So it is a "sequel" to the main serie right? Since its not a filler,not sure what part couldve been a filler....
So it is a "sequel" to the main serie right? Since its not a filler,not sure what part couldve been a filler....
MultiCore------------Male Cast~~~~~~~~~~~Moriah----------------Female Dewman
Zyonyl----------------Male Newman~~~~~~~~Shilka ZSU-----------Female Cast
Originally Posted by AIDA
Did you try turning it off and on again?
How I tend to write the story is that I go with the main part, the part that moves the story, and then throw all the inbetweens as fillers. So everyone chilling by the B-02 in my latest entry would have been filler because they weren't really moving anywhere. It was just backstory stuff and sub plot. But I was iffy about it because it was all happening in the same day in the same general area as oppose to the previous fillers where they would take place on another day or planet.
For example, this.
- Filler -Spoiler!Reinhardt sighed. Tired, wanting to go home and listen to his tunes. The newmen walked out of the room with eyes redder than most others. Some wondered why. He just shrugged it off. Figured he was allergic to something. This baffled people. Allergies shouldn’t exist thanks to the advances in technology. But despite the best efforts of scientists, a mother can still die in child birth, crashes still occur, and greed still motivates people in what would seem like a world of endless material.
Reinhardt walked out of a well lit room. He and the rest of the pilots finally done retraining for the new line of aircraft, the room filled up with all sorts of pilots. Forming an uncountable number of single filed lines, everyone one of them had a director leading them to their new ships. Having already gone through the process of receiving his ship, Reinhardt sat by his. Cross-legged by a gray vessel much like the one Kerri flew, he looked out towards Lillipa. Watching the many new pilots fly their new born birds. Slightly blue in hue thanks to the blue hexagon patterned shield separating everyone in the hanger from space, the red hair newmen shook his head in disappointment, waiting for his shakedown call.
“Reinhardt, why the long face?” a male voice called from out of nowhere.
Looking up, the newmen flinched to a hand held out very close to his face. Taking the hand with his own, the white hair man in a blue and white version of the sharp order, a well armored flight suit, pulled Reinhardt from the floor, following up with a secret handshake. “I got paired with a B-01 is what’s bugging me. This thing is a hunk of junk. I don’t even understand how my friend could stand flying the T-57. All it has is armor, a flying tank. We don’t need flying tanks. That’s not our job, Eito.”
“Hey, look at it this way, Red. If your thrusters ever go out, at least you’re well protected. Besides, it could be worse, just ask Miwa. She got stuck with the 03,” Eito said in a comforting voice.
“What’s wrong with the B-03? And I told you already, Red is such a lame nickname.” Reinhardt asked.
“Its better than flying ears. Anyways, the B-03 is the scout ship of the fleet. Armor made of tin foil with speed being its specialty. I hear medics will be thrown on those things. But we both know those Darkers are going to rip that thing up.”
Arms thrown into the air, Reinhardt shouted, “Why in the world would they give the medic ship such cheap armor?”
Holding back a chuckle, Eito replied, “Who knows? All we’ve been flying are the B-02s. Maybe it will have really nice shields? All of these space crafts are experimental after all. We’re just the unlucky volunteers.”
Walking up to the two, an orange transparent clipboard floating nearby, an officer gave a stern look the each of them before asking, “What’s going on? Why are you two still here?”
“I haven’t been given the green light, sir,” Reinhardt replied. “And if I may ask, why are we given a floating hunk of metal? We don’t even have any turrets on this thing.”
“That’s because the space for any turrets have been used up by the bombs it has,” the officer responded.
“What bombs?”
“How did you get out of training without knowing what this ship’s role is? The B-01 is a bomber. It comes with three kinds of explosives. All which can level an area in a 15 meter, 800 meter and a 1 kilometer radius. We can’t afford to send cruisers to bombard planets anymore. The Darkers will find out and take advantage of the fact that they came alone.”
“I mean, this thing doesn’t have any bombs on it, sir.”
“It doesn’t? Damn it, I told them to load these things a week ago,” the officer shouted. He turned to Eito. “You to your ship, now. You don’t have that excuse. I know that for a fact.” Turning back to Reinhardt, he continued, “As for you, head to floor four. There you will be reassigned to a properly loaded B-01. And don’t look at me like that. Does it suck? Yes, I feel these ships were pushed into production far too soon, but if you fly this thing well and prove that these ships can do the job as is, consider yourself guaranteed to receive the newest bombers that are currently being worked on. Now I don’t know everything it will come with but I’ve been told it will have three times the load, seven turrets and the best armor the fleet can provide.”
“That sounds a bit excessive to me, sir,” said Eito.
“We need every weapon we can get. If we want to win this war against the Darkers, we need to use everything we got.”
Same day, only its on the ship rather than the planet and doesn't move the main plot.
Last edited by yoshiblue; Sep 10, 2014 at 03:00 PM.
Author Note into ExtraSpoiler!Firstly, I wish to apologize if this entry is lackluster. Having been stressed out all week, it was hard to focus on the chapter. So because I don't have anything else for anyone to read, I will provide the original version of the entry. A tad bit modified because of my evolving writing skill I guess you could say.
I ultimately decided not to go with it because it characterizes Persona. This Persona was how I wanted to envision him but instead chose to stick with the mysterious blank slate of PSO2's Persona. I also decided not to go with it because it may have made his sound rather lame and also gave him a motive that may or may not be in line with the actual story. For the record, Yoshi is not the hero of the game's main story. The "Ace" is. Who that "Ace" may be is up to you.
In the end, I'm happy to present this extra bit. Its interesting how much a scene can be influenced by the personality of the cast.
- Delving Steps To Heaven -Spoiler!
“Oh my, look at you. What happened? You’re so stiff; so broken. This isn’t what you wanted to become and yet, in the end, you still did. Worry not. All is not lost, for I am here. Well, I guess you could be afraid because I can’t actually do anything for you but what really matters is that I am here. So rest well, it will all be over soon. Like someone once said, a new future awaits.”
-It didn’t take long for Yoshi and his new companion to find the ruins they sought. In truth, it didn’t even take an hour. Though it felt like one to the black hair newmen, who agreed to follow for reasons unknown. Led by a Vargr the newmen now rode upon, it stopped by a waterfall made of sand. Round like a bowl, a dry ocean flowing over the rim. Specks of sand slowly trickled down a large slope and into a rib cage made of metal.
Yoshi looked into the sink hole. To him, it was quite a sight to see. When he first found it, nobody would know the vessel even existed. For several years, it laid hidden in the sand until a Lillipan dug up an entrance searching for an energy source. At times it still amazed him to think that in only four decades, an entire ship had been completely buried by sand. Sometimes he just wondered if he underestimated the sandstorms of Lillipa. Thinking back on it, he could still remember the pure white hallways, the sky blue lights and rubbery paneling. Cyan lines glided on the walls, disappearing when overlapping a just as white doorway. For a ship that had been buried for an unknown number of years, it still proved to be very much alive with the several electronic sounds echoing in the hallway. The people however weren’t so lucky. When Yoshi walked into its air conditioned hallways, dry blood had covered several rooms and corridors. Machines of all sorts had been dismantled or destroyed.
Today, as a relic cradled by sand, the ship is a shadow of its former self. No longer did it have an entrance that barely touched the surface. Instead, the ship now held a porch. A metal slab in an orange sea with its only feature being a blacken door, bent and covered in sand. Leading up to the lonely door, a stairway made of rock and foreign material. Engine parts, a faceplate of a gold robot, a slab of hull. Even with the falling sand, the staircase did not move; locked into place by something underneath. To the newmen, it was just scattered junk. To Yoshi, it was a majestic sight to behold. While not perfect or symmetrical in appearance, the very sight of convenient steps seemed very amusing to the cowboy. As if it wanted him to come inside once again. Pass and beyond the door, a giant rib cage of silvery metals, each point glittering in the sun. The floors within exposed to the outside world.
Yoshi hopped multiple times by the rim of the sink hole. Trying to see what lay hidden inside within saddening darkness, all he could make out were the several floors the ship had been built around. He couldn’t tell his newmen ally what it contained on those floors. Everything seemed like such a blur now that he thought back on it. Memories of running for his dear life didn’t help much either. He had forgotten what he had seen in this ship.
“So this is the place you sought?” the newmen asked.
Moving forward, Yoshi replied in a low tone “Yeah, it is.” His guess confirmed by the reflective head his foot hovered over. Similar to what Ijiraku use to look like, buried in the slope, its face staring back at him with a blank expression. Awake yet at the same time still sleeping to this day. Throwing an arm behind him, distracting his mind, Yoshi added “Watch out for Darkers.”
