A weak breeze from the ocean drew past the harbor. The feeling of salt and the smell of fresh ocean air touched Hayate’s nose as it continued past her. The salt in the air made her hair feel a bit sticky, but she didn’t mind it.
She sat on a wooden bench, dressed in her uniform, but nonetheless with a calm expression on her face. Anyone passing by would not find it strange unless they knew her and what was really going on in the city. Even now, as she sat there thinking of the events that had played out during the recent weeks, she didn’t let her worries and nervousness show that something was wrong. She calmly looked out over the ocean, the sun’s beams reflecting in the water and warming up her face.
She recollected what had happened a few days ago, at the spaceport. She had gone over it several times already, but couldn’t let it go. Too much didn’t fit in.
The girl and the dragon had disappeared from the area as soon as the beam had dissolved. Hayate was glad to find out that no one had been a victim to it and that only a few had minor or severe injuries. Considering what could have happened, if she had not told them to move or if the beam had been more powerful, she refrained to think of. What puzzled her the most at the moment was that their intelligence officers had not been able to retain a lock on the dragon and lost it among the landscape. While she did understand that among the confusion someone might have made a mistake or something might have malfunctioned, she found it mightily odd that such a powerful creature and master would slip off the radar so easily. The intelligence officers’ equipment was high-tech and very powerful, and should have been able to detect any large flying object within a large area using magic. Yet nothing had been reported and it would take some time before they could track them down.
Hayate knew the people under and above her worked hard on this issue right now though. The reason she could take a break from the offices and earn herself a few minutes of fresh air was because she simply couldn’t do anything right now, at least for the time being. She felt bad about doing it, but even her body had protested the latest days about the lack of sleep and rest. It only took a few other officers to point that fact out before she decided to actually do it.
Someone made a noise behind her and she was dragged out of her thoughts. She turned around and faced the person.
“Oh, Signum. Didn’t expect you here so soon,” Hayate said and moved over, indicating to her knight to sit down.
Signum, with some reluctance, did so. She had her officer uniform on too.
“Was there something of importance you wanted to tell me, Hayate?” she asked and looked at her mistress. “It isn’t exactly standard fare venturing so far away for a private meeting.”
Hayate chuckled. “No, I know, but I felt like taking a stroll down here when I got out anyway. It’s separate and quiet here.”
“I see,” Signum simply said and let the matter drift.
Hayate turned to face her more directly and grew a more serious expression on her face.
“I wanted to ask you something. Have you met Sigrid yet, the girl we rescued from that ship?” Hayate made a sweeping move towards the ocean. The Joermungandr still rose above the water, showing off its impressive height to the city.
“No, I haven’t even seen her. At the spaceport I was too busy carrying out orders to notice her. I did hear her voice over the communications though. Was she with you during that time?”
“Yes, I brought her along as an observer. She was with me the whole time and there was something I noticed about her, that’s why I’m asking you this.”
Signum nodded but didn’t say anything. Hayate took that as a cue to continue.
“When she spotted you, for the first time that is, she froze up. She was didn’t respond for a few seconds until I managed to snap her out of it, but she didn’t say what it was that made her so. She was obviously remembering something, something that just you being there triggered. I didn’t push her for more at the time however.”
Signum once again made a nod to imply that she understood what Hayate had said. “It would appear that asking her directly would be for the best right now. I have no idea what might have caused it, but I think we shouldn’t let this slip away.”
“I had thought of doing just that, I just wanted to make sure if you knew anything,” Hayate said and rose from the bench. A few seagulls chased a lone fish a few meters away, their squawking breaking the silence. “I had my share of rest for today. Lets go back to the office.”
Hayate took a step forward and was immediately interrupted by a window appearing. An intelligence officer was visible, noticeable by the insignia she wore.
“Lieutenant Colonel, there has been some developments,” she said with urgency.
“You found the girl?”
“Yes, we have a lock on her a fair distance from the city. It’s in a mountainous region however, so the terrain is not easily traversable and there is a lot of hiding places.”
“Damn. I’ll head over to my office immediately and I’ll take over from there. Signum, come with me.”
