(OOC no time stamps, I'm in a hurry! 5 minutes till my internet cuts!)
A highway by Lake Suwa,
A modest farm truck was slowly snaking its way up towards the small town in the distance, little Karuisuwa, laden with a cargo of hay for a nearby farm. Atop it, nesting amidst the hay, was a small figure dressed in an inconspicuous blue denim dress, her straight brown hair hidden underneath a wide-brimmed white hat.
?There?s hardly anything interesting in Karuisuwa, young lady.? The old wizened farmer behind the wheel wheezed. ?It?s such a sleepy little town.?
?Ummm?.? Chloe shielded her eyes from the sun as she took in the scenery, before suddenly giggling happily, mostly to herself. ?I like this place!? She chirped, stretching luxuriantly as she took a deep breath of the lake air.
?Oh??? She blinked, noticing something odd about the lake. There was a disturbance in the air. It wasn?t obvious, not to a lay person at any rate, but a mana-sensitive like herself could feel it in her soul. ?Fumuuu?? She narrowed her eyes on the source of the disturbance. She could just barely perceive a hint of a dark mana somewhere in the lake?.and yet nothing was visible?which mean someone was hiding something?
?Someone?s hiding something from me. I don?t like it when people hide stuff from me.? She muttered to herself.
?What was that, young lady?? The farmer asked.
?Is there ice cream in Karuisuwa?? Chloe asked, with cheerful anticipation.
?Well, I?m sure there is.? The farmer said. ?I mean, it?s not THAT backwards a town?still, can?t imagine what business a city girl like yourself might have there.?
?Plenty!? Chloe said happily, falling back into the hay. ?Plenty, plenty, plenty??
==========
Mana Generator Core Room, Sky Ray, 9.49 AM, Day 3
"Hey, Yukari, you know what this symbol is?" Jeremy asked, gently running his fingers over the symbol on the mana generator.
"This is the symbol of the covenant." Yukari said. Jeremy muttered something about a 'Master Chief.' "Legend has it that millenias ago, before the age of the Lunarians, there was a great nation of humans and non-humans. They were united by the covenant. It?s just a fairy-tale now though, to teach children to be nice to one another and respect diversity and stuff like that."
Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her. "... not the kind of fairytale you'd expect to hear in Gensokyo, is it? I'd think parents would be more focused on keeping the kids from getting eaten by youkai."
"I suppose." Yukari said. "Probably a good reason to believe it may be more than just a fairytale."
"And one I'll be wanting to hear in detail later." Jeremy replied, in a low voice. He shook his head and turned back to the symbol on the generator, examining it closely. "... this one?s a beast youkai, I think, judging by the tails. And this one must be a tengu, I can see the wings. This one?s a kappa, this one?s... I'm guessing a ghost or spirit, judging by the lack of defined legs. And this is... a dragon...?"
"I feel a little guilty..." Remilia said.
"Really? About what?" Jeremy asked, though he was mostly preoccupied with inspecting the mana generator.
"We let the others run off as bait to lure those creatures away..." Remilia said.
Jeremy glanced back over with a raised eyebrow. "And what were you planning on doing? Scaring them to death?"
"I?m not that helpless." Remilia said indignantly. "I?ve got a weapon. It?s called Kojiro."
"Haha....thank you, Remi...." Kojiro chuckled heartily at Remi?s joke from where he stood watch by the blast-door.
"I believe that Ria girl uses this machine to power the ship and supply all the mana the crew would need to survive." Jeremy mused. "If we can get this to work at the shrine..."
"I wonder what it runs on." Kojiro said.
"That Ria girl said its output is at 10% of its optimum capacity." Jeremy said. "Something about it declining due to the low ambient mana. So it probably amplifies ambient mana or something like that. That?s why it shut down... it functions in the presence of pure mana. It can?t work with corrupted mana." Jeremy paced around the generator. "If that?s true then if we bring this back AND activate that old leyline..." He looked around at Kojiro and Yukari.
"That?s provided we can get it to the shrine. Have you forgotten where we are?" Yukari asked.
"And I take it Gap Airlines would be a mass suicide?" Jeremy asked.
Yukari shrugged. "Pretty much."
"Thought so." Jeremy muttered, grimly.
"So this was built in times when mana was more abundant, then." Kojiro said. He frowned. "Wait....doesn?t that mean it was built at least hundreds of years ago?"
"Maybe even further back." Yukari said. "The Lunarians reverse-engineered the first mana generator 7000 years ago. Considering the symbol, it may have been built by the original covenant."
"Seriously?" Jeremy chuckled, and smiled sadly. "Hahaha, if only something like that really existed..."
"What?s this?" Minoriko asked, poking Jeremy with the radio the team had wrested from Ria earlier. "I think voices came out of this earlier."
Jeremy blinked at it, and his eyes widened. "A pocket radio?!" He grabbed at it. "Give me that!"
He turned it on, and gave Minoriko an irritated look - then a guilty one. "I?ll explain it later. For now, let?s see if we can get through to anyone else..." He coughed. "This is Jeremy from the reactor core. Can anyone hear me? Come in. If you hear this, respond and report your status..."
Static filled the room for a while before...