The newmen made a cruel laugh. “The lowly caveman attempts to appeal to me, ha.” Noticing that he didn’t bother to wait or react, she made a quick cry of panic before following him down the sand covered steps. “I know it may be too much for your tiny little brain to handle but may I suggest you start thinking about the consequences of your actions. Going in alone isn’t much of a good idea.”
“Only when you learn to stop being such a perpetual frowner,” Yoshi shot back, examining the half open doorway of the structure.
Yoshi placed a hand on the door, planning to push it aside. So that it would provide just enough space for him to slide through. He figured it would have been an easy enough task to achieve. It wasn’t. The door fought against him. Wanting to close but got caught halfway in. Amazingly, power still surged through the building. Yoshi could hear a motor tick in the distance. Sparks flew out of a console inside. Bored of watching the human struggle, the newmen shouted to the cowboy,
“Oh move over you oaf.”
In the Newmen’s hands, a primed Vardha Cannon, glowing at the muzzle, pointed at the door. While simple in shape, a white rectangle with an angular yet easy to hold handle on the back, it looked rather advanced. Black lines danced across the launcher to give it a well layered mechanical appearance, embedded yellow lights glowed on the muzzle, in front of the handle and on the very back. Frowning in fear Yoshi jumped out of the way. On a click a large ball of energy shot out of the launcher. At an amazing speed, it collided with the door, blowing it up into smithereens. Unimpressed, a chunk of metal landing on his hat, Yoshi shrugged.
“See, was that so hard?” the newmen said with pride, shouldering the cannon.
“Damaging ruins is one thing. I’m actually more impressed with the fact that you aren’t using some fancy top of the line launcher.” Yoshi replied with a smirk.
“Look, this was all they had, alright?” the woman cried.
Walking inside the dimly lit room, Yoshi responded with a laugh. “I never said I had a problem with the launcher.”
Now inside, Yoshi noticed black scarring on every gray wall. All the cyan lights that survived the crash certainly were broken now. So he believed anyway. The room was simple, a box with two escalators leading in opposite directions. The one that use to scroll upwards no longer moved but the one rolling down still functioned, moving slowly with signs of damage becoming more apparent as each step appeared. Inspecting how far he could go before having to do some fancy footwork, Yoshi ignored the newmen complaining behind him. He didn’t care for her complaints; about how messy the place was or any residue she would have to clean off. Feeling satisfied with that fact that he wouldn’t have to do much, he patted his mag, signaling to turn on flash light mode and looked back.
“Coming with?” Yoshi asked.
“I call the shots, remember that human,” she replied, looking towards the entrance with concern. “You first, go on.”
Yoshi shrugged in response. Sliding down parts of the railing, jumping a few gaps, Yoshi reached the lowest level of the ship. Upon landing, black powder flew in the air, shaken off walls and ceilings. It was a depressing sight for the cowboy, who dusted the ashes off his gear. All that seemed have been destroyed before the explosions were the rooms containing machines. Those like Ijiraku and other models. As if raider only came by to destroy the machinery out of anger or spite. Now, everything and everywhere looked like a mess. Walls blown apart, panels dangled by wires, any light that survived had to fight the black scars the surface bared. If any lucky machine survived, chances are they aren’t alive anymore; but Lilliman said a mysterious man came here. He came to this location for a reason and for whatever that reason may have been, Yoshi wanted nothing to do with it. All he felt he had to do was find the man and take back what he stole. When the newmen female finally joined him on the bottom floor, they agreed to venture further into the ruins.
For the both of them, it was a strange change of pace from the outside world. No longer did the sun accompany them in their journey. Everything felt so dark and spooky. A lonely place, cramped and cluttered in every hallway, but there was yet a darker to be seen. Doors refused to open, rooms were caved in. Faint beeps made a sort of harmony along the way. Yoshi almost hummed to them before the newmen slapped him upside the head. Every so often the newmen girl freaked out to a few skeletons here and there. Yoshi would trip over buried material. Most of the time, the two just got lost trying to find their way around the ship.
When they finally entered in what seemed to be a large storage room, Yoshi had to pause. This was where he tripped an alarm. In the past, it was well lit and full of destroyed cargo. Today, sand leaked from the unseen ceiling, forming small piles in heavenly light as he walked by. He could remember being chased by a large robot and the explosions that followed after. Reaching the doorway on the other side, he froze. Chills ran down his spine. Yoshi looked up. Staring at him from above, an oversized robot, a giant humanoid, its large eyes wide open. Something seemed off though. Its ape like frame looked so lifeless dangling from several wires. “Is it asleep or broken?” Yoshi wondered to himself. Afraid that it might fall on top of the two, he reached for a half scarred button on the side of the doorway.
Two pulse waves later and the door opened up. Light flooded in from the other side. The human, now peeking inside, found it oddly unsettling to see everything in perfect conditioned. Even the door remained untouched. Clean white walls, a flawless white door, cyan lights and paneling. Yoshi even noticed a convenient map embedded on the side of the wall, its glass layer protecting the screen behind it. Thinking on it, the room reminded Yoshi of the entrance. A simple room that only led to somewhere else; only instead of escalators, the room boasted a seemingly endless hallway.
“Huh. A map. Neat,” said Yoshi, running up to the glass panel. Placing a finger on it, he traced around red lines hoping to find their current location. “A legend would have been nice though.”
“Move over you fool, I’ll find out where we are,” the newmen said in a condescending tone.
“Good luck with that.”
“If you knew how to use your eyes, all you would have to do was look for a large square.”
“And how many large squares are on that map, hmm?”
“I require silence.”
Taking the time to observe the map, Yoshi noticed simple grey shapes at every corner of the screen. Without words or any coloring, it was hard to tell if they were there for scrolling text or décor. Unsure what they were for, Yoshi couldn’t help but poke at the shapes. His first attempt got him a swat to the arm, the second a shove. On his third attempt, he managed to press a square button, which revealed all sorts of words and icons. Baring teeth at the teal hair man at first, the newmen couldn’t help but stare at the screen in awe. Pressing at a triangle button, the newman flipped through the currently displayed floors.
“It appears we are here,” she finally said with confidence, pointing at a lone square on the map. “This leads us down a long corridor to the largest room in this…thing.”
“How convenient, now to find out what’s on the other side of that hallway.”
“Did I say we were going in there? No. I wish to go home,” the newman demanded.
“Go ahead without me then. I want to see what’s in that room,” rejected Yoshi, his arm pointing into the hallway.
“Rooms like those contain only death. I suggest we leave before you get us both killed.”
“Then I’ll die alone.”
Yoshi felt a rifle press against the back of his head. Pausing for a brief moment, the two stood in silence. Both of them tried to predict each other’s next move. The newmen applied more pressure on his head but it felt odd. The muzzle was made for breaching doors yet he couldn’t feel the many pointy ends it had. Then he felt like an idiot, resisting the urge to cover his face. Just because he lost communication with the outside world doesn’t mean everything had shut down. He still had a line shield and his mag still functioned, though it didn’t do anything to stop her. Yoshi chuckled to thought of what his mag could be thinking right now
.
Yoshi walked into the hallway. Confident that she wouldn’t try to stop him, he said in a calm voice, “Doesn’t matter what you do, the result is going to be the same.”
“Don’t you walk away from me, you filthy liar.”
“If I’m such filth, then why do you bother dealing with me?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she watched him grow smaller and smaller and smaller as he walked into a white corridor. After he finally vanished she dropped her rifle, sat in the corner of the room and began to cradling herself hoping someone would stop by and lead her out of the place. For several minutes she didn’t move. Sitting in the same corner, she continued to rock in place until she heard footsteps. The newmen looked towards the sealed door. Faint murmurs echoed on the other side. Jumping onto her feet, the newmen ran to the door and opened it. White doors slid open allowing two people to let themselves in. They were Marisa and Kazamir, both who argued to each other while they moved around the girl. Angry with the fact that she went ignored, the newmen said to them,
“At least, my rescuers have arrived. Servants, I wish to leave this dreadful place. Afterwards I want to be taken to a spa where I can cleanse myself of all this soot and a man’s barbaric germs.”
Looking to the girl, a finger placed on Kazamir’s lips, Marisa replied, “I’m going to assume you’re a girl from the Melchior?”
“I am, lead away by a dirty human who is probably already dead walking down that dreadful hallway,” the newmen replied.
“I see. So you followed him,” Marisa said with a lowered head, pointing at the newmen with her eyebrow. Before the newmen female had a chance to respond, Marisa kneed her in the stomach. Caught off guard, the newmen bent in place gasping for air, allowing Marisa to swiftly ram her head against the wall. The newmen dropped to the floor in a daze. Unsatisfied with the newmen’s still present consciousness, Marisa knelt down, slamming the newmen’s head once more on the padded floor.
“That was highly unnecessary. I can see where Marean got her violent nature from,” said Kazamir who struggled to retain a stoic demeanor.
“You don’t know her family like I do, Kaz.”
