apart by the secondary explosions. She made her away across the street to rest between some big crates.
Glancing around, she realized the ground she was at belonged to a construction contractor. The area was laden with crates labeled with material’s name. The small wooden cottage house was most likely built as a site office or living quarters or both. Work boots and hard hats were haphazardly left by the shoe rack. Nearby are some small sheds. One of the doors was left ajar. Inside construction tools were visible.
Right now she was feeling beat up. She sat there for a while, contemplating about the horrible day she is having. The mission in Mobius failed, The Catgirl was lost and Dash is probably dead by now. Though it was not entirely her fault, Magister Vast is definitely not going to like the first and last part.
Godslayer Fortepiano peeked out from her hiding place at the sound of engine noises. Firefighters had just arrived in their fire engines. The vehicles’ design is peculiar, described as a cross between a motor carriage and a tanker truck. It looked like it belongs in 19th Century Earth (Victorian Era) or steampunk universe, more inclined to the latter.
When she saw the firefighters rushing to put out the fire, that was when the Godslayer realized the inhabitants of this land are pony-people, exactly like her. But there were other personnel there too. They were wearing bronze helmets and armored uniforms. They each sports coat of arms and insignia on the armor plates.
A high ranking officer was seen giving orders to his subordinates. “Fan out and cordon off the area. I want a closed parameter within five hundred feet radius of the crash site done in five minutes’ top. No one else but fire personnel and medics are allowed in and out! Intruders, if any, are to be taken down on sight without hesitation.”
“Capture or kill, captain?” asked one of the soldiers.
“Either is acceptable,” the captain replied firmly.
Wherever she ended up in, Godslayer Fortepiano understood this place does not take kindly to intruders. Crouched low, she sneaked out of her hiding place towards the cottage house then around to the back where no one could not see her. She is sure she was alone though she did not check properly.
SHADE armor, time out.
The helmet separated. Armor plates detached from her bodysuit. Together all the pieces suspended in midair around her. The bodysuit transformed into dress shirt, pants and leather shoes. Circling around her, the carbon fiber-like armor pieces separated further into thin sheets, changed colors and altered its appearance at the same time. They then reassembled themselves around her, turning into a blazer. With that, the transformation was completed.
Forte stroked her frontal hair down a little bit so that the circular stump on her forehead remain unseen. She deliberately tried to hide what remains of her horn because of past experiences of constantly being asked about it. It is not an experience she wants to divulge.
She took a quick peek out the corner to see if the soldiers are still there. A number of them had gone, including the captain. Those who stayed were seen in a deep discussion while going through some papers and a map, out of the firefighters’ way. Better not stay too long otherwise she will get caught by the patrolling soldiers, that is Forte was thinking. She swiftly moved from there as far away as possible from the soldiers.
Forte could not help but feel awed by the new surroundings. After hours of walking in the alleyways, she somehow managed to stumble upon a multi-story shopping arcade. And it was crowded with shoppers of various races. The scene painted a vague reminder inside her mind of her former home, though the world where she originated sports more modernized architectural style.
She was also not familiar with another race of pony-people walking among the crowds. Their horns, wings and consistent grayish skin made them resemble somewhat like the changelings. But they lack fangs and body holes. Their have normal eyes, ears and hair. Normal as in their appearance are closer to ponies than the insectoid creatures.
What a strange world, she thought to herself.
An accidental bump to the shoulder broke Forte out of her thoughts.
“Hey yuuu! Vatch vere you are going!” Photo Finnish held on dearly to her camera pouch strapped on her shoulder. “Zis is irreplaceable! I, Photo Finish vill sue you to court if anyzing happens to my precious photos!”
Forte regarded Photo Finnish with disdain. She was just standing there out of the others’ way minding her business. It was Photo Finnish who came bumping into her, not the other way around. She would very much like to scold back at the pompous Earth Pony yet she refrained herself from doing so.
Instead, she flatly said, “I apologize.”
“Hmmph!” Photo Finish cast a scornful look at Forte before pacing towards a photo studio which incidentally was nearby.
Forte inhaled deeply to relieve her frustration.
No point in arguing over a petty matter, she reminded herself.
Off Forte went to find the arcade’s main entrance. She will need to find to a way out of this country and reunite with her subordinates. She is confident that they are all alive and all right.
They have to be absolute morons for not to.
Acorn Empire is Crystal Empire’s worst enemy. For decades, it cast an evil shadow on its neighbor, from the time when the late King Maxx first began waging a military campaign to conquer Crystal Empire. His goal was not only to expand his kingdom’s territory and gain Crystal Empire’s natural resources, but also to ultimately diminish the neighboring kingdom’s status as one of the two superpowers on Moebius.
After the king died, his daughter Alicia took over the campaign. But a series of heavy defeats in the hands of the defenders squandered the invading force. Acorn Empire have since quiet down its activity across the border, instead diverted its resources to clamp down the insurgency happening on its own soil.