"...Oh? This radio works? Ehem...this is Mitaka. Team FUBAR, team Freud, AGH! Watch out! It?s coming this way! Laser! Laser! Dude! That was my foot! No! It?s your fault, lollipop!" Mitaka shouted.
"Oy, Deodorant, if you could focus for a second...?" Jeremy asked. "I need your status."
"Ah, err, team Lunatic, Jan?s team and team Tank are with us. We?re in the hangar and we?re a little preoccupied with a Panrupillar. YES! It?s a Panrupillar! Not a Catterandus." Mitaka seemed to be speaking to someone else. "No, no, not a Walterpirus either! Why? Because I say so! Wait, don?t attract it this way! Keep it away from the tank! Ohgodohgodohgod wegonnadiewegonnadiewegonnadie...." The transmission cut short.
"That was quick." Jeremy muttered. "Hope they're okay."
"At least we know they?re in the hangar." Kojiro shrugged.
"Umm...hello? This is team Tourist from the Infirmary on the upper deck." Lily White?s voice came over the radio, somewhat high-pitched and panicky. "Team Fairy, Austin?s team, Team Freud, ummm....Team Jealous Fever, Team Makai and...uhh...team Yakuman, and team Ghost-buster have all pulled back here. Some of us escaped from the bridge...I think the monster that was there is now fighting that evil pirate woman and her friend."
"Anyone know the situation with the enemy fleet?" Jeremy asked.
"Out of my way, Lily. Hey, this is Nitori." Another voice came over the radio. "The enemy fleet consists of three ships. They?re holding their positions around the Sky Ray. The Dominion is directly in front of us, while the other two have us flanked. They?re only observing us, though. Looks like they think the dark storm?s enough to keep us down."
"Phew..." Mitaka?s voice came over the radio again. "We did it....we finished off the Panrupillar. Right...err...what?s up?"
"Good, listen up." Jeremy said. "Ok...guys, we need a plan. It doesn?t seem like they?re going to allow us to escape alive. Plus, they?ve got us covered on all sides, so sneaking away doesn?t seem like an option. Fighting back is obviously not going to be a good idea."
"No shit, Sherlock." Zei said from the other side.
"So we need to take a third option. I think the best thing would be to make those guys think they've gotten what they want - to somehow fake our deaths..." Jeremy said. He hummed for a moment, thinking. "...Nitori, do you have the ship?s schematics?"
"Yes, right here." Nitori said over the radio.
"Good. Now, lend me your brains, people. We need a plan."
====
Infirmary, Sky-Ray, 10.29 AM, Day 3
"Ok...that?s the plan, then..." Jeremy said through the radio sitting on the table around which the group was sitting. On it was spread the ship?s schematics...though it now bore many scribbles and highlights, showing ad-hoc modifications and plans. He let out a deep breath. "Set your watches to 1030 hours...now."
"This is the hangar team...we?re about to set off for the reactor core." Mitaka?s voice came over the radio. "Everyone...I know this sounds silly but....don?t die, ok?"
?Worry about yourself.? Taihou suddenly laughed, a little nervously. ?Your team?s got enough to worry about.?
?Still?if I could?I?d take your place, Taihou, Hirowaza, Owlbear, Amarillo, Kojiro, Zei?? Mitaka said. ?It looks like I?ve got the easy piece??
?We came up with this plan together.? Hirowaza said. ?And we agreed on it. Everyone has their own role. You have yours.?
?Don?t underestimate your task, Mitaka. Yours is anything but easy.? Yukari?s voice came over the radio. ?If anything, I?d like you to stay back and focus on surviving. Reimu?s survival is central to Gensokyo?s restoration. But that?s obviously not possible. So whatever happens, stay alive. If you die?I won?t forgive you.?
?Same goes to you.? Mitaka?s voice replied. ?You and Jeremy have got to survive. Not just you?everyone, we?re getting out of this alive, not just for ourselves, but for Gensokyo. Mitaka, out.?
?See you on the other side.? Zei said, patting Kojiro on the back.
?Hey, don?t make it sound as if you?re not coming back!? Kojiro snapped.
"Hey, man, chill, we'll survive." Zei laughed.
"I know...it's just that...I helped come up with this plan. If any of you die because of it..." Kojiro began.
"We all came up with the plan and agreed on it." Keine said. "We all knew what we're getting ourselves into when we agreed. So no need to get hung up on it. Concentrate on surviving."
"Yeah..." Kojiro nodded. "Yeah..."
?The corridor is clear.? Alex said to the others, poking his head out into the corridor. ?Let?s move.? They trooped down the corridor, quiet, solemn, nobody daring to speak a word. What can you say, really, to people who may be dead in a few minutes time?
?I don?t see why I can?t be down there with you guys.? Alex muttered as they reached the large service lift down to the engineering deck. ?I can fight.?
?We?ve been over this already.? Hiroko said. ?It?s important that some of us survive. Remember, as long as memories of Gensokyo exist, we have a chance at restoring Gensokyo.?
?You guys have the biggest responsibility. You guys have to survive. If anything happens to us?.? Owlbear began. ?Well?it?ll be on your shoulders to restore Gensokyo.?
?Be ready to retake the bridge. Once we?re done, you need to try and restart the engines with whatever mana is left.? Zei said.
??.hey!? Sho called after the descending crew. ??stay alive.?