“There are several Newmen families on the Melchior, Leanna. You can’t possibly know all of them.”
“I know a Boga when I see one,” Marisa shouted. “Self-obsessed, using anyone who isn’t family as a pawn, as cannon fodder for their ambitions.”
“You don’t even know why she followed Yoshi.”
“Oh, I have a good idea as to why she followed him. Yoshi kept her sane.”
“You are not making any sense.”
“That’s because you never had to live like we do. You weren’t born on the Melchior like us. A ship of experiments”
“Then how come you fail exhibit any problems, or your granddaughters?”
“I fixed my problem. And while I may be free, my grandchildren continue to suffer, Kaz. Why do you think the marriage happened after Yoshi got lost the year before, hmm? Granted it was my fault that Yoshi vanished. Unintentional of course, but I can’t deny that I was the cause of it.” Glancing down on the unconscious newmen, Marisa continued, “Treat her, leave her or bring her. We can’t waste any more time here.”
Over on the other end of the hallway, Yoshi’s mag cracked the code to a reinforced door. On a press of an oversized button, large doors creaked, metal split into four. Slowly spreading open, only darkness awaited the cowboy and his mag. Unfazed, they stepped into the mysterious room. With all the lights turned off, it was hard to make out anything. All they could do was walk along a trail made of spotlights, a person standing in the last one. Trying to make out who it was, Yoshi instinctively drew his gunslash, running closer to the figure. The person seemed to be minding their own business until the T-57 glowed to life for reasons unknown. Looking behind, Yoshi stood nearby. The person ignored him, turning back around.
“Of course, it had to be one of Elder’s toys. I still don’t understand what he sees in you,” said the figure before walking away, opening a dark and red hazy portal to escape through.
“Wait, don’t you run away from me,” Yoshi yelled. His gunslash aimed at the mysterious man’s backside.
“You destroyed so many of us. Do you realize how much of a mess you’ve made?” Ijiraku’s voice asked from within the darkness.
Losing focus, Yoshi quickly looked around. Staring down his sights soon after, he realized that the man had got away. While he grunted in anger a metal door creaked again. Yoshi spun around to see the light of the hallway vanish.
“You do realize that you must be punished now, don’t you?” Ijiraku continued. Spinning back around, Yoshi stood face to face with Ijiraku, her features cracked and broken. The gold plating she donned no longer shimmered in the light. Ijiraku swiftly lifted her hand before saying, “I did not say to kill him just yet. Human, you know what must happen now, do you not?” Yoshi refused to say a word. “Your death will be slow. Your screams record for future use. Maybe we’ll start with the peeling of your skin. Or we could start breaking your bones first? What do you say?”
“There’s no need for violence, Ijiraku. I don’t want to hurt you,” said Yoshi, sheathing his gunslash.
“Oh but there must. If I were alone, I would have cut you in two by now, but I’m not. Four others want a piece of the action as well. I said wait.”
“There is nothing to be gained by hurting each other,” Yoshi cried, his eyes furrowed in concern.
Lifting a finger to her partially broken lip, Ijiraku replied, “I’ll tell you what. If you hold still, I’ll think about it as we share with you our warm motherly embrace, okay?”
Ijiraku stepped forward. Ambled in her movement, she looked to Yoshi with a corrupted smile. Ten gold blades protruded from her backside, detached themselves and floated in the air. Out of the ten blades, eight of them combined forming a half circle. Eight blades connected by green photonic webbing. Eight green eyes opened wide on the hilts. Yoshi want to move but at the same time, wanted to give her a chance. It felt like a dumb risk, a risk he shouldn’t take, but he felt that there was truth in what she said He wanted to believe that truth.
Yoshi stood in place, afraid of what might happen. Even if he ran away, would he not be flank by the four other mysterious figures? Did he really stand a chance? Now surrounded, he noticed that four figures approaching him. They all looked similar to Ijiraku and the face found outside. Yet, at the same time, they were different. Each of them held a different weapon. A robot with a pair of guns wore the blades as a skirt; another as a cape holding a mace. Drawing near, Yoshi kept his hand on the wooden handle of his gunslash. He gritted his teeth. His body urged him to use it but mind held him back. His eyes locked on Ijiraku’s gold eyes, noticed them suddenly dart to the side and her smile softened. Suddenly, a voice called out.
“Manual override, authorization code Omega 5856. Initiate program delete.”
Lights fades, swords fell, Ijiraku dropped her weapons. Yoshi watched four bodies drop like weights on the floor while Ijiraku slumped onto Yoshi. If she was still awake, she would have felt the shivering of Yoshi’s body.
“The deed is done. There is nothing more we can do here. Let’s go home, Yoshi,” said Kazamir in a sorrowful voice, his gloved hand firmly gripping his friend’s shoulder in hopes of providing comfort. On a shake, Yoshi moved forward. Holding Ijiraku in his arms, he almost faltered on his way to the T-57.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. He was a mercenary once. You guys have seen plenty of deaths already,” said Marisa watching Yoshi with arms crossed.
“Killing strangers is one thing, being the cause of death for your friends and family is another. You should bring Yoshi with you into the cockpit. He wouldn’t want to see it degrade in front of his eyes.”
“Good, I refuse to share a room with a Boga anyways. I take it you will be treating the girl?” Marisa asked, looking towards Kazamir with a cocked eyebrow.
“I’m not a doctor but I will do my best to tend to any wounds or trauma you may have caused,” Kazamir replied.
By the time Yoshi reached the ship, he slumped onto the frame, supporting the gold cast with a leg as an arm swooped over to open the ramp. After slowly dropping to the floor, Yoshi rushed his friend inside, resting her on one of the two bare benches. Grouping behind him, Marisa and Kazamir glanced around, more focused on remembering which button did what. Breaking the silence, metal squealed. Ijiraku’s eyes flickered in the darkness. Lifting her arm, it produced several sounds similar to gears grinding against each other until her hand rested on Yoshi’s moist cheek.
“Do…not cry…for me, Yoshi. This is the way…things must be. I could never…never hurt you. Do not…”
Ijiraku went silent. Her eyes faded. Filling the silence were the sounds of faint crumpling. Almost as if a fire burned inside. Gripping Yoshi by the arm, Marisa forcefully dragged Yoshi away into the cockpit. When the shuttle doors closed, Kazamir silently said to himself,
“It spoke to him while retaining a personality. Fascinating.”
- Extra -Spoiler!A purple mask peeked over a black shoulder. “Of course one of Elder’s toys waltzes in. I fail to understand what he sees in you,” Persona said before he turned to greet the human. “Judging by the fact that you’ve found me, I’m going to assume you caused this mess too? Tell me, what brings you all the way here to an abandoned facility?”
“I’m here to right what you have wronged.” Yoshi replied in a brave voice, entering into a battle stance.
“Oh, so you fancy yourself a hero. And how do you plan to do that, hmm? What are going to do? Shoot me? With a gunslash? Ha! I’ve received better threats from little girls half your size; and guess what happened to them afterwards? They died.”
“An even better reason to put you down.”
“Sure sure, I guess this is around the time where I bring out your motivation. Ijiraku, come into the light so your little hero can see you,” Persona commanded, gesturing at something to come forth from the shadows.
A figure obeyed. Stepping out into the light, Ijiraku stood sternly by Persona’s side. Gray eyes pierced Yoshi’s soul. So much so that he didn’t know what to say to her. She looked torn apart and rebuilt; a broken machine held together by scraps of gold metal. It made his stomach sick. He couldn’t stand it. How Persona could mistreated her in such a way. So that she wouldn’t greet him again, in the friendly manner that she used to. “You caused me quite a lot of trouble, you know that? I had to dig pretty deep to find a workable group of war robots. But I can’t form an army out of this. There are too little of them to wipe out a fleet, but all is not lost. At least I can still kill you with the very thing you called a friend. I don’t care what Elder says.”
Yoshi summoned a pillar made of earth in hopes of impaling his foe. At the same time, Persona launched a dark sonic wave. Both of them aimed to end the battle. They didn’t want to engage in CQC combat, throwing as many ranged attack at each other as they could. Persona’s head lifted upwards slightly. “And speaking friends, I see you brought more for her to kill.”
Running in from the door way Yoshi came through, Kazamir and Marisa rushed to the cowboy’s side. Nodding to each other, they quickly looked around to get a grasp an idea of the situation before prepping for battle. Marisa, positioning herself closer to Kazamir, summoned a bulky great sword to plant it into the ground. While at the same time, Kazamir dragged Yoshi behind it.
“Falling apart already?” Persona shouted. “You see, this is the problem with heroes these days. They believe they’ve tapped into their wellspring of resolve or courage, charging into everything headstrong and thickskulled. Then when they reach their destination and the villain puts their will to the test, they crumble apart like the desert sand, scattered, becoming either useless or an emotional sandstorm. Eroding at everything; be it good or bad. Arks aren’t heroes. They don’t care about life outside their bubble. How their action affect their surroundings. They only destroy and it makes me sick to my stomach. That is why you should all be exterminated.”
