Ch 2: The Tentrion's Arrival

A step behind Altera Veritas, the Tentrion arrives and Angelorum Lux begins it's mission to rescue Grey and Saria.

            As the Tentrion plowed through the Eye of Chaos and the Vinculus came into view, Guru addressed the crew from the intercom on the commander’s main control panel, his voice blaring, “Here we are folks, heads up! This ship of ours is too big to go unnoticed, we’re gonna have a fight on our hands!” Speaking into his own intercom at one of the command posts around the central holo projector, Ian atop his hat as always, Rufus said, “We should be focusing all our EDE cannons on disabling the defense cannons on the upper sector’s east side. Scanners show a landing bay in the area, and that’s our best bet of getting inside since it seems someone’s parked in the main docking bay just like Alexander guessed. Once the cannons are down, we’ll blow open the blast door and Alexander’s group will take some of our fighter ships and sneak in.” Entering commands into his control terminal, loud warning signals sounded through the ship as Ace turned on his intercom and said, “I’m launching remote fighters to defend the ship. Radar shows they’ve already spotted us, and it looks like they’re sending us some of those damned humanoid anomalies. According to Alexander, they can’t transport onto the ship through dark vortexes as long as we have our shields up. Still, our shields don’t stop solid objects, so if they slip past the fighters, they’ll use those arms of theirs to cut their way inside! All Daemonholm soldiers take defensive positions on the deck!”

            More beeps coming from his terminal, Ace added, “Dewie, more power to the front shields! The Vinculus is taking aim!” Answering promptly, Dewie replied, “Roger, roger, roger!” Working his post, Gibolu chuckled as he said, “My word, we’re not doing badly at all considering we aren’t all professional pilots! Then again, it’s no surprise that the amazing Gibolu’s Traveling Circus can pull off something as magnificent as this!” Watching readouts and alerts nervously, the shield under fire from the Vinculus as they spoke, Mana said, “We didn’t have much time to prepare, but with the explanations from Alexander and Mythra and the fact you and Guru somehow already know so much about airships, it’s not like we don’t have some idea of what to do. Just where did you learn so much about an airship like this Ringmaster?” Laughing nervously, Gibolu simply replied, “Sorry Mana, but I’m afraid a true magician never reveals his secrets!”

            Aboard the Ultio, General Dreck stared at the holoscreens displaying the Tentrion’s arrival, and as he read the information on the screen in shock, he exclaimed, “700 meters?! What is that monstrosity?!” Concentrating on commanding the anomalies, Scathe responded, “A Titan Class Carrier. Grave reported he came across one in the Ngan Tundra while he was being held prisoner by Angelorum Lux. It’s apparent that the enemy has come to rescue Grey of the Infinite and his sister.” As Scathe continued his work silently, General Dreck returned his attention to the holoscreen, watching as remote fighters and anomalies swarmed around the Tentrion. Meanwhile, aboard the Vinculus, Count Ferid was rushing back into the control room with Rend and Ghost in tow, shouting in panic, “What is going on?! We’ve surrendered the Vinculus already, why are they firing at us again?!” One of the Ala Morte agents at a nearby control station glanced at one of the Brotherhood operatives standing guard over the control room and replied, “An enormous unknown airship has entered the eye of the storm, and we were ordered by Alastor’s allies here to open fire on it immediately. Its shields are powerful, and it’s focusing all its firepower on disabling the upper east defense cannons. They must be planning to board us through your personal landing bay. Our shields are already down from the battle with Alastor’s airship, and our forces are still regrouping. I don’t know what kind of defense we could mount under the current conditions.”

            Looking at the image of the Tentrion being displayed by the large holoprojector in the center of the room, Count Ferid muttered, “I can only imagine it must be Angelorum Lux. To hell with you and your ‘perfect’ hiding spot Nova!” Warning sirens suddenly blaring, the lights went out and the image on the holoprojector blurred and cut out. Struggling to work her controls as the emergency lights came on, the Ala Morte agent said, “Master, something’s wrong! All the controls have stopped responding!” Rushing over to her and pushing her out of her post, Ghost looked over the controls for a moment, and entering commands feverishly, she said, “Someone overrode the Vinculus’ control system from a computer terminal in the training room. Everything except the merge generator, basic network operations, and the repulsion engines have been shut down, and the only terminal capable of reversing it is the same one that caused it.” Thinking he must have heard her wrong, Ferid said, “The training room? Who’d be down there?” Shaking her head as she uttered a growl of rage, Rend exclaimed, “What in the hell’s gonna happen next?!” Storming out of the control room, Ferid muttered, “Honestly… Ghost, go find out what in the world Magus and Sting are doing and take them with you to the training room to see who’s trying to cause me even more trouble. I think Rend and I will go speak with the one in charge of that airship of Alastor’s.”