?Got it.? Owlbear threw a thumbs up, before the crew disappeared into the darkness of the elevator shaft...
=================
Onboard a tank speeding through a corridor, Sky-Ray, 10.42 AM, Day 3
After the hangar teams picked up team Drillkumo at the reactor core along with the mana generator?.
?Damn that Ria?.she even brought my Challenger II onboard!? ThirtyFour laughed manically as he tugged the gear handle violently. A godawful screech filled the dark corridor as the tank made a physically impossible 90 degree turn at 60 mph. They paid no heed to the small cannon fodder creeps milling about the corridors. One moment they were there. The next they were lining the tank?s tracks and greasing the floor.
?Akh! Watch it!? Sanasan shouted as the tank?s sudden lurch caused him to loose his grip on his wrench.
?It?s done!? Rika shouted from where she, Sanasan and Eirin were bent over the Sky-Ray?s mana generator now strapped to the back of the tank with copious amounts of duct tape, chains, more duct tape, and?.bubble gum?.
?We?ve done what we can.? Sanasan said.
?I?m not sure it?ll work?? Eirin said, wiping the sweat off her brow. ?I just adjusted the wavelength polarity of the receptors?? She began to explain.
?Only one way to find out?? Yukari said, grimly, before nodding at Jeremy, who nodded back, with a similar expression of grim determination.
?We?re nearing corridor C3 of sublevel 4.? Jan reported, trying to make sense of a blood-spattered map they had nicked off the wall earlier.
?That?s where those men?err. Frank and Cab-whatshisface, reported that incoming anti-mana gas and spreading fire.? Patchouli said, urgently. ?Jalal!?
?Come in, little pirates?? McWallace said into his radio. ?Frank, do you read me? How are you holding up??
?I think we?re?? Frank?s voice came in, before a huge KABOOM came through the radio, threatening to implode McWallace?s eardrums. They felt the tremor of the explosion run through the entire ship. ?AGH! They?ve blown through!?
?Nothing stands in MY way!? Yuugi?s voice roared over the radio.
?We?re pulling back!? Frank shouted. ?We can?t hold our position. AGH! The napalm?s back!? The radio transmission cut.
?Well, we were expecting this. Time to enter phase 2 of the plan.? Patchouli said, receiving grim nods of affirmation from Jeremy and Yukari. ?Jan-san, are you ready??
?Ready as I?ll ever be?? Jan said, grimacing nervously. ?ETA, 1 minute. Jeremy, Yukari.? He looked over at the two as he folded the map up and handed it to Koakuma. There was apprehensive fear in their eyes, mirroring his. But they had decided on this. They had to go through with it. Jan carefully crawled back towards Eirin, Rika, and the generator, doing his best to keep his balance atop the violently swaying and shaking tank. He positioned himself beside the reactor with Jeremy while Patchouli climbed up to the front of the tank. She found a stable spot by the main gun and decided to hold onto it for dear life as she awaited her turn. She found Marisa right beside her, on the other side of the main gun, awaiting her phase of the plan. Her expression was one of nervous worry, something that Patchouli found completely at odds with Marisa?s usual over-confident demeanor.
?Run that plan by me again.? Sanasan said to Jeremy, desperate for anything to take his mind off the wrenching feeling in his stomach. ?All you told me was to help rewire that monstrosity.? He jabbed a thumb at the generator.
?It?s a mad plan.? Jeremy said grimly, shaking his head. ?But it was the best all of us could come up with together.?
?You know how a submarine works, right?? Renko asked.
?Yes.? Sanasan nodded. ?But this ship is anything but a submarine.?
?We?re going to turn it into one.? Renko said.
??wait, how?? Sanasan began, before colour drained out of his face. ?You?re not going to??
?It?s going to be very controlled. We?re going to seal the lower decks on the port and starboard sides and we detonate warheads there to let water in, turning them into ballast tanks to sink the ship.? Renko said.
?I see.? Sanasan said. ?So that?s why you confirmed with Nitori earlier that the ship is watertight.?
?But, unfortunately, all the warheads in the ship are mana-based warheads, meaning they all ran off mana from the generator.? Renko continued. ?I?m still not sure what that ?mana? thing is, but I gather it?s not electricity.?
?Right, so that?s why you wanted Eirin and Rika to rewire the generator to run with this so-called dark mana thing.? Sanasan said.
?Actually, no.? Yukari shook her head. ?According to that kappa, all the warheads are primed to work with neutral mana, not dark mana. No, we want the generator for a different reason.?
?Wait?so how are you planning on detonating the warheads in the lower decks?? Sanasan asked. ?Wait, humans produce mana, so?? Suddenly, realization dawned on his face as he turned to face Jeremy and Mitaka. ?You DIDN?T!?
??.I?m afraid we did.? Mitaka nodded, darkly. ?Yes, they?ll have to be detonated manually.?
---- a little later ----
?This is it!? Renko shouted. ?T minus 5?4??
?You?re not going to leave me hanging for too long, right?? Jeremy asked Yukari.
?I wouldn?t want to see my battery fried.? Yukari said, trying her best to look as calm and confident as ever.
?That?s reassuring.? Jeremy smiled bitterly.
??2?1?? Renko continued. ?NOW!?