“You would kill millions for the same crimes performed by your lot?” Marisa asked.
“You misunderstand me. I wish you, Arks, the source of all problems who strong arms their way into everything that doesn’t pertain to them, to die.” Looking around, Persona turned to summon a small portal. “I’ve wasted too much time already. Ijiraku, would you be a good girl and take out the trash for me?”
“Extermination order confirmed. Activating code Heaven’s Mother.” The gold Caseal replied in a cold metallic voice.
Last edited by yoshiblue; Sep 15, 2014 at 04:24 PM.
- Why Must I Have to Meet With New People? -Spoiler!
“Self-proclaimed mother of the grown man you call your child, I ask you this. Why? What drove you to take on such a title when there were so many others titles you could have chosen instead? Could it have been that you were programed that way? Did you have the capability to expand past what made you a robot? Or are you the epitome of what any AI strives to become? Allowing you to become not only a mother, but a friend, a mentor, a leader, and even a warrior? What is he to you? Was he a child lost in the darkness and you his guiding light? One who still needed grow up so that he may undertake a much larger task unforeseen? Or were you merely trying to make a statement? Ah but look at me, speaking to what is nothing more than silent data…”
-
“Kaz, it’s been months, maybe even a year. How’s it going, man? I came as soon as you rang,” Yoshi said while walking into a bright room devoured by technology. He looked around the grey and silver room he had stepped into. The room proved to be very bizarre, one he had never dreamed he’d ever see. If any wall was to be seen, it would have been bare and white. Gray tile floors were coved by wires and cables of many colors, all sorts of machines hugged every inch of the room, even the ceiling. There were so much blinking machinery filling this room, Yoshi would have spent hours guessing what each one did.
Now inside and the door closing behind him, Yoshi turned to Kazamir, eager to hear him say, “I wanted to show you something.” Kazamir turned to the side and lifted his arm parallel to his body. Yoshi’s eyes trailed along. Before the hatless cowboy laid a golden CAST sleeping on a plain steel bed. At first he didn’t know who or what it was. Almost brand new in appearance, he would have never guessed it was the relic of a robot he found in the ruins of an abandoned ship until he noticed a pulse of green light glide across the seams of the Caseal. A gold machine with emerald highlights the original color scheme of the robot. Yoshi couldn’t help but stare in awe over her transformation.
Kazamir briskly walked toward the Caseal and continued, “Taking the robot that you have found, I have managed to restore it, giving it new life.”
“You mean I managed to bring her to life,” a man in orange overalls interrupted. A wrench in hand casually wiggled in the air.
“Right, anyways we, however, have run into a slight problem. Since you were the first thing to be seen by her, she will only answer to you. So I believe anyways. I’m still trying to research what I can about her model. So, all I believe you will have to do is make a command and she will wake.”
“Alright, I think I can do that.” Yoshi replied with an awkward chuckle. “Shouldn’t be too hard I guess.”
Nervous, he didn’t know what to say. It was rare for him to speak to any CAST or robot. He didn’t know what to expect or think. For a few minutes he stood there, staring at the sleeping Caseal. His fingers fumbled around above his waist. He searched for words but only remolded his mouth every time, never making a sound. How should he treat her he wondered? Should he greet her as a friend? Or should he treat her like a child? What if she turned out to be a mean person? Yoshi shook his head to shake away the thought.
“Come on man, I ain’t getting any younger.” The mechanic complained.
“I-eh heh. E-uh, he-hello. Resting well I-I hope?”
“Oh my lord, get on with it already,” the mechanic cried. Kazamir shot a glare in response.
Yoshi took a deep breath. “If you would be kind enough to wake up, I-I would like to know what….. Would be the first thing you would like want to do.” The mechanic slapped his own face. “Do-do you have a name?” Yoshi asked.
Gold eyelids shot open. In a few blinks, she shifted her head towards Yoshi. Taking a moment to see his weak and confused smile, she smiled warmly at him and sat up. “My name is complex and difficult to say but I do have a name. In short you may call me Ijiraku Maza,” she warmly said. As she lifted herself off the bed, Yoshi skipped backwards with a hint of fear. Seeing this, she lifted her hand over her face instantly, eyes wide open. Reaching out to grab the teal hair man’s rosy cheeks, she said in an endearing tone, “Oh, look at you. You’re so adorable.” Yoshi winced in pain but tried to maintain his smile. “So what is your name?”
Yoshi was speechless. He still didn’t know how to react. He didn’t expect to meet a CAST this friendly. “I-I, my name is Bi-Yoshi Bu-blue; Yoshi Blue.”
“Gee, it’s almost a gosh dang family reunion. Hey dewmen. When am I getting paid?” the mechanic demanded. With a hand in the air, he curled his fingers several times.
“Ah yes, the fees,” Kazamir replied, roaming past his friend and the Caseal. He shot an arm into the air and used his other hand to remove a small black card from his sleeve. He then firmly hand it to the man. “Is there anything I should know about the robot?”
“Yeah, she’s made with an odd material. Bio-degradable, like she isn’t meant to live long. I reckon she may be one of those prototypes or military weapons. So I’d keep an eye on her if I was you,” the mechanic replied, his wrench shook in the air again. “I also couldn’t get into most of her inner workings. Seems to be locked together real tight. Not sure what that’s about but whoever made her didn’t want anyone to reverse engineer her. Either way, all I care about is my payment. Whatever he does with her is his business. Just don’t make a mess in my workshop, ya hear?”
“Anything I can go off of?” Kazamir asked again, watching the calling itself Ijiraku dote on his human friend.
“She isn’t Arks made, that’s for sure. Seems to be a private company’s doing. A cheap job at that too but she’s built to do a job and that job may or may have not been done by now judging by how damaged she was. Old tech though, maybe sixty years or older and covered in sand too. May want to look into that first if anything. May also want to make some false papers for her or something though.”
“Already taken care of.”
There was a beep at the door. Everyone in the room froze. “That’s odd,” said the mechanic. “I’m not scheduled to see anyone else for hours.”
“I’ll get it,” Yoshi said, leaving Ijiraku with a much happier smile.
“No, let me,” the Caseal responded.
“Don’t worry, I’m closer.”
“Why don’t we go together then?” Ijiraku asked while holding her elbow out. Locking her arm with his own, Yoshi replied, “Alright,” allowing the two to walk along side by side. Stepping closer to the door, the beeps began to echo.
Light flooded his vision. Groaning, Yoshi woke up to the sun peeking over the balcony outside his room. He glanced around his room without moving an inch and felt his heart drop. It was just a dream, a memory replaying in his head. Wondering why he even bothered to wake up in the first place, the beeps from before became clearer with every passing second. For a moment, they confused him. The beeps weren’t produced by his stand. Was there fire? When his vision regained focus, and his hearing clearer, he realized that the beeps came from his door. Why the door, he asked himself. With a groan, he got onto his feet and dragged them all the way to the door. Slapping the button in a careless manner, the door opened to reveal what at first thought was Marean, but after looking for a few particular features, he realized it was really Leanna, Marean’s grandmother, who wore a sage dress and gloves.
“Oh hey, Le-“ Yoshi tried to say before he was grabbed by his neck, lifted off the ground and pulled into his room.
“How dare you leave her like that,” Leanna screamed at him. “Crying, drowning in depression, even on the verge of suicide, thanks to you she has been worried sick; about you, about everything. Fix it, now.”
“As much as I want to, I just can’t leave my job. I’ve spent too much time away already.” Yoshi choked, cringing before she made her response.
“Oh, you will leave whether you like it or not. Have you forgotten who you are speaking to?” Leanna shouted.
“No, I haven’t,” Yoshi said, dangling in the air.
“Good,” she said before throwing him to the floor. “I didn’t want to meet with you like this but you have forced my hand.”
Sitting up, Yoshi asked, “What if she doesn’t want to see me again? How would I even cheer her up?”
“Oh, she’ll want to see you again, I can promise you that,” Leanna replied, smirking at Yoshi with a smug face. “As for your apology gift, use your imagination. After all, you should know her by now.” As soon as Yoshi got up, the green hair newmen hugged him and left saying, “Until we meet again, stay well and I hope to see you in a much happier setting. Hugs and kisses.” and shut the door behind her.
Awaken by this recent event yet still in a daze; Yoshi rubbed his forehead in fatigue. Tempted to go to sleep, he swerved to his stand, but before he made his second heavy step, the door beeped again. Yoshi groaned in irritation. “Who could it be this time?” Yoshi said in his head, banging it against his hand. His hand dropped with a heavy sway as he turned back around. Punching the button this time, the door opened back up. This time it was the newmen girl from the desert. Like Leanna, she also wore a dress only black in color, long, collapsing along the floor as she bowed.