            As the lights in the halls of the Vinculus went dark, Alastor and his group paused, and Jay was on his guard as he said, “What’s going down here? Someone forget the power bill?” Somehow seeming informed of the Tentrion’s arrival, as the emergency lights came on, Alastor said, “Perhaps the attacks from Angelorum Lux’s airship have knocked out the power grid.” Noir moving her lips suddenly, Clyde turned to her in surprise and said, “Huh? Hey guys, Noir says someone’s hacked the Vinculus’ control systems. She’s asking if you want her to fix it.” Meeting Noir’s blank gaze with his own, Alastor asked, “Can she control the power grid and activate the automated doors individually without turning the power back on completely?” As Clyde got Noir’s answer, he said, “Yeah, she says that’s no biggie.” Starting to move onward once more, Alastor said, “Then no. Angelorum Lux has already stopped firing on us, meaning the Vinculus’ last line of defense has fallen before them. Forcing them to open the doors manually with the emergency mechanisms should slow them down a bit.” Following after him, the Brotherhood specialists kept their guard up as they all proceeded through the halls of the Vinculus. After a while of passing through doors and traversing the winding halls, Clyde asked, “We still sure we know where the hell we’re going?” Beginning to wonder, Zack looked around and said, “We all should have studied the Vinculus’ layout before we headed out Clyde. Still, this doesn’t seem like the way to the laboratory…” Alastor simply said, “I’m not heading for the lab, we’re going to the merge generator first.”

            The launch bay doors of the Tentrion’s right carrier pod opening, four fighter airships shot out into the air and began to fly towards the Vinculus, the way all but cleared now that the upper east defense cannons were disabled. Leading the charge, Alexander opened his fighter’s communications line so that Amy, Mythra, and Bella could hear him as he said, “Everyone doing alright? We’ve gone over enough that you should all be able to fly and land your fighters, but if there are any last minute questions, now’s the time.” Mythra cheekily responded, “They’re fine you big worrywart. The Sage of Memories flew one of these back in the day, meaning Amy can just tap into those memories and learn how to fly it. Bella’s a quick learner too.” Grumbling across the communicator, Bella muttered, “We there yet? It’s cramped in here…” Snapping everyone to attention, Amy said, “Stay focused guys, there’s still anomalies and monstrosities around!” Weaving through the enemy’s ranks, the four of them stayed in close formation, Bella staying in the back as the others used their EDE cannons to open the way. Breaking through and coming out behind enemy lines, they made their way to the open landing bay, whose doors had been blown open by the Tentrion’s firepower. Touching down gracefully, as they opened their cockpits and leaped out of their fighters, Alexander and the others planted their feet upon solid ground once more and formed their weapons as Ala Morte agents and Brotherhood operatives rushed to greet them.

            Arriving at the room where the merge generator was, as Noir opened the door, Alastor and the others moved inside. While the rest of the group looked around, Alastor made his way to the control panel in front of the gigantic device that was drawing out the power of Vas Initio. As Alastor took a seat before the control panel and began entering commands, Jay lowered his voice as much as possible so Alastor wouldn’t hear and whispered to Zack, “Hey, this is getting boring. Why can’t we just off the guy and be done with it?” Quickly and quietly, Zack replied, “Don’t be stupid. He’s not an easy target, and he hasn’t dropped his guard the whole time. If he has the kind of power we were warned about, our only chance is to attack together while he’s focused on fighting someone else.” Finished entering commands, Alastor looked up at Vas Initio and said to seemingly no one at all, “Are you awake now Nox?” As the specialists looked around for whoever he was speaking to, a gruff voice called out from Vas Initio, saying, “Who wants to know?” Rising from his seat at the control panel, Alastor said, “I am Alastor Bastille, and I have a question for you.” Chuckling, Nox said, “A question is it? Go ahead and ask. I may answer, and I also may not.” His eyes focused upon Vas Initio intently, Alastor said, “What do you know about The Unforeseen Salvation?”