?Here goes nothing?.? Jeremy took a deep breath as Eirin flipped the switch on the generator and leapt for cover.
It was difficult to describe what happened next. The best way to explain it would be to say that the air around them, darkness and all, melted, before flowing in towards them?or rather, towards the generator, slow at first, before quickly picking up speed until it was nauseating rush. Everything began to spin around the generator, centering on it, as if someone had opened the drain pipe to reality inside it. Dark tendrils of energy burst and crackled all around them, eliciting shrieks and cries of panic from the entire team. Everyone felt it. The threat of damage from high concentrations of dark mana was real. It burned from the inside out, gnawing and wretching like something alive.
?Jeremy!? Renko shouted, gritting her teeth from the gnawing feeling inside her. ?It?s now or never!?
??.? Jeremy shielded his eyes from the overwhelming rush of energy. He felt as if all the courage and determination he had built up till this moment had suddenly been sucked out by the infernal machine. It commanded his fear. Death wasn?t the issue. The machine seemed to promise a fate worse than death?
?Jeremy!? Yukari grasped his hand. ?I?m with you?we all are!?
Jeremy screwed up his eyes, grasped Yukari?s hand as tightly as he could, and reached out for the generator.
His body jerked into a painful-looking spasm as he grasped the infernal machine. His entire body was thrown backwards, as if some invisible force had punched him in the chest. But he persevered, not letting go, despite it seeming as if every fiber in his body was burning with the fires of hell itself. He gritted his teeth and screamed one long blood-curdling scream at the top of his lungs, "FOR GENSOKYOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Augh!" Yukari gasped, clutching her heart, while holding onto the tank for support. She raised a shaking hand into the air and waved it through a complex set of patterns. Everyone onboard the tank shown for a brief moment. The dark mana shook around them and ripelled ominously in the air, as if repulsed by some invisible force.
?Jan!? Patchouli shouted.
?Right!? Jan shouted back. Jeremy?s reaction had been unnerving. Was it that much? He had prepared himself for the worst but the reality of it was overwhelming. But?Jeremy has already demonstrated his courage. He wouldn?t dare do any less. He gulped, took a deep breath, and reached out.
He staggered violently, his body convulsing like an earthquake. But he shook his head and held on tight. "Pa-Patchouli!" he shouted, gritting his teeth. "PATCHOULI!" He roared.
?AUGH?!? Patchouli gasped, falling forwards onto her hands. It took every fiber in her being to stop from throwing up. She wouldn?t be able to execute her incantations with her mouth full after all. She steadied herself and immediately began chanting under her breath, her voice catching every few moments as another spark of pain coursed through her. But she bit back every bit of pain and soldiered on, for Jan and Jeremy?s sake.
A magic circle quickly formed in the air in front of her. It was a dark, sickly black, with tendrils of red, but it carried the punch she?d need.
Multiple dark reddish black rays burst out of her magic circle and coursed forwards before the tank, spiraling around each other towards the masses of napalm, anti-mana gas, and advancing RAI Force soldiers.
?What on earth??? Shinjiro began as something huge loomed up from the shadows beyond, driving the gas and napalm before it. And then the napalm and gas parted like the red sea, as if making way for the huge writhing black spell arching through the hall.
?ARGH!? Suddenly, the soldiers next to him disappeared, blasted backwards by tendrils of the spell.
?Yuugi! Tewi!? Shinjiro roared as he started forming magical seals with his hands. ?On me!?
?Yes, sir!? The two obediently hopped behind him in time for him to protect them with a powerful and surprisingly fast shield spell. He gritted his teeth as the dark spell collided with his reactive shield, exploding over it with the force of a tsunami. His entire body was pressed backwards from the sheer shock of the collision. He barely avoided getting thrown backwards completely by virtue of Yuugi?s support from behind.
Shinjiro?s eyes widened perceptibly as what was presumably the source of the spell burst out of the residual flames just as the gas cleared.
The tank roared with all its proud might towards him, tracks flaring, headlights burning, mana generator overloading, occupants screaming for blood?or dear life, whichever came first.
?Yuugi! Get us out of here!? Shinjiro roared.
?Right on!? Yuugi shouted, holding Shinjiro by his waist and tugging Tewi by her ears before leaping, with one almighty leap, out through the entry hole in the side of the ship and out onto the waiting transport airship hovering outside.
They landed and rolled across the transport?s cargo bay before ending up in a rather tangled mess at the opposite end of the flying craft. ?Yuugi, I would praise you for your high speed reaction to my orders, but first I?d like you to get your breasts out of my face.? Shinjiro?s muffled voice came out. ?And you, you little rodent, try that and you?re in my stew for tonight.? He added, causing Tewi to leap back in fright from where she had tried to steal something from Shinjiro?s pants.
?All forces, pull out. We?re pulling out before the dark storm makes it impossible to.? Yagi?s voice came over the radio.
?Affirmative. All teams pull out. We have a negative on targets. I repeat, a negative on targets.? Marx?s voice came over the radio.
?Ugh?damn it?? Shinjiro muttered as he shoved Yuugi off him. ?What sort of madmen would drive a tank inside a battlecruiser??
?The sort who?d do that?? Tewi asked, pointing out one last tendril of the spell that was now arching towards the transport airship?.