The two women walked off towards the main building, increasing their speed as they went.
~~******~~
“Ouch. Damnit, I hate those caskets.”
[It is imperative to your health that the most accurate and planned procedures take-]
“Shush you, I’m aware,” the girl said and glared at her device that lay beside her. She continued peeling of skin that had gotten stuck with her barrier jacket. She had been awoken too fast for it to get back to normal and now she had to pay for it. Small drops of blood were smudged over both her arms.
The dragon consisting of only bones laid its head beside its master, as if to comfort her. The girl patted it on the nose.
“You did good back there, Nidoha. Without you I wouldn't be here now, probably.”
Nidoha made a low growl and eased her movements until she stopped moving completely.
The girl continued peeling of skin and at the same time notified her device.
“Fornjót , where the hell are we?”
[I am sorry, but I cannot give you an answer for that question, Madame.]
“What do you mean ‘cannot give’? You have no info on where we are?” she said, noticeable irritated.
[Correct, Madame. As long as I do not have a point of reference or information from an observatory, I cannot give an estimate.] Fornjót said.
“Perfect. Not only don’t I know where I am, I’m also being chased by these warmongers for some reason,” the girl said and sighed.
[Well, you did show hostility and blew up half of their spaceport] Fornjót said matter-of-factly.
“What should I had done, get myself captured? Beg for mercy? Please, if anything those Northern Beskanti dogs would have interrogated me or killed me anyway.”
[Northern Beskanti? This is a different planet, they can’t be here.]
“Didn’t you notice? I saw one of their knights. She was standing on a van some distance away. I was actually aiming for her at first,” she said and stopped what she was doing. She looked into the distance instead, letting her eyes wander the mountainsides. “I’m sure she has a hidden agenda. Maybe she took over those troops too.”
[Guesses do not truths make.]
“Quite true, but right now all I can do is guess.” She picked up her device and studied it. Its lance shape and metal surface glimmered in the sunlight coming from above. “Anyway, what really happened until now? Did you manage to record anything?”
[Yes, Madame. After we fled the surface of Cancri in the Airhawk, you entered the casket for more protection in case something happened. From there, I guess you don’t remember anything] Fornjót said and continued.
[After we had drifted in space for a few minutes, I recorded an energy anomaly. It would seem like we entered it and came out somewhere else, presumably in this solar system. My recording is scarce on that account, as I had a technical malfunction right after we entered the anomaly. I do not know why that is.]
“And how did we get onto the ground all of a sudden?”
[I assume the people of this planet launched a mission to fetch us from orbit. Judging from the data from the ship, we were orbiting one of their moons so we would have been spotted sooner or later.]
The girl rubbed her temples with her hands. This was a lot of information to assimilate, even for someone of her caliber. She was also tired after the ordeal, which slowed down her thoughts.
She was reminded by her stomach growling that she hadn’t eaten for several hours either. She had to regain her energy in some way.
She scoured the mountains surrounding her, looking for something edible. Even though a warm meal at a restaurant would be preferable, she couldn’t exactly waltz right in. Instead her military survival training kicked in and the little party set off to find food.
~~******~~
"Clawcrusher?"
"Cyclonia?"
Zafira's and Arf's expressions on their faces were equally as surprised. Shari stood opposite them and laughed at them.
"You should see your faces. No worry, you can rename them if you want, it's not like they would object."
What she was referring to lay on a table in front of the three. Shari had been working on something for a few weeks and she had now uncovered her work. There were only the three of them there inside the lab.
"Thanks to the material found on the ship that crashed and the Beskanti device, I managed to reverse-engineer something from it and came up with this. They are still prototypes and need to be tested in combat, but Hayate told me to give it you. Go on, put them on."
Zafira and Arf looked at the things on the table with a doubtful look.
"They sure are big," Zafira said and picked one part of Clawcrusher up. It had weight, but not as much as he thought it would.
"Although the design ain't too bad," Arf said, hinting on a more positive note and picked up the largest piece of Cyclonia.