            Alastor patiently awaited an answer, and after a moment, Nox said, “Only that it is a matter related a change that has occurred in Fortuna’s Prophecy… Upon the Throne of the Inanimate Dream, there is an inscription. It says that only a being that represents the dreams of all can decide the shape of both existence and fate. Fate is something that was written into the Inanimate Dream, a system that influences events in an attempt to steer the world along a preset path. The system itself follows that preset path as best it can, but it is flawed and unable to completely anticipate the free will of the beings that live within its designs, which causes it to err from time to time. Still, every error is quickly accounted for, numerous other events being influenced differently to compensate as it continues towards the world’s end.” Alastor’s gaze was fixed on Vas Initio as he muttered, “Get to the point…” Unfazed by his attitude, Nox continued, “All those years ago when those you call the Old Gods arrived in Last Remote, they read the inscription and selected their candidate. A woman called Fortuna the Wise took the throne, but even she could not shape both existence AND fate. Knowing that changing existence alone would only prove a temporary solution, she used the last of her power to bind herself to the Throne of the Inanimate Dream, while the last Epoch Mage, Tulrius Moragone, would eternally guard her body. From within the Throne, she managed to manipulate fate enough to bring to life her greatest prophecy… ‘Born to carry the dreams of all to the great throne… One of noble yet hated blood shall conquer the Darkness within… Climbing the stairs to his creator’s homeland, he shall rewrite existence… Only he can free the world from the grasp of Fate… The Bringer of Hope, Scion of Last Remote…’ Other than this, I only know that something has altered certain details of that prophecy.”

            Seeming lost in thought, Alastor murmured, “The dreams of all…?” Approaching Alastor, Zack hesitantly said, “Alastor, I hate to interrupt, but the target could escape if we don’t hurry.” Turning away from Vas Initio to face him, Alastor said, “Yes, I know. However, Dr. Nova is no longer the only one to be concerned with. My brother and his ragtag bunch will surely try to retrieve Vas Initio. I think I’ll have you remain here Zack, just in case…” Caught off guard, Zack struggled to produce a valid reason not to split up, and as he stood there in silence, Alastor said, “Is there something wrong?” Seeing no way out, Zack shot a glance at Jay and said, “No, I was just thinking it might be smarter to leave Jay here instead. He specializes more in muscle, he’s-” Interrupting him, Alastor said, “I’m not asking your opinion. I’m entrusting you with this task, now can I count on you or not?” Zack knew now that nothing he said could change Alastor’s mind, and as he sensed a brief trace of Alastor’s aura, he merely responded, “Of course. Leave it to me…” Walking past him, Alastor said, “Good. We’ll be going then.” Alastor and the others filed out, and once he was alone, Zack pulled out a communicator as he muttered, “He’s been on to us the whole time. He was waiting for me to attack him, and he even flashed his aura to mock me. There’s no way we would have been able to take him out as ordered…” Punching buttons on the communicator, Zack spoke into it as he said, “I’m aborting. Alastor must’ve caught wind of what’s going on. He’s separated me from the others, and is continuing on with them to Dr. Nova’s lab. Inform Dreck immediately, his plan to betray Alastor may have backfired…”

            The Ala Morte agents and Brotherhood operatives defeated, Alexander and the others were heading through the halls of the Vinculus with little idea where they were going. Speaking from Bella’s brooch, Mai said, “So… You went to all the trouble to get here and now you’re lost? You’re trying to rescue your main man right? Why don’t you just sense out his superhuman aura or something?” Looking over at the brooch in irritation, Mythra said, “You think we’re stupid? The EDE reactors of the Vinculus and the two airships aside, we can’t sense much if he’s out cold. Restraining collars won’t stop Grey and his Void Energy, so the only way they could have him behave himself is to keep him unconscious, which Dr. Nova could easily do with his powers over the mind.” Getting tired of running around blindly as well, Bella said, “How do we find him? I’m not into scenic routes…” Seeing a split in the hallways just ahead, Amy was starting to think their only chance was to split up. As they came to a stop to decide which way to go, Amy said, “Alastor’s already got a headstart on us, and we have to save Grey and Saria before he can get to them. I know you probably won’t like the idea Alexander, but maybe we should spread out…” Nodding, Alexander adjusted his shades as he said, “I was thinking the same thing actually. The power failure likely has them in disarray. I’d be surprised if they can mount much of an organized resistance with all their security measures disabled. We should be safe to split up. I’ll take Bella with me and follow the right side passage. Be careful though, we shouldn’t bite off more than we can chew. If you need to run from a fight, don’t be stubborn and just run.” Heading off down the left side split in the hallway, Mythra sarcastically said, “Yeah, maybe if we run long enough the enemy will get tired of chasing us around in circles.” Following after her, Amy looked back at Alexander and Bella and called out, “You guys be careful too! I’ll check in with telepathy in a bit!”