The cowboy, not wanting to deal with her, banged his head on the doorway asking,“How in the world did you find out where I lived?”
“I stooped low enough to ask your dewmen friend.”
“Damn it, Kaz.” Yoshi thought to himself in frustration. With a sigh, he lifted his head off the doorframe and asked, a hint of regret in his voice, “How can I help you?”
“I’m here to move in with you,” She replied with both hands on her hips.
“No,” Yoshi quickly replied, shutting the door in front of her. Unfortunately for Yoshi, the door stopped to an umbrella stuck between the door way. A brown eye stared through the crack. Her eye narrowed. “I’m not giving you a choice,” said the newmen in a dark tone. Yoshi wanted to bang his head on the wall again but at the same time didn’t want to wake Kerri.
“Isn’t there someone else you could spend the day with?” Yoshi asked before getting hit on the head with the newmen’s umbrella.
“No, I don’t and I refuse to spend the day with another newmen.”
“Okay, now you’re messing with me. You look down on us non-newmens and yet you refuse to stay with one. What sense does that make?”
“Don’t question my decisions and just accept the fact that I’m staying here,” she shouted.
“I’m not in the mood to be toyed with,” Yoshi shouted back, closing the door on her again. Ignoring any muffled comments made behind him, the sounds of stomping echoed outside. Two people then began to scream at each other. It was Kerri and she sounded mad. Upon hearing the sounds of Kerri getting physical with the newmen, he began to smile and returned to his makeshift bed.
During the daytime, Yoshi did his usual morning routines before heading out for the team ship. Though he would rather stay home to sleep some more, today was a day he couldn’t miss. As he stepped into the elevator, he didn’t bother to make a light conversation with his mag for once. Instead he stared into the mahogany wood, expecting it to turn transparent any moment now, so that he could just look into the cold and tranquil city. Concerned, his mag rested two of its four pointy prongs on his shoulder. For once, Yoshi didn’t wear his hat or his scarf. Instead, he wore a white navigator outfit. Like the female variant, it leggings were black but his was top white instead of the normal green. Gold trimmings decorated the suit and eight gold buttons, which served no real function other than to fulfill a tradition held since the days of old, lined up in two rows. A bit on the fancy side, Yoshi thought it would be a nice suit to wear for an event he had to attend. For it was the day he would meet his new navigators and pilots along with any other Arks operatives paired with the group.
When the elevator became glass, everything looked so peaceful in Ur. Not many vehicles roamed the city today and those that did moved at a casual or slow pace. If it were anymore empty, Yoshi would have begun to question if it was a holiday or not, though he wouldn’t care in the end. He didn’t feel like celebrating anything with anyone today. Not after what happened recently. He felt dead inside. He didn’t want to think about the pilots or the new navigators. Since he came back from Lillipa, the T-57 was stripped from him for becoming emotionally compromised. Meji claimed that he didn’t want Yoshi to use it risking the chance that he could have used it in a suicide attempt. Yoshi could understand this decision with him losing Ijiraku and all, much to his dismay. As for Lilliman, he was sent back to the Arks landing pad colony to live amongst his kind. So that he wouldn’t become an alien to his people and protect his cultured lifestyle. Lilliman didn’t put up much of a fight when the call was made. In fact this is what he wanted. So that he can continue his mission to assassinate rouge Lillipans who embrace the Darker ways, believing that technology is the work of evil and that the Darkers were divine punishers there to bring justice to the heretics.
Several minutes later, and many steps worth of travel, Yoshi finally stepped onto the well cleaned grounds of Celestial’s team ship. When Yoshi came back, he learned that the team had held a party that same day. He didn’t know what it was for nor did he care much either. All he knew was that it happened and he decided not to attend. Not that many of his team mates noticed anyways, a plus to Yoshi, due to them enjoying themselves far too much. As usual, everyone bounced around in the team ship, busy doing their given tasks. Only this time their tasks were ship related. Everyone was taking a day off it seemed. Going around, picking up their colorful mess from the day before. Watching everyone do work and quickly slacking off, Yoshi ended up feeling bad for the oversized Rappy who got stuck with cleaning duty. He was the only one who didn’t take a break and did his job naturally. Some of the team members tried to use photons and techniques to speed up their job. For some it worked, for others it only caused a bigger mess than before. Not everyone had to do work on the team ship though. Some of Yoshi’s team mate passed by, on their way for missions outside the ship. One of those people was Enforcer, who happened to be there to greet him by the transporter, a translucent clipboard in hand.
“Yoshi, what are you doing here?” he asked with concern. “You should be at your meeting by now.”
“I came to check in before doing anything else,” Yoshi replied with a shrug.
“While that’s all well and good, you could have checked in at a later time. You know this, Yoshi.”
“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll be on my way then.”
“Have a good one.”
Yoshi turned around. Then turned around once more, giving Enforcer a look of honest sincerity. “Hey, Enforcer. Take care of yourself, alright?”
Unsure what Yoshi was going on about, he replied, the clipboard waving in front of him, “Don’t worry about me. Hurry up and get going.”
So he did. Stepping back onto the transport pad, Yoshi vanished in a blink of an eye. Swimming through the blue corridor of surreal consciousness, he reappeared in the Arks shopping district of Ur. Looking around, Yoshi noticed plenty of people roaming about. Some checked their gear, a few bought items, others talked to the chef Franka, and everyone seemed to ignore a man with crimson hair, who seemed to be waiting for someone. Yoshi felt a bit bad for him but in the end, ended up doing the same. Walking past the unit shop, Yoshi traveled along a corridor in the back, behind the shops, to a single gray door near a waterfall which fell into a small pool surrounded by an assortment of flowers.
“Yoshi,” a voice shouted from behind. Yoshi looked around. It was Kerri; running in a scarlet ball gown, almost tripping in her ruby heels, she waved with one hand while the other held her dress up.
Yoshi stopped to wait for her, hoping she would stop running. “Looking lovely there, Kerri. You should wear a dress more often,” Yoshi warmly said, his arm held out to help her slow down.
“Oh stop,” Kerri bashfully replied. “Anyways, look at you, having women bug you so early in the morning,” smiled Kerri, giving Yoshi a punch to the shoulder.
“Heh, sorry about that.” Yoshi sheepishly replied. “It was just the oddities that come with the job.”
She tugged at his arm. “Strange times indeed,” said Kerri with a finger aimed at the door. “Well, let’s not keep them waiting. We’re already twenty minutes late.”
Stepping inside a red room, a small group of people chatted in a half circle. Some sat down, others stood next to each other. Those who did not take part in the circle chatted somewhere else nearby. In the end, all the guests stood by a blue virtual waterfall column surrounded by benches and flora, a few ads fell with the water. Due to large use of formal attire, Yoshi felt strange coming in with nothing but a mere navigator’s uniform. Regretting his decision, he feared one would now think that he was a navigator instead of a soldier. Looking back to Kerri, hoping she wasn’t giving him an odd look, he watched her shrug before letting go of her arm. As Kerri skipped away to join the others, a woman in a uniform swooped in from the side and shouted in Yoshi’s ear,
“Wonderful, everyone is here. Welcome, Team Zelatus. I hope you all get along well because in an ancient language, zelatus means jealousy and I hope that this team becomes the envy of every squad in the fleet; the epitome of what Arks and Oracle strives to be. Get to know each other well for each and every one of you will learn to rely on each other from here on out. Now shall I introduce every one of you or do you all wish to do it yourselves?” The woman asked with a smile. Everyone mumbled in response. Some looked to each other. Others looked away or to the floor, Yoshi being one of them.
“Honestly people,” the woman cried.
Kerri stepped forward. Pointing to herself with a thumb, she shouted, “Hiya everyone, I’m Kerri, your new pilot. I hope we get to bond so well that nothing bad will ever happen to us! Woo!” As she waved her arms in the air, she glared at Yoshi to follow up with his introduction. Yoshi sighed in despair.
“Hi, everyone. I’m Yoshi Blue. Your infantry dude. Take care of me all right?”
“Come on man. You got to have confidence in yourself. Show a little pride,” an older man said. “You say it like this. Hey, I’m James Fraser. Don’t let my white hair fool you because I’m also your team pilot and a good one at that. Let’s kick as much darker butt as we can, yeah?” Cupping his ear he added, “I can’t hear you!” Everyone made a weak and mixed cry of cheers. “Bah, you guys are no fun.”
“Hello,” a tanned man with dark green hair calmly said. “I am Elm Qusay, also a pilot. May your soul stay calm and the light smile on us all.” Having nothing more to say, he looked to a woman near him.
“Hi, I am Saburo, Aiko.” A black hair woman said with a bow. “I will be our navigator in charge of our kill and avoid operations. May our pray die swiftly and our aim precise.”