"They are power boosters, you might say," Shari explained while they put them on. "They enhance your current spells, combat abilities and give you an additional spell, but nothing beyond that. They are not devices in their own right, but still quite powerful. Especially for you Arf, you might find the mana boost likeable now that Fate is not available."
"I did find it odd I was called away from the Infinite Library when the higher-ups know I rely on Fate's power," she said and locked the final belt down across her wrist, "but with this I feel energized in some way."
Cyclonia was the first one Shari had begun working on. It consisted of two pieces, a large claw-like mechanical construct that extended from Arf's right hand to her right shoulder. It covered her entire arm top-side and was split at the end, showing her hand inside it. The last piece was smaller and was situated on her left wrist. Its armor covered a small portion of her wrist and her entire hand, and when she activated it an orange glimmer appeared that seemed to be protecting her arm like a shield.
Both of the parts were painted in a color scheme of red and orange.
"I would advise only turning that shield on in emergencies. It might not look like it but it still drains your mana like an ordinary shield would. It is a bit stronger though, so it might come in handy. As for the larger piece, it's needed for your new spell, but you can find out what that is later on," Shari said as to clarify.
Zafira had during that time finished equipping Clawcrusher. Its generally light-weight but hard exterior pleased him, as it didn't impede his movements.
Clawcrusher consisted of four parts, one for each of Zafira's limbs. For his arms, it covered his hands and up to his elbows, and for his legs, from his feet to his knees. The parts were made out of metal and were painted in matte black. They fit him perfectly.
"No new spells or abilities for you, but it will probably help in melee," Shari commented.
Zafira made a few swift hits in the air with his fists as if to feel how Clawcrusher handled itself. He stopped after a few seconds and smiled, pleased with the result. His speed was unchanged, but he could feel the power surging through the metal, empowering his punches.
Arf took that opportunity to poke him in the side. He flinched.
"Trying to look macho or something?" she said and grinned. Zafira merely shrugged in response and tried to ignore her. She found that hilarious for some reason and laughed.
Their chatter was cut short by Hayate talking through a window that had appeared.
"Arf, Zafira. The helicopter is arriving soon, get back to the main building and get up on the roof. I'll brief you what this is about there. Thank you for their upgrades Shari, it's appreciated."
Shari nodded. "It's the least I can do, reverse-engineering those devices was very enjoyable."
The window disappeared after that. Arf and Zafira glanced at each other and briefly nodded before they exited the lab and headed towards the main building.
~~******~~
2 hours later.
"Ah, that was a good meal. Fresh meat captured in the wild, prepared over open fire. Excellent."
She lay on her back, eying the skies and rubbing her tummy. The small party had managed to catch several creatures living around the rocky landscape and had provided the girl with nourishment. She preferred this at times; the outside added that special flavor you couldn't get in a restaurant.
She jumped in surprise when Fornjót suddenly spoke.
[Alert. An object with high speed is approaching our position. Advise caution, Madame.]
"What, what, did they find us?" she asked abruptly.
[I am not certain but the object is not biological, it is mechanical. We will see it in a moment when it comes around that mountain to the south.]
She looked where her device had indicated. There was a fairly low mountain in that direction, but she didn't see anything yet. The evening sun had lowered itself more now and its light began to disappear from the sky, making it harder to distinguish things.
However, she knew her device was right when something large appeared over the mountain's east side. It made a chopping noise that traveled through the air and it came at them fast.
"A helicopter, possibly a transport. Quick, Nidhoa! Awaken!"
The massive skeleton dragon shook itself to life and stretched its bony wings. It lowered its back and allowed the girl to climb up onto it, her device being held tight in her arms.
Then when its master was seated, the dragon gathered strength in its powerful back legs and took off from the cliff they had been resting on.
Four human shaped signatures then suddenly appeared at the helicopter’s sides and headed straight towards them.
"They sure are fast to act," she said to herself. The four signatures approached her quickly and without warning two orb shaped objects appeared in the sky heading straight towards her from a fifth signature, one she hadn't seen before.
"Damn, incoming fire! Nidoha, take evasive maneuvers!"