            Taking the right side hall, Bella and Alexander hurried onward, but starting to fall behind, a tired Bella wheezed, “Don’t any of the others get tired?” Heaving a sigh as Bella stopped to lean on a nearby doorway for a short breather, Mai said, “Might help if you actually kept your powers active sunshine. Your combat training isn’t exactly the kind of thing that prepares normal people for long distance sprinting. Most energists unconsciously keep a small bit of their power going all the time while they’re awake, but for some reason you don’t.” Her eye’s narrowing in irritation, Bella muttered, “Figures…” Then Bella felt her blood turn cold as Mai said, “Hey, uh… Where’d Alexander go?” Looking down the hall, as she saw no sign of him, it was clear to Bella that she’d gotten left behind. Just as she was about to panic, Bella started to hear footsteps, and straining to see down the hall in the faint light of the emergency lights, she said, “Alexander?” Then Mai realized the direction the sound was coming from, and quickly she said, “Shh! That’s not him! It’s coming from behind us! Open that door and hide ASAP!” Working the manual mechanism and pulling the door open, Bella moved inside the room beyond the door and shut it behind her.

            Making their way down the winding hallway, Ghost, Magus, and another Ala Morte agent with short blonde hair, long ears, and yellow eyes all approached the door. The additional agent wore a high tech looking monocle with a yellow lens over her left eye and had a grated black mask over her mouth. Her clothes were yellow and black, consisting of a hooded top with long sleeves that left her stomach exposed, long pants, and heeled greaves with pointed toes. On her hands were yellow and black gauntlets with spike tipped fingers. As they all stopped before the door, the hooded agent said, “I’m sure I heard someone’s voice coming from this area just now…” Concentrating briefly, Magus said, “I thought I did as well, but I can’t see or sense anyone nearby.” As the hooded agent turned her eyes to the ground and sulked, Magus sighed and said, “Don’t start getting all depressed just because we were mistaken. It’s unbecoming for a member of Ala Morte, and you have a reputation to uphold now Sting. You could do with a bit of obedience regarding the uniform, but the fact that the Master allows your whims to go unpunished is proof of your standing. You’re the best of our new agents since Ghost herself.” Working the mechanism of the door, Ghost said, “You flatter me Magus, but save the lecture for another time. Whoever we heard could be the one who tampered with the Vinculus’ control system.”

            Moving into the training room, Ghost and her fellow agents fiddled with the lights a moment before giving up and starting to look around in the faint light cast by the emergency lights. Forming her sniper rifle while Sting formed a large yellow and black throwing star, Ghost pulled her goggles down over her eyes and called out, “Whoever’s in here, you may as well show yourself. I can see in both night vision and infra-red with my goggles.” Hiding in the shadows behind a piece of equipment, Bella felt a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek as she thought, “Magus and Ghost, along with the little rain cloud in training, Sting…” The lights suddenly turning on to full brightness, illuminating the large circular room filled with rows of training equipment designed to be able to retract into the floor, Ghost removed her goggles and looked up at a platform overlooking the room as a voice called down to them, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you all, though I’m disappointed to see so many stayed by Ferid’s side even after he threw away so many of his loyal agents when he destroyed Gatria.” Turning her gaze to the platform as well, Bella was in disbelief as she thought, “Instructor Patch?” Staring down at Magus and the others from the computer terminal upon the platform, Patch, the red haired, silver eyed, eye patch wearing female sprite warrior once known as Fury, stood proudly before them with her shield and burning polearm in hand. Glaring back up at her, Magus shouted, “Fury! What do you hope to accomplish by showing your traitorous face here?! Did you honestly think you could face the might of Ala Morte all by yourself?!” Resting her eye with an unconcerned air about her, Patch replied, “You were one of those who were left to die as well Magus. How long are you going to keep serving someone who would kill you to save himself?” While Magus simply shook with rage, Sting called up to Patch, “What are you saying Instructor? You’ve always taught us that without our master to protect us, we would be shunned and hated by the rest of the world. Without our master, we have nothing. What does it matter whether he would use us for his own gain? It is our purpose to aid him even at the cost of our lives.”