Even so, without a formal truce in place, with tensions remain high, the conflict between the neighboring kingdoms merely fell into a frozen state. The shaky peace that spanned over the years is short of recommencement to full-blown warfare by a minor provocative act by either side.
Queen Alicia never gave up on her ambition. Should her kingdom arise as the sole superpower on this planet, she will dominate the other nations through military and economic strength. That is the purpose the Monster was built and brought into her kingdom’s soil. It will be the instrument of her ultimatum to be issued to Queen Crisanna- surrender or perish with Illumina. Or so she thought, because truly she is oblivious to the destroyer’s real origin and purpose.
Colin Snively- viceroy of one of the provinces under Queen Alicia’s rule, came rushing in to meet his secretary after being alerted that an identified flying object was detected on radar crossing into Acorn territory. The room had a gigantic monitor hung on the wall with the map of Acorn Empire displayed on it. A pulsating yellow dot was slowly moving across the screen. Smaller banks of monitors showed live image feeds of the Monster from various distances.
“It’s enormous,” the viceroy commented. He spoke in a low, sinister voice.
Rouge the Bat turned away from the screens to face her superior. “And it’s slowly making its way here. Other than that, it hasn’t done anything since it arrival. It’s coming from the direction of Grand Forest. It’s possible the ship might be originated from Crystal Empire though the design seemed to differ from-”
“Destroy it,” Snively ordered. Though seemed offended by the intruder’s presence, he maintained a calm demeanor. “I want no trace of that warship left untouched. The balls those who are foolish enough to think they can trespass into my province and get away with it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Rouge communicated the orders via the computer console’s microphone. But then, a phone call interrupted her. She only picked up the receiver once she finished issuing her orders. She exchanged a brief conversation with whoever is on the other end before urgently passed the receiver to Snively.
“Sir, it’s Viceroy Prower.”
“Urgh, what does he want!?” Snively exclaimed in discontent at the mention of his rival’s name. He pressed the receiver to his ears and said, “This better be important, Prower.”
The mobile anti-air artilleries lined up in the flat outskirts. Their armaments aimed forth at the Monster approaching from the distance. Minutes passed. The Monsters was getting nearer. Yet not a single shot has been fired. When the Monster arrived at the line, the artilleries finally did something. Their missile pods contracted into the hatches and they idly let the warship passed without incident.
The Monster hovered near the city limits. There Miles Prower was waiting under escort by Mechanauts, androids who serve as standard foot soldiers for Acorn Empire’s military. Unlike his eleven-year old Mobius’ counterpart, this fox is significantly older at eighteen, sports dictator-like behavior and he did not share the former’s flight ability.
The moment the four Guardians spawned under the Monster’s aurora, Prower moved ahead after ordering his escorts to stay behind. Briskly approaching one another, none of them showed any form of expression or gesture that suggests hostility. Asakura, Asahina and Konata stopped in unison all of a sudden. Only Nagato continued forth.
Finally facing each other, they expressionless gazes met. Nagato is taller and of course way stronger than the puny Miles Prower. The latter knows of this. Yet he was not afraid of the construct at all. A bravado act or is there something sinister hidden behind the young fox’s outward appearances?
***
“This is Lord Magister Varst speaking to all Godslayers in the vicinity. Moebotropolis is monitoring all communication channels to the outside. So I want an updated status within the next eight minute before I cut off this transmission. Omit the details on your blundered mission in Mobius.”
“This is Ensign Alkarin reporting. We crashed just outside of the Grand Forest and have taken refuge in the village of Knothole. Watterson, E-Sat, Kurogane and I are fine. May is in critical condition. But we found someone that can help with the treatment. Her SHADE is damaged beyond repair. According to May before she passed out, one of the four constructs have the ability to detect the SHADE’s presence, hack into its system and see through the Shadowdancer’s cloaking field. Extra precautionary measures is advised, Magister.”
“This is Godslayer Kurogane. In regards to The Catgirl, the wreckage is still burning. Once condition is permissible, we will inspect it to assess the extent of the damages on the reactor and the Void Drive. In addition, I still have a backup copy of the data files belonging to Magister Perris.”
“This is Field Master Fortepiano reporting. I’m… Truthfully I’m still uncertain of my exact position. Still working on that. The stern crashed in the middle of a busy metropolitan area. I’m confident the locals will not find anything useful from the wreckage. Casualties on local population- zero. Iris Dashiell… presumed dead. Also, the locals appeared to be exhibiting extreme hostilities towards outsiders. Soldiers are patrolling the city and I see air patrols in the sky. I will wait until nightfall before regrouping with the others.”
Dead? No… She can’t… Zach was devastated.
Dash was not with E-Sat. She was not Fortepiano either. He did not want to believe it but soon he came to realize there was no way for Dash to survive the crash without aid from the SHADE.
It shouldn’t have ended that way. It’s not fair...