“The name’s Rio Actaeon, your navigator in charge of capture and collect missions. I’ll only ring in if I see something important,” a man with blond hair sternly said.
“And I am Mable Anacreon. The navigator who handles the odd information such as escorts and protection based ordeals,” a human with blue hair finished.
As everyone looked around to nod and shake hands, James shouted to the corner, “Hey you, boy. Get over here and make yourself known.”
“Why should I?” a man quietly said from behind a counter.
“Come on. Where’s your team spirit?”
“I have no team spirit. I don’t need any of you. Look if it makes you happy, I’m Arron. Don’t get in my way.”
“There is always one,” the woman in the uniform said with sorrow. “Anyways, in this room, you are fee to mingle around and get to know one another. Drinks and snacks are on table in the back, music will be play in case you wish to dance and you may return here if ever a conversation is needed. Through that blocked off door, operatives and crew members may make a request should your team need anything to improve their performance. You can switch around your roles, modify your ships for future missions or request a completely new craft. However, you will need to provide identification to enter. I am sad to say that there has been sabotage attempts made in the past and have forced us to up the security. If there any other question, please do ask them now. Should you have any in the future, my contact information can be found in the other room. Have a nice day everyone.”
With the introductions concluded, everyone returned to their circles. Watching Kerri join the women who chatted to each other earlier, Yoshi stuck his hands in his pockets and turned to walk outside. Just as he was about to go out the door, James stopped him with a hand firmly gripping his shoulder.
“Hey kid,” James said. “Would your real last name happen to be Xol?”
“What makes you ask me that?” Yoshi asked, his eyes looking over his shoulder.
“Nothing really big, you just remind me of someone I knew. A punk who wasted his life in clubs drinking and flirting with women. Not that I’m saying you do that. Heck, the fact that you got involved with Arks in the first place would have been a sight to behold for someone I knew”
“Can’t say I know anyone like that.” Yoshi responded, trying to hide his curiosity.
“Look if you’re an earth-diga-whatever you call it user, watch yourself alright? Seems both sides want that power but don’t want to admit it. Claims about balance and sealing things but the only thing I can think of is plumbing. And I doubt Darkers use toilets.”
Yoshi turned around filled with questions. Questions he was afraid to ask. “Did something happen to someone you know?”
“Yeah,” James said, looking to the floor. “He wasn’t a friend of mine but I saw some strange people asked a man about loyalty and sides. When he refused to answer, they killed him; left quite a bloody mess too. I don’t want you to end up like that guy, got it?”
Eyes tossing in thought, Yoshi looked to the man with a smile and replied, “I think we should look out for each other in general. I’ll try not to go crazy with the missions. Give you time to repair your ship.”
“Aye, that would be nice. Thank you. Though, you would be keeping the lasses waiting. Not something you would want to do.”
Laughing, Yoshi left the room. Back out into the hallway, into an elevator, he made his way to the city streets below the shopping area so that he may return home for a change of clothes. Or so that was his excuse. Taking the time for a soda break, he noticed a crowd of people cry in fear of something. Wondering what was going on, he sat his cold can on a nearby bench and ran into a large crowd. It could have been a Degan or something worse and with Ur being an Arks ship, he figured he had the authority to respond to the situation without any needed confirmation. Pushing through the crowd, he reached the center of the formation to notice a newmen male holding a familiar rifle under his chin. Much like the female he saw in the desert, he also had jet black hair.
“The hell is going on with these newmens?” Yoshi whispered under his breath. Just as Yoshi was about to repeat what he did for the woman on Lillipa, the newmen immediately sat up with the rifle pointed at him. “Oh, come on, not this again.” Yoshi cried.
“You there, who are you?” the newnem male demanded in a shaky voice.
“Just an Arks operative trying to handle the situation. Are you alright? Do you need to talk to someone?”
“Are you a newmen pretending to be human?” the man demanded.
“No.”
“Were your parents born newmen?”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t remember them.”
The newmen rushed to grab Yoshi, pulling him away from the crowd. “You, take me to your place. We have matters of importance to discuss.”
Before long, the two entered Yoshi’s room. Looking around, the newmen showed several signs of disapproval. “I knew humans were cavemen but I didn’t think they would be satisfied with living in bare rooms. I guess they don’t waste any money on trash.” About to kick the partner machine stand, Yoshi blocked the newmen’s leg with a leg of his own and said in a threatening tone,
“No one…touches the podium.”
“As you wish,” the newmen replied. The newmen placed a hand in his pocket to pull out a lint brush. Lowering it near his leg, he waved it back and forth as he said, “I’m curious about your aura.”
“Didn’t know I had an aura and if I did, I don’t see anything special about it.”
“It is an aura normally reserved for newmens but can also be provided by others highly proficient with techniques. A rather powerful force if you will. Highly sought after by those who wish to not to be followed by fellow newmens. I laugh that such a thought would ever cross our minds. Tell me human, have you seen a female newmen by any chance; black hair and language of the most refined? Beauty of which you have never seen before?”
“Maybe,” Yoshi responded. He wanted to say no but instead said, “She may come around looking for me.”
“Good I shall wait here than in thing you call a room. Really, if they are going to give you a room like this, they may as well stick your lot in kennels. Human, fetch me a glass of wine. I thirst.”
“Eh, sure,” Yoshi replied, holding back his urge to punch the newmen in the face.
As Yoshi made his way to a panel on the wall, so that he could summon a glass, he paused to a well timed beep at the door. “I got it,” Yoshi said. Opening the door, a shivering newmen stood outside. Her eyes wide open, as if asking for his help. The newmen male, leaning to the side for a better view, kicked off his chair, shouting,“Yvonna!”
“Oh no,” the female newmen replied. She closed the door. Making several stomping sound outside Yoshi’s doorway, the cowboy was ungratefully pushed to the wall by his guest. Angry, Yoshi shook his fist, tempted to chase after his so that he could give him a real good punch in the jaw. Placing his fist on his forehead to hold himself back, he sighed and looked to the ceiling. His eyes turned into serious ones. The newmen girl called Yvonna clung to the ceiling, using the surrounding walls to support her. She dropped, Yoshi freaked out, arms held out to catch her.
“The heck is going on?” Yoshi cried to the scared newmen female.
“Let me in and I’ll tell you. Please put me down,” she nervously asked.
He did. Walking her into the room, Yoshi handed to her a glass of water and a wooden chair. “Alright, what do you wish to tell me?”
“As you already know, I came from the Melchior. A ship of privilege newmens who’s social status are normally determined by hair color and actions. Each striving to produce off springs of various unknown abilities I guess you could say. I don’t know what my family’s ability is and don’t care either, but I wanted no more to do with it.” She stopped, coiling a little in fear. “Can I trust you? Do you promise to never speak a word of this to any other soul?”
“Not like I talk to many people, so I guess,” Yoshi sighed.
“For generations, my whole family linage, we have never been known to travel far for love. Because of this, I fled. I no longer wish to be a part of my family’s tradition. To be married off to someone I don’t love in that manner. They say that newmens don’t last long outside the Melchior; that they are punished by divine retribution. But they were wrong. They were right about not lasting long, but they were wrong about holy death, about how the holy light will smite you from the heavens. I thought I could handle it, that I can best my punisher; that I could defy fate and live a new life away from the madness. But in the end, I learned that it was me who I feared. I was my own executioner. One moment, I’m fine, the next, I’m filled with thoughts of killing myself; regrets, loss, rejections. Just when I was about to pull the trigger, you came. You saved me. Yes, I wanted to kill you, for being a human, a stranger, someone who just came up out of nowhere. But I didn’t. What honorable and proud newmen would I be if I were to kill the very person who kept me alive?”
“So I’m going to assume that’s why you wanted to stay inside my room?” Yoshi replied, taking a sip from a coffee mug.
“Indeed. So, for saving my life, I am willing to give the chance of a higher standard of living. I want you to become my servant, my butler if you will. Think of all the things you could be doing. You can go to the same parties as me, sample the same foods and even wear our fancy clothes. A fair deal if I do say so myself.”
“Thanks but no thanks,” Yoshi responded in an instant. “I’d rather not abandon everyone I know, let alone live life on a leash.”
“A small price to pay for nobility and honor, I assure you.”