KABOOM?
?And I thought you were a lucky charm.? Shinjiro groaned as the airship began to spin out of control as warning sirens filled the room.
?You?re still alive, aren?t you?? Tewi said.
?Hah!? Shinjiro spat, before the ship crashed into Lake Suwa.
Back to the tank?
Sparks burst out of the tank?s tracks as it landed violently on corridor A-1, the final stretch before the bridge, after flying off a set of ramps.
?Fua?ha?hack?augh?? Patchouli was writhing in pain, clutching her chest. Her breath came in shallow, painful gasps as she curled up into small ball for comfort.
?Patchouli!? Marisa gritted her teeth as she held onto her friend to steady her. ?Hang in theres!?
?Marisa! Focus! It?s our turn next!? Reimu shouted, leaping sideways over the turret and landing right behind Marisa. ?Head straight, eyes forwards, that?s what you always say, right?!?
??.uhh?? Marisa shook herself. ?Yeah, Reimus, sorries?? She nodded. ?Umm?can you?? She gulped, before shaking her head. ?Uhh?never minds??
Reimu positioned herself behind her and wrapped her arms around her friend.
?Reimus!? Marisa gasped. ?I didn?t mean?no, you might gets contaminateds!?
?Shush. Be quiet and concentrate.? Reimu said, grasping Marisa?s arms. ?I?ll help you aim. Just focus on staying alive.?
?Jan! Jan!? Renko gasped, holding a shaking Jan steady.
?Koakuma!? Eirin was doing her best to support a pain-ridden Koakuma.
?I?m ok?? Koakuma muttered through gritted teeth. ?I need?to get?to my mistress?? She breathed.
?Stay put.? Eirin said. ?Patchouli?s fine, she?s just?recovering?? She said, rather optimistically.
?Oy, Jeremy, stay with me!? McWallace barked into Jeremy?s face. Jeremy was convulsing weakly, his expression blank, his eyes locked wide in abject terror. Veins of darkness branched across his skin, glowing ominously under his clothes, stretching, writhing, and focusing around the drill hanging around his neck. ?Stay awake! Don?t give in!?
?Yukari, you should rest for a while! We can turn off the generator for a minute.? Sanasan suggested, trying his best to hold the proud youkai up.
?No-keep-it-on!? Yukari hissed through her teeth, shaking Sanasan off. ?Mitaka!? She lashed out and grabbed Mitaka by his collar before dragging him close. ?I?m-going?? She bit back a yelp of pain. ??.to increase?the barrier output?for you?so don?t?DIE!? She breathed.
?Yukari! You and Jeremy might?.? Mitaka began.
?For?Reimu!? Yukari was gasping as if running out of breath. ?For?Gensokyo!? She wheezed, falling over onto her hands. Mitaka made to grab her, but Yukari pushed him aside roughly and gestured wildly at the generator.
Mitaka edged towards the generator. It was like walking towards the gallows?only there might be more than death at the end of it. Fear welled up from every corner of his being.
He curse himself for even contemplating fear. Too much depended on this for him to get cold feet now. There was more at stake here. His life was no longer his own. He will fight, and he will survive. He couldn?t afford not to.
?We?re with you!? Sanasan and Renko shouted, grasping Mitaka?s shoulders. They, Eirin, Rika, and McWallace had promised to supply some neutral mana in attempt to buffer the shock. How effective it?d be, or whether or not it?d even work, they didn?t know?but Mitaka nodded gratefully at them, words having failed him.
?Marisa! GO!? Mitaka shouted. How he wished he could think up better-sounding last words?but oh well. He reached out and grasped the generator as tightly as he could.
(OOC ? use this song for contrast -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBHyP990djE&feature=related )
It lasted a million years.
Maybe more.
It felt as if all eternity, the entire infinite darkness of space coursed through him in a single instant. To say every sense in him was burning would be an understatement. It felt like his very soul was being torn and pulled through funnels the size of singularity?in a million different directions.
So this is what Jeremy and Jan went through?
?wow, they?ve got to be superhuman, because he had every mind to just die right there and then.
Screams echoed in his head. His heart was torn a thousand different ways by all the anger, hatred, regret that swelled up in it?they weren?t his?they belonged to all the dark, sad memories of those left behind?
Tears ran down his eyes. He whispered ?sorry? over and over into his mind, hoping he could quell their anger, their thirst for vengeance. But they tore at him, like vultures on an exposed bit of rotting flesh.
And yet he managed to retain some semblance of consciousness. Perhaps he was dreaming, perhaps he wasn?t. He didn?t know. His vision swam violently. Everything was muted, as if he had been submerged in a vat of cold ice water. Everything outside was brighter. It looked like the dark storm had subsided?.or had it all been sucked inside the generator? And into him??
He saw the tank burst through the bridge. Sparks burst out as the tank scraped the sides of the door. He vaguely saw the tank crash into those two monsters Lily White had mentioned, some reaper and?Cirno? Or a darkened version of Cirno? He couldn?t decide. It was too murky to see.
He could just barely spy out Ria and some person beside her as they leapt out from the way of the tank?were they fighting those monsters? And out of the corner of his eyes he saw Sho, Alex, Gpop, and Amarillo?s teams. Alex and Gpop?s team seemed to be defending the others while Sho and Amarillo were bent over a set of control panels.