            Raising her rifle at Patch, Ghost said, “That’s right. We are the master’s weapons, and weapons do as they are told. I told you that Belladonna of yours was useless, but you still let yourself be swayed by her and her fantasies.” Eyeing Ghost’s trigger finger warily, Patch said, “You do as you’re told do you? I suppose you’ve never disobeyed Ferid, but you’ve also never shown any real loyalty towards him. During our battle in Gatria, you could hardly hide your anger when he called you away. After how often you were angered by Bella, I didn’t have any trouble telling. We all have our own feelings and desires Ghost, and that is more that can be said for mere weapons.” Narrowing her eyes and letting out a slight laugh despite her apparent irritation, Ghost muttered, “You know, you’ve always really pissed me off. I was always your best student, nobody else could compare to me. No matter what I did though, it was all about Bella! You always treated her special, even though she couldn’t do anything right!” Shaking her head sadly, Patch replied, “You were an exceptional student, but Bella has the spirit to become strong, something you’ve never had. While you rely on your exceptional talent, she bolsters her own talents with effort. Talent alone has its limits, but with effort one can always keep improving. Despite feeling out of place in our world, Bella tried her best every time we practiced, no matter how many times she failed. Even after leaving our world, she’s found a new purpose that has made her stronger still! Until you take the chip off your shoulder and give it your all Ghost, you can never hope to match her in my eyes!”

            Listening from Bella’s brooch, Mai whispered to Bella, “This lady thinks pretty highly of you.” Simply smiling to herself silently, Bella didn’t respond. Glaring up at Patch, Ghost’s eyes twitched angrily as she opened fire and shouted, “SHUT UP! WHO NEEDS YOU?!” Raising her shield to block Ghost’s fire and leaping from the platform, Patch flew into the air as she aimed her polearm down and rained spikes of burning metal at Ghost and her companions, sending them scrambling for cover. Ducking behind a piece of equipment and preparing to cast a spell, Magus muttered to herself, “Even with three of us, we may be at a disadvantage if we don’t end this quickly. Fury was the strongest of Ala Morte, a mighty hell raven sprite. Her strength and her ability to manipulate heat is bad enough without the power of her polearm, Burning Remorse, which gives her the power to generate and control molten metal as well.”

            Raising her hands at Patch, Magus quickly chanted, “Fila Inferiorem Vidua!” Arcane energy spheres streaming from her hands, they shot up at Patch and surrounded her. Before she realized what was happening, strands of arcane material sprang outward from the spheres and tied themselves around Patch’s body, holding her in place as Magus shouted, “Ghost, now!” Quickly popping out from behind the machinery she’d been hiding behind, Ghost opened fire at Fury with her Death Shot, shooting a deadly bullet from her rifle. Ripping her weapon arm free with her great strength, Patch deflected the death bullet and hailed burning spikes back at Ghost as she shouted, “I may be alone, but I’m still a force to be reckoned with!” Suddenly hearing the spinning weapon twirling through the air, Patch looked back to see Sting’s throwing star coming at her from behind, crackling with lightning. Struggling to pull the rest of her body free to turn around, Patch thought, “I was careless!” Shooting into the air as a golden streak, Mors Aurata formed and her Spirit Chimera Aura blazing around her, to everyone’s surprise Bella came to Patch’s aid, deflecting the lightning charged throwing star with her golden bone scythe. Staring up at Bella in her golden mask and black coat, Magus muttered, “Who in the world is it now?!” Standing up on the terminal control platform from which she’d thrown her weapon, Sting muttered, “Is that…?” Staring back at Bella with her silver eye wide in surprise, Patch exclaimed, “Bella?!” Hearing this, Ghost looked up at Bella in shock and rage as she shouted, “No way! Don’t screw with me! THERE’S NO DAMN WAY!”