Yoshi lifted both arms in front of him. “Look, this isn’t the Melchior. Things don’t work the same way here as they do there.” As the newmen was about to complain, Yoshi pressed his coffee mug against her lips. “Living in my room is one thing, being a servant is another. If you want this friendship to work, you’re going to have to settle with just the room.” Yoshi reached into the air to summon a plastic ticket, black with cyan lights shining on the edges. Flicking it towards her, he continued, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but here’s your room pass. Stick in the wall over there; get a room all to yourself. Otherwise I have nothing more to say to you.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this just to understand newmen girls…”
- Filler -Spoiler!“You gave to her his address?” Leanna screamed, at the top of her lungs, to a man calmly sitting with tea in his hand. She moved about furiously. Paced behind the usual sofa she sat on. Staring into his drink, Kazamir sat on an identical sofa across a regal coffee table. Sipping his cup of tea, he quietly muttered a happy hum as he did. Spending a minute or two going back and forth within the dimly lit room, the female newmen tug her silky white curtains closed, hoping to relieve some of the stress she felt. She clapped loudly the next moment. Regal lights from above glowed to life, shining over a white coffee table and two sofas. Her emerald floral patterned carpet slightly glowed underneath it all.
“I didn’t see any harm in doing so,” Kazamir replied in an innocent tone, refusing to look at the newmen.
Leanna stopped to furiously beam down on the dewmen. “What in your right mind made you think that was a good idea?” she said, holding back her anger.
“I figured she would move on.” Kazamir took another sip.
“You fool. You should already know full well that she won’t. I wish I could have seen into your mind so that I can properly punish you for thinking that was a good idea.”
“If it’s Yoshi, he may be doing his best to avoid her at this moment. After all, he did leave her behind in that room.”
“Yes,” Leanna thoughtfully said. “Maybe, you’re right. She will be a nuisance but I have faith that he will do good.”
– One week earlier –
“Kazamir, I can’t help but notice that you tend to treat others with little regard. As if you never care whether or not they survive,” said Leanna sipping a cup of tea while smiling at the dewmen in front of her.
“What makes you bring this up?” Kazamir asked with raised eyebrows.
“I’m curious. What is Kerri to you? Is she just another person? Someone you can easily replace should she parish?”
“And what if I do?” Kazamir gently placed his cup on the table.
“I wondered. What if Yoshi succeeded in winning her heart? They would make a lovely couple don’t you think?” Leanna responded in an endearing tone.
“Surely you are joking,” the dewmen chuckled. “I know full well that you would not allow such a union.”
“Is that so? Did you know some families believe in polygamy? I think she would bring much excitement to his life. Spunky, fully of life, willing to drag him anywhere on an adventure; she would make for a great wife if not an exciting one.”
“Please stop,” Kazamir quietly requested, feeling sick to his stomach.
“Oh and think of the children. I think she would pump out at least two, maybe three, even four by the time they’re done. And they would be the cutest little things.” Leanna wore a sly face and wiggled her clasped hands for added effect.
“I said enough,” Kazamir shouted, lifting from his seat, slamming on the table with hesitant anger.
– One Week Later –
“I’ll try not to let it happen again. Anyways, I am confident that Yoshi will choose Marean in the end. After all, you did say you knew what you were doing,” Kazamir concluded. Finished with his cup, he lifted from his chair, picked the tea set from the table and left to wash the dishes.
- Filler -Spoiler!“Why are you dragging me all the way to the city’s shopping center?” Yoshi asked.
Roaming about in an enclosed building, he and his companion passed by many energetic stores, each decorated with unique and colorful signs. In their journey, Yoshi noticed that some came with plain entrances and some were built with extravagant ones hoping to lure in a customer. Complementing these shops, the building itself. Towering high above their heads, a stain glass ceiling colored the floor below. Many odd shapes dangled from the roof, adding to the effect, swinging to the current of artificial breezes. Thanks to this, the people and the floor experience a kaleidoscope adventure as they passed through the well-lit area. Tugging at Yoshi arm was Kerri who brought him to this establishment. With the two wearing casual clothes for once, it made Yoshi feel odd being in a crowd of people. Going out in public without any reason for doing so isn’t something he normally did. While Kerri dragged him around for most of the time, sometimes Yoshi had to be the one to tug Kerri’s arm when she got too distracted by objects of awe and beauty. Waking to the sound of Yoshi’s voice, she looked to him before leading the way once more.
“Because you need to get out more, Yoshi,” Kerri replied. She stopped at a map. As she traced the map with a pen, she stuck a piece of paper between her fingers. Yoshi, who took the time to observe the map as well, noticed that this was only the one of four themes the building had. Guessing by the images presented on the map, he learned that the right wing was the glass hall; the hall they were in. On the left side of the building, opposite to their current location, an underwater themed hall. North bound seemed to be a steampunk hall and the south seemed to be a hall of media. At certain points of the building, there would be ports to underground shuttles that drove people in between halls, while giving a sense of space flight during their trip. Yoshi silently nodded in approval. He was a bit impressed by how much effort was placed into this shopping area. Taking a short glace around, every glistening store in the hallway seemed to be entirely of glass, with nothing but decorations and fancy entrance pillars and gateways to define themselves. Thinking on it, a glass hall seemed too risky to have. Yoshi guessed maybe it wasn’t glass after all. Maybe everything came in something stronger, such as transparent metals and fibers. He didn’t think too hard on it though. Having his fill of the map, Yoshi replied,
“But I do get out. I’ve been out of the field doing Arks stuff and keeping track of the times.”
“Oh, look at me,” Kerri responded in a mocking tone. “My life is so exciting working alone. I shoot things, wear cowboy stuff, ride wolves to get places, fly all the ships, eat all the food I want and save lives. My life is too great for anything else.” Kerri spun around. Her hand fiercely gripped Yoshi by the collar and began to shake him. “You need to get out with your friends. You know, become stronger through team bonding. Make connections and maybe even find a girlfriend.”
“Then why didn’t you invite anyone else?”
“Everyone said they were too busy,” whined Kerried. “Rio had paper work to fill out, James had his grandson to take care of, Elm had some spiritual meeting he couldn’t miss, Arron is a downer, Mable hung up on me, and Aiko was filling in for another navigator. But you, you don’t have an excuse and that’s why you are here.” She said with a smile, letting go of Yoshi.
“Gee, I’m feeling more loved by the minute,” Yoshi said sarcastically, his head leaned away from her. As soon as he looked back at Kerri, he flinched to a finger almost going up his nose.
“Hey, I want to make this very clear to you. Just because it’s just us two doesn’t mean anything, okay? Keep in mind that I’m already taken. So no funny ideas, got it?”
“I think I got the memo since day one.” Yoshi replied with rolling shoulders, his hands sinking into his pockets. “Anyways, let’s go into that shop then,” he added, pointing with his nose to a two stain glass columned store.
“Glass World?”
“Yeah.”
So they did. As they entered, Yoshi attempted to stray away, pretending to be distracted by something. It didn’t work. Kerri was faster. Spotting something she liked, she grabbed Yoshi by the arm and dragged him away against his will.
“Stain glass furniture, pretty cool huh?” Kerri asked while she loomed over a table.
“Would be nice to own,” Yoshi commented without paying attention. Distracting him from all the furniture, he believed he saw a pair of eyes watching him from behind a tornado simulation tube. Cautious, Yoshi become more alert of his surroundings. Though it was hard to do when harshly tugged at everywhere he went. Throughout their visit in the store, he continued to feel a presence. Yoshi didn’t like it. Finally free when Kerri had to use the restroom, Yoshi kept an eye out pretending to look at the lava lamps nearby. Several minutes went by and he no longer seen those eyes. However, the thought that a presence of somebody was still nearby continued to bug him. After a while, Yoshi began to think he was just being paranoid, believing that Kerri was right all along. That he did need to get out more. He tried to relax. He dropped his guard, staring into a multi-tubed lava lamp with extreme focus. Almost to the point of day dreaming, he jumped in his skin as soon as a voice said,
“Lava lamps, huh? Lame. Obviously aquariums are the way to go.”
Almost feeling insulted, Yoshi replied quickly with, “Lava lamps are the cheaper option though and are therefore better.”
“Who needs cheap lava lamps when you can get a stain glass aquarium?” Kerri countered. An arm rose, pointing at the tanks of fish behind them.
“Wouldn’t it be kinda hard to see the fish?” Yoshi asked with arms crossed.
“Okay then, how about a disco ball? Get your groove on by your fishes,” said Kerri, dancing in place with arms rolling over each other.
“How about I do you one better? That.”
Pointing behind her, a giant tank of water holding schools of fish occupied the back wall. Cleverly blocked off by wooden beams and glass signs, one would never have seen it from the front entrance.
“Wow” they both said at the same time. Looking towards the ceiling, they wondered if it went into any higher floors. They wouldn’t have been surprised if it reached the roof of the building. Mesmerized by the life within it, Yoshi began to imagine him swimming with the school of fish. Shifting and swirling at high speeds. Meanwhile Kerri imagined her punching sharks and other sea life in the nose.
“So are you going to buy me that?” Kerri asked.
“No.”
“Aw.”
Lurking in the shadows, Kazamir sat behind a glass sign with a white notepad in hand.
“Note to self, Kerri has a thing for colored glass.”
- Filler -Spoiler!