The next thing he knew the tank had bounced across the lower tier of the bridge, shedding more sparks. Everything shook violently, though all he could do was shake limply, not having any strength to even secure himself. Sanasan was doing that for him, apparently. He was shouting something to him while holding him steady against the generator. Too bad he couldn?t hear him, he thought, as he looked up at Sanasan?s concerned face blearily.
He gazed up front at the others. Suika and Ruukoto had taken up positions underneath each of Marisa?s arms, holding her ourstretched arms steady. Reimu and Alice were sitting behind Marisa, trying to hold onto her from behind, stabilizing her aim while supporting her and shouting at her to stay conscious. Marisa on the other hand seemed to be fighting a losing battle to stay conscious?or alive, for that matter, as the dark energy swarmed through her arms and into the hakkero she was barely gripping with her shaking fingers.
Renko shouted something about the brakes. ThirtyFour shouted back, rather muffled, that the darkness had eaten away the brakes or something.
The next thing he knew, they were sailing through a hailstorm of shattered glass. They had broken through the front of the bridge and now they were in open daylight, sailing over the front deck of the Sky-Ray, with the reaper and the ⑨ pinned to the front of the tank.
They landed on the front deck with a deafening crash that shook every bone in their bodies. More sparks exploded from the abused tracks. But the Challenger II held up well. It roared on, as if fueled by sheer inertia. It thundered on over the central deck and the many turrets of the Sky-Ray. All eyes were glued to it. Every sailor onboard the opposing 3 ships gaped at the tank as it rolled on at almost 80 mph across the Sky-Ray before finally nearing the front main guns?.
?.and sailing up into the air off the front cannons as if flying off a ramp. Mitaka could barely hear ThirtyFour whoop and McWallace roar with excitement as they sailed up?and up?over open water?.
?towards the Dominion?s command bridge?
?towards a very surprised looking General Tao Qwai?
?McWallace took this opportunity to give him a big, big finger?
The reaper and ⑨ separated and flew off ahead of the tank?before crashing into an invisible obstacle?a force field. Sparks and electrical outbursts showered the air around them as the forcefield reacted to the insult.
Sanasan shouted something that sounded like ?Now?. And then it happened.
?DARK SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!? Marisa?s voice boomed across Lake Suwa, deafening, confident, without a single hint of the pain she was enduring.
A huge shock shook the entire tank from tracks to turret. Reimu and Alice were thrown backwards into the turret, but they grunted and held onto Marisa. Ruukoto and Suika winced but held on tight to keep the shot steady.
It was simply the most awe-inspiring, yet deathly frightening thing Mitaka had ever seen.
The Dark Spark spread out of the infinitesimally small mini-hakkero and arched out, almost as big as the entire Sky-Ray itself, at the Dominion?s Command Bridge, right at where the reaper and the ⑨ were trapped against its forcefield. It was a ray of pure jet black, with small red tendrils of energy discharges crackling along its entire length. It seemed to suck in all the daylight around it. It felt as if the sky had grown a few candela darker. The vibrant colours of the lake around them seemed to dull.
The beam pinned the reaper and ⑨ against the force field, until finally the shield behind them gave away and shattered in a myriad of energy shards. The beam burst through the reaper and ⑨, broke them both, before making contact with the command bridge. It splashed around the bridge, stormed against it, like a tsunami, shaking the entire impregnable Super Mobile-Fortress Dominion to its core.
The attack ceased. General Tao Qwai still stood behind his intact bridge, seemingly a little shaken, but somewhat smug that his bridge had survived with nothing more than a huge dent with stress and shatter marks.
ThirtyFour roared something. It sounded like ?NOT DONE YET!?. The tank sailed on towards the bridge. With a deafening bang the main guns discharged their contents at the weakened bridge?.and it conquered the once impregnable bridge. The fortifications shattered under the abuse and gave way. General Tao Qwai scrambled to get out of the way as the tank landed with a godawful crash on the bridge?s floor.
McWallace shouted something, probably something rude, at the General. Sanasan wrenched Mitaka?s grasp from the generator and slapped him, telling him to wake up.
The tracks rolled on, carrying the tank onwards with the force of its momentum. It rumbled through the Dominion?s once-proud command bridge, broke out through a rear window, and sailed out into open air once more over a rear deck.
(OOC: Somewhat unfitting, I know, but I was listening to these while writing this ? Touhou Orchestral arranges by WAVE -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnxkLiSFgKc ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSljn9d9lkM&feature=related ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6lzg1sYZq4Sound gradually came back to Mitaka?s ears. He could clearly hear Tao Qwai?s voice scream, ?ALL SHIPS, OPEN FIRE! DOWN THAT TANK! NOW!?
?But sir, we?ll risk firing at our own ships and men!? An ensign protested.
?I DON?T CARE! OPEN FIRE! AND FIRE ON THAT MISERABLE LITTLE SHIP!? Tao Qwai screamed while pointing at the Sky-Ray.
Jan seemed to be chuckling while biting back pain. ?Heh?we really ticked him off, huh??
?ThirtyFour! We have to get back to the Sky-Ray somehow!? Sanasan shouted over the sound of rapid gun fire.