The dragon did as it was told and changed its direction by several degrees in the blink of an eye. That didn't help however, as the two orbs were tracking them faster than they could turn.
The orbs made it to their target and hit them head-on, but without much of an impact.
"Yes! The shields are back online, talk about lucky timing. Now it's my turn!"
As if filled with newborn strength and spirit, she told the dragon to turn around and face her adversaries. It was a naive mistake young humans often did.
[Dragon Shooter!]
With the targets even closer than before, she had a clear shot at the closest. It looked like a blue wolf of some sorts.
Her device released five small beams that cut through the air at a high speed and headed towards the blue figure. Just as she was about to switch targets, as she believed her shots would hit and incapacitate him, the wolf raised a white barrier and all the shots impacted it.
The wolf was unhurt and continued towards her.
"Tough little bastard. Uh, oh-"
[Raketen Hammer!]
Her shield took a massive hit on the side as the child from the previous encounter hit her with a huge hammer thing. It wasn't enough to break it however.
"Hah! Your attacks don't have any impact on my shield. Stand back and I might spare you!" she shouted at the child, her confidence extremely high.
"You sure are noisy," the child retorted. "I, Vita, with Graf Eisen the Iron Count will not be stopped by your pathetic little shield."
Just then the shield took another hard hit from the other side. The blue wolf had caught up to her and was hammering away with his fists on the round shield surrounding the girl and the dragon.
"You cannot stop the Guardian Beast, Zafira, with that little attack. Show me your real strength!" he yelled and added further fuel to the girl's confidence.
[Lance Rain!]
Several lances formed in the air but her adversaries noticed them before it came. Similar to the incident before, they managed to raise shields above their heads to protect themselves, but that let the girl make some distance between them.
"Time to finish-"
"Don't forget about me!" a voice suddenly called out. The girl looked above her from where the voice had come and saw the woman from the previous encounter falling from the skies, her sword at the ready. She hit the shield in a vertical angle at the absolute top. The impact made the dragon lose a tad bit of altitude in its flight.
[Warning. Critical failure. Shield is breaking down, Madame. It cannot hold for long.] Fornjót said in his usual collected voice.
"We can't break off here, I got them here I want! I still got a few-"
Once again she was interrupted when all three of her adversaries hit her shield simultaneously. The shield lost even more power and Nidoha groaned as a few of the attacks began to break through and touch her.
No way, I'm not running away again. No way!
Weird movements and light caught her attention, as strange lines danced around her and drew closer. She looked around her to find the source and noticed another wolf, red in color this time, high up in the air above her. She had a large piece of hardware that the girl could only assume was the source. The wolf seemed to be deeply concentrating too.
[Dragon Shooter!]
Several beams that was aimed for the wolf fired , but only got a few yards before being intersected by the swordswoman's barrier. In addition, several attacks managed to hit Nidoha at the same instance, making her lose more altitude.
Shit, I don't believe I forgot about that.
The weird lines drew even closer and now began to restrict their movements. It ensnared Nidoha's wings and the girl's arms. They both struggled to get free and almost managed too, before their shield finally broke.
That unleashed the full power of the spell, as the shield had severely weakened it before. Now with the shield gone, there was nothing stopping it from completely ensnaring the dragon and the girl. With their momentum gone, they started to fall downwards.
With one last effort, she managed to force the last bit of energy out of her shield just as they hit the ground. It managed to break their fall by a large margin and only made them bounce a bit. Their adversaries landed in a circle around them, but didn't advance further. They only looked at each other and seemed to be waiting for something.
The girl wriggled on the ground helplessly while her dragon companion was completely ensnared and couldn't even move. Nidoha made pained and confused noises but the girl communicated with it somehow and made it calmer.
Then she returned her attention to the others.
"What are you waiting for? Kill me now and be done with it. Or do you want to have some fun first? Huh? Torture me all you want, I’m not saying anything you northern dogs!"
As she continued her shouts that fell upon deaf ears, the helicopter landed a distance away and let two other figures out.
"That was easier than I thought," Hayate said to Sigrid as they disembarked.