?Leave that to me!? ThirtyFour shouted back.
Meanwhile, back at the bridge?
A violent shock ran through the entire ship, accompanied by a deep, ominous rumble. The very metal frame of the ship creaked painfully under the increased stress. Almost instantly the ship began to slowly tilt forwards.
?They did it! They detonated the warheads in the lower bays!? Sho shouted.
?I hope they get out ok?? Yuyuko murmured.
?Don?t worry. These aren?t people who?d die that easily.? Sho said. ?They?re a bit like cockroaches, resilient and stubborn.?
?Close the bridge?s security hatch!? Ria wheezed, gathering her breath. ?We can?t submerge with a gaping hole in the bridge like this!?
?Wait!? Amarillo cried. ?We have to wait for the tank team!?
?No, we can?t!? Ria shouted, as the booms of the main guns of the three battlecruisers outside filled the air. ?They?re opening fire on us! We have to shut the bridge!?
?NO!? Gpop and Koishi shouted, barring Ria?s way.
?We?ll wait under a storm of fire if we have to!? Alex said, stepping threateningly in front of Ria. ?No force on earth will make us abandon our comrades!?
?Foolish ideals!? Ria snapped, but turned away. ?Not like I have the mana to operate the machinery.? She muttered as the first wave of enemy fire came towards them. ?I hope your resilience matches your stubbornness. Take cover.? And she ducked behind a console as machine gun fire and shells rained hell down on the sinking Sky-Ray.
?Awawawaa!? Yuyuko gasped, losing balance as the ship tilted more and more as it began its descent.
Back to the tank?
?Who?s the demonic driver driving that thing?!? one of the gunnery crew shouted. ?No tank should be able to move that way!?
?No tank should be able to move that fast either! That thing?s a monster!? Another gunnery crewman shouted.
?Mitaka!? Reimu gritted her teeth while hugging her own arms in pain. ?We need?to set up a protective border?? She breathed through gritted teeth as the tank swerved dangerously around random shell fire. Explosions lit up the Dominion?s deck as other turrets and installations atop the deck erupted in flames under the friendly fire. The ship was essentially firing on itself in its barrage on the diabolical tank.
?You can?t! You?ll all die!? Sanasan shouted, barring her way to the mana generator.
?We?ll all die anyway!? Reimu snapped. ?Mitaka, trust me?.I?ll get us through this??
?They?ve got tanks chasing us!? Rika shouted as new tanks rolled onto the deck from hangar elevators.
?Jalal!? Eirin said. ?I suppose it?s our turn.?
?With pleasure.? McWallace laughed heartily as he grasped the mana generator.
?Ugh!? Eirin winced, staggering, but still managing to keep herself upright. ?Well?take this!? She drew her bow and let fly a barrage of arrows at the incoming tanks. They exploded on impact, blowing the tanks far backwards, bouncing across the deck as if they had been bashed by the hammer of the gods themselves, against all laws of probable physics. ?Enough, Jalal!? She wheezed, dropping onto her knees.
?Phew?.? McWallace gasped heavily, panting for air, waving his fingers as if he had been burned. ??and you people managed to hold onto this thing for THAT long?!?
?INCOMING!? Rika shouted as another barrage came, this time from the neighbouring battlecruiser, the Dauntless. This one was so tightly spaced that no miracle from ThirtyFour would get them out of this.
?Reimu, go!? Mitaka shouted, grasping the mana generator.
?Mitaka, NO!? Eirin and Sanasan cried.
But their cries of protest was muted once more as the screams came back with a passion. Everything outside was muted to a dull roar.
Reimu bit back a scream in front of him before quickly performing a series of hand gestures to prepare the border.
It worked. The shells exploded harmlessly a few meters above them against an ornate shield bearing many Kanji and magical sygils. The tank shook violently under the shock. But they survived.
They had made a full tour of the Dominion?s upper deck and were now roaring back towards the now sinking Sky-Ray.
They picked up speed. This must be the fastest any tank has ever gone in the history of fast tanks.
And then they flew once more, sailing off a convenient artillery gun-turned-ramp, back towards the ship. A salvo of missiles followed closely behind but Renko?s was too fast for them. She emptied Rika?s toolbox into their path, causing them all to explode harmlessly far behind them.
Mitaka saw the sun shine brightly in front of him as they sailed up towards it?he smiled a silly, lopsided little smile?and then his vision failed. He blacked out.
The shock of their landing brought him back to his senses. He couldn?t see anything, however. He heard many voices around him. His ears were working again. That meant someone had pried his hands off the mana generator again. From the sound of the conversation around him, Jeremy?s hands had also been pried off the generator too. ?Get Yukari down, now! She needs emergency treatment!? Eirin?s commanding voice boomed.
?Bring her here!? Amarillo?s voice came. ?I?ll help treat her!?
?What about Mitaka!? Renko?s voice came from close by. ?He?s??
?I-I?m fine?? Mitaka choked. He tried to wave his hand to tell them not to worry?but it felt as if he couldn?t find them. ??the girls?help the girls??
?If you say so.? Eirin said. ?Get Yukari and Patchouli down, ASAP! And then get the others. I?ll look at?.oh god?Jeremy? Marisa...this isn?t?.Marisa?Reimu?.I NEED HELP! NO, DON?T MOVE THEM! DON?T TOUCH THEM!?
?What?! What happened?!? Mitaka wheezed. ?I can?t see?.but?what?s wrong with Jeremy, Marisa, and Reimu?!?
?Shush, don?t worry, you?ll be fine.? Renko said. ?Get her legs, I?ll get her arms.?
?Seal the bridge, now!? Ria?s voice barked.
?Sealing it now!? Sho shouted.
?Mana delivery isn?t easy, you know!? Gpop shouted. ?Ugh?speed it up!?
?Please! What happened to the others?!? Mitaka demanded, choking on something that didn?t taste pleasant at all.
?They?re fine. Focus on resting.? Eirin said, sternly. ?And don?t move.?
?But?? Mitaka tried moving?and the pain returned, burning every ounce of his flesh. ?AUGH!?
?The bridge is sealed!? Satori reported.
?Hull integrity at 55%!? Rika reported from nearby. ?Will it hold?! With all the water pressure too?!?
?She will hold!? Ria barked. ?Don?t underestimate my Sky-Ray!?
?We are 100% submerged.? Rika reported. ?Pressure stress on the hull is mounting.?
?Do we have word from the warhead detonation teams?!? Sho demanded.
?We haven?t heard from Koji, Hiroko, Owlbear, or Zei.? Lily said. ?Hirowaza and Taihou just reported though. They said it?d be their last transmission??
KABOOM?
The ship shook once more as a dull explosion shook the entire ship from helm to bow. The metal creaked ever more ominously under the building water pressure.
?That was the sound of our death.? Sho said. ?Taihou and Hirowaza have succeeded. They?ve covered our escape.?
?Confirmed.? ThirtyFour said. ?I?m listening in on their radio transmissions. They think that explosion was our ship going belly-side-up.?
There wasn?t a cheer of celebration. There was no roar of applause. Just a terrible sinking feeling, excuse the pun.
The 6 people who had gone down to the lower decks to detonate the warheads were still silent.
And half the tank crew were so seriously injured with utterly inhumane injuries that the cost of their escape seemed all too high to warrant any celebration.
Plus, what now? How were they going to steer the ship?
??.the?drill?? A weak voice wheezed. ??use?my?drill?? A shaking hand rose up, holding a drill on a chain.
?Jeremy! Don?t move!? Eirin commanded.
?Carry me?? Jeremy breathed. ?Bring me?to a?console? He gasped. ?Just?do it!?
?Got it man.? Alex said, grabbing Jeremy under one shoulder while Sho grabbed him under the other.
?DON?T MOVE HIM!? Eirin roared in fury.
?There are times when a man must do what a man must do.? Alex said solemnly. ?This is one of those times. Don?t? get in the way of a man?s path.? And together they carried Jeremy to the central console.
With shaking fingers Jeremy tapped the drill weakly on the console. ?I?need?strength?? He wheezed. ?Help me!?
?Right.? Sho and Alex grasped his hand and brought it down hard on the console, impaling the drill through the electronic deck.
A Spiral energy meter appeared on every screen. Everyone gasped with anticipation?but the hope quickly dwindled into despair as the spiral meter feebly sputtered at near-zero before giving out.
?Ugh?? Jeremy muttered. ?Was worth?.a try??
?You did good, man.? Alex said. ?You did good.?
?Bzzt?language check confirmation. Now reprogramming language?complete. Covenant Signature Confirmed. DNA and MANA pattern recognition analysis complete. 99.9% covenant match. Human ? Approved. Youkai ? approved. Yousei ? approved. Tengu ? Approved. Kappa ? approved. Phantom ? approved. Sorcerer ? approved. Beast ? approved. Vampire ? approved. Ghost ? approved. Oni ? approved. The Divine ? approved. Shinigami ? N/A. Yama ? N/A. Celestial ? N/A. Dragon ? N/A. 12 out of 16 covenant elements approved. Activating higher covenant control.? A cool mechanical voice echoed throughout the ship.
?Covenant?? Sho asked.
?I thought it was just a fairytale?? Yuyuko murmured.
The ship shook. A high-pitched hum and whine filled the room. The spiral meters came back, but this time they ripped right up to maximum, before fading away into the covenant symbol Jeremy had seen earlier on the generator, a circle with graphical depictions of the 16 races on the rim.
?Look!? Rika gasped, pointing.
The entire bridge was reshaping itself. The entire corridor behind the bridge was similarly reshaping itself. The floor they were standing on split in two as the entire bridge expanded around them. A new floor came up from below to fill the gap with the circular covenant symbol engraved into it?and on it was?
?Taihou! Sakuya! Keine! Mokou! Hirowaza! Meira!? Yuyuko cried.
?Owlbear! Luize! Yuki! Mai! Shinki! Yumeko!? Koishi and Sanae shouted in excitement.
?Kojiro! Remilia! Minoriko! Zei! Flandre! Reisen! Mystia!? Gpop gasped with relief.
?Hiroko, Parsee, Iku?? Sumire sighed with relief.
?Ugh?? Kojiro coughed up water. ?I?m?never leaving land?ever again??
This time, there were roars and cheers of celebration and excitement.