"Southern Beskanti specialized in protective technology, as this shield you have seen. We never saw a reason to implement them to this degree ourselves though. If she wasn't so hotblooded and made stupid decisions, she would have been a harder challenge than you'd imagine."
Hayate eyed Sigrid and noticed she had the more serious face on again. She was speaking in a condescending tone, as if she was disappointed.
Their boots made the pebble on the rocky surface roll around as they approached the group and attracted the girl's attention. She spun around on the ground as best she could and saw them.
"You..."
"Yes, I believe we have met before, Elisabeth Jónsdóttir" Sigrid said and looked down on the girl before her.
"Northern dog, how the hell did you get control of these people?? The usual tricks you use against us?! Bargaining and bribes?!" Elly shouted back.
"No such thing has occurred. After I got here these people took care of me and have been ever since. They will take care of you too if you stand down," Sigrid said in a calm voice.
"Lies! That's the only thing you dogs are good for! Lying and betraying! I won't bow for anyone! I won’t forget what your company did!"
Sigrid sighed, closed her eyes and let her head tilt downwards. In a quiet voice she whispered to Hayate.
"Loosen the restraints."
Hayate thought she had misheard her and inched closer.
"What?"
"Loosen the restraints," Sigrid repeated.
"Are you out of your mind, we got her right here where we want. We just have to go back now."
"She won't escape and the dragon will be less of a problem if you do. Trust me, I’ve done this before."
Hayate looked at her in surprise and considered it. The dragon was still trashing around and Arf began to lose power. She had kept it up for far too long, but Cyclonia made her continue beyond that. Perhaps it would be harder bringing it back in this state, but she couldn’t stop thinking of what Sigrid had in mind. Then again, Sigrid did have experience with this sort of thing.
Hayate decided what she would do.
"Alright, but don't let her escape no matter what...and I'm hoping you're right in doing this."
"Thank you," Sigrid replied and opened her eyes again. She looked at Elly with those eyes again.
At the command of Hayate, Arf let go of Elly. The red wolf faltered a little bit from the sudden returning power. She managed to hold the dragon down however.
Elly was very surprised at what was happening, but didn't hesitate for a second.
"You made a big mistake now, dog! You will not win against me!"
"We won't hurt you and we won't interrogate you. Just surrender and let it be over with," Sigrid said in her usual calm voice. She didn't falter at all.
"Hah! Just shut up!"
With those words Elly jumped towards Sigrid. She drew her secondary device out of a hidden pocket and aimed for Sigrid's neck. With elegance Sigrid avoided the vibrating blade and let Elly crash into the ground behind her. Elly rolled to her feet in almost an instant and was up again.
"Tch, just let me get close!"
The maneuver was repeated three more times, with the same results. Eventually Elly shook her head and changed tactics. However, her rage was also building up and her energy was draining fast. She hadn't managed to land a single hit yet.
"I said I won't lose to you, don't think for a second I won't do that," Elly said and tried to catch her breath. She launched at Sigrid again.
This time however, Sigrid was not on the defensive. She had exhausted all her other options and made her move.
When Elly ran at her straight on and moved her arm into position for another strike, Sigrid made a sudden movement and came down on her knees. Elly's strike flew overhead, inches from Sigrid's hair. Elly had a fraction of a second to realize what happened before she felt a few ribs crack.
Sigrid had moved down to a lower position and had hit Elly with her elbow straight in the chest. A sharp pain rose in Elly's chest and she fell over onto Sigrid's shoulder and passed out. The pain and loss of energy was overbearing Sigrid assumed.
"It's over," Sigrid said and glanced at the dragon. It had calmed down considerably after its master had been defeated and stopped its struggling. Sigrid straightened out her body with Elly hanging over her shoulder and walked towards the helicopter.
Hayate and the Knights didn't say a word, but earned her a few questioning looks.
"Let’s head back," Hayate shouted and waved to the others to board the helicopter. The dragon was too big to fit, but it followed its master's captives diligently and flew behind the helicopter without causing trouble.
2009-05-18, 13:00
Author
WIN!