It took a while to get use to the name, but eventually she came to accept it. It was unique. The name gave her a strange sense of uniqueness. From time to time, she would scribble her name on various places, on rocks, in sand, onto metals and in the starry sky; hoping to remember it. She even tried to make a fancy signature to call her very own. Now was one of those times. On her knees, carefully etching her name with a stone pen, she hovered closely over a blue rock. Holding her breathe, she tried to stay as stiff as possible so she wouldn’t make a mistake. For this time, the etching of her name held importance. A finger on gold plate the size of a nail clipper, she dragged it across the rock when her hand hit the receiver of a disassembled gunslash.
The moon aided her in her task. Blessing her with a spotlight from high above, it made sure to make every part sparkled in the moonlight. Sorted in a way that resembled the weapon it original came as; wands, rods and gunslashes decorated the blue rock as Arethusa scribbled in between them all. She laid her etching tool down and smiled. Rising away from the rock, she lifted the gold plate to see her cheery ace reflected behind a name. Satisfied with the work, she placed it down on a wooden hilt nearby.
“What are you doing?” A voice asked from behind.
Arethusa turned around. Standing closely behind was her mother, Tuhina. The girl looked down, saw a bag of syringes, grimaced, then quickly looked up with a smiled.
“Dad taught me how to take apart and clean gunslashes. So since I’m a force, I figured I could modify one to shoot elemental bolts instead of whatever lame bolts we normally shoot.”
“Why a gunslash though?” Tuhina asked, overlooking all the parts. She froze. Her stomach twisted upon seeing a gold nameplate on a wooden handle. “Surely you could improve a rod or a wand instead,” Tuhina said, slowly returning her gaze onto her daughter.
“But I want to be just like dad.” Arethusa cheered. “I want to be a gun slinging cowgirl who takes down the bad guys and leads a team of pretty cool people. But with magic.”
“No,” Tuhina spat. “That weapon is far too dangerous to use.”
“But mom, I can handle it. If Dad were here, he would have let me.”
“Dad is not teaching you how to handle techniques,” Tuhina scolded. Moving to her daughter’s side, she knocked all the parts off the rock and said, “You are a force, Arethusa; not a swordsmen, not a cowgirl. When you have mastered your use of techniques, you will use a proper weapon that will better suit your way of combat. Your father would have said the same.”
“How do you know? You’re not him,” Arethusa cried. Her rebellious eye pierced into her mother’s soul.
“I just know!”
Tuhina stormed away. Water splashed everywhere. Any creature who peeped on the two ran in fear or sorrow. Walking a good distance away from her daughter, Tuhina rested her head on a wall nearby and looked to the starry sky. Wondering what Yoshi would have really said and what future they could really have had.
“Mom,” said Arethusa quietly. “You keep saying how you want to see dad. Why haven’t we ever left this boring place to go see him? You have enough of those things to keep you from going into a rampage for weeks, don’t you?”
Tuhina didn’t answer. After hearing her daughter’s words, blood began to drain from her tear soaked face. The screams of the dead echoed in her head. She didn’t want to be reminded of the disappointments of her past. Watching her mother walk away, Arethusa stood up with an arm reach raised but didn’t follow. So she turned around, to see how far everything scattered in her mother’s rage. To her relief, the name plate still floated on top of the wooden stock. Shrugging, she thought to herself, “Well, it’s a good thing I still have a prototype.” Roaming around, picking up as many part as she could recovery, she imagined what her dad would have really said.
“Hey dad,” an imaginary Arethusa said.
“Yeah, sweety?” An imaginary Yoshi asked.
“Mom says I can’t use my new gunslash. You think that’s dumb right? You think it’s okay that I use a gunslash, right?”
“Hey, your mother is only looking out for your safety, but I don’t see why not? You can use your gunslash whenever you want.”
“Absolutely not,” an imaginary Tuhina interrupted. “What makes you think it’s a good idea for her to use that thing? What if it blows up in here face?”
“Then I’ll try it out. I mean if it blows up, the line shield would just soak up most of the damage,” Yoshi replied.
“You are not going out to get yourself blown up using her contraption, you hear me? What kind of role model does that? Arethusa, give me the gunslash this instant.”
“But mom,” Arethusa cried.
“No butts.” Tuhina scolded. After sounds of an imaginary gunslash being handed off were heard, imaginary footsteps followed after, growing more distant with each step.
“Don’t worry,” imaginary Yoshi said in a comforting tone. “I’ll get it back so we can shoot it planet side, okay?”
“Yay, you’re the best dad.”
Last edited by yoshiblue; Oct 7, 2015 at 10:02 PM.
Author Note into ExtraSpoiler!Out of all the times I felt I could have used a better song instead, Arethusa's battle music is probably the worst case i've had.
- Hunting Beasties: Part I -Spoiler!“I am perplexed. Thanks to the data you have provided me, I now struggle to find a connection. Records have shown that roughly 380,000 confirmed diga users have been executed in the past four months. For crimes that would never have seen the call for the death penalty. Yet in the end, they all perished for their petty crimes. Looking further into your report, it says that they were incarcerated. How can they be imprisoned if they are all dead? Your findings intrigue me. Some of these trials lack recordings and evidence. Some even have failed to record when and where these trials took place. Is there an error on your part, or theirs? What have these diga users done to deserve this fate? Why did you isolate data for only those particular people? Is the boy one of these people? What did you seek to gain from this information I wonder? To wonder, ha ha. Sadly, that is all I can do.”
_
She was hesitant at first, almost outright refusing the offer, but Yvonna decided to take Yoshi’s offer in the end. When the newmen removed the ticket from Yoshi’s gloved hands, he redirected her to a console attached to a wall. Gray, a large green orb embedded within its sleek and shiny frame, she nervously watched the reflective orb absorb the blue ticket that she poked it with. As she did, a pulse rippled through the orb as water would when disturbed by a finger. Unsure, a little scared as to what happens next, Yvonna turned to Yoshi for guidance; who sat behind her with both legs wrapped around a minimalistic back rest. A coffee mug held in one hand. Using his free arm, Yoshi guided her vision to the door on the right, his palm held immediately open after when the newmen stepped forward. Paused, muttering sounds worry, she watched as the door glowed to life. A faint humming sound followed after until what seemed to be minute or two. By time the humming died down, the door’s lights flash green three times and returned to its dormant state, returning to its gray hue behind the clear plastic.
For the rest of the day, Yoshi allowed her to remodel the room how she saw fit. Eagar to leave, he hastily showed her the extra features her room offered; summoning the kitchen, the bathroom and the window’s shutters all at once. After which he left as soon as he could. He didn’t want to bother Yvonna in the designing of her room. He didn’t feel like getting his ear chewed off either. So to take his mind of his troubles, Yoshi returned to the teamship, where he did what he could when requested work by the team. When no more work could be found, he aided a few people in their quests. That didn’t last long either. Desperate to keep himself from thinking of the events of yesterday, Yoshi grabbed an exploration mission for a quiet stroll in the breezy forest of Naberius; hoping to find freedom and inner peace. His freedom didn’t last long however. Just as he was finally beginning to enjoy the carefree feelings and warm sun rays, Yvonna soon arrived to follow Yoshi around for the rest of the day. She bossed him around, complaining about so many trivial things that Yoshi began to ignore her. From time to time she would ask him to buy her furniture after she had found out that her funds were cut off from the family. By the time to two returned home, Yvonna immediately locked herself in her room, leaving Yoshi to sit in the moonlight like he always did. This seemed familiar to Yoshi. He felt odd inside and didn’t like it. It made him wonder why she would do this. Too exhausted to think on it, Yoshi instead attempted to sleep, trying to ease the pain he felt in his heart.
The next morning, Yoshi was rudely awakened by the shouting of his roommate’s muffle calls. “Human,” Yvonna’s muffled words said from the other side of a grey wall. “Human! Human, I require your services. Human.”
“Ugh,” Yoshi groaned. Rubbing his eyes, he rocked his head against the podium he slept on. Waking up, he stretched his arms, pushed off with his back, jumped onto his feet and stumbled towards the door. Upon reaching the doorframe, he crashed against the wall and slammed a weary fist on a green button. The door split open. Swinging inside, a hand clutching the protruding frame so that he wouldn’t fall, he glared at the newmen who stared back at him, tucked in neatly within her sheets.
“Can I help you?” Yoshi bellowed.
“Human, I hunger. Prepare for me a meal this instant.”
Yoshi opened his lips but paused, a finger held pointing in the air. Thinking for a bit, he smirked and walked to the console in her room. “Alright,” he said, "but you’re going to regret it.” A few minutes later, after cooking something in a frying pan, Yoshi turned, walked to the newmen and handed her a plate of French toast.
“What is this?” Yvonna cried. “Human, I asked you to make me breakfast, not a peasant’s snack.” Unhappy with the simplicity of the dish presented to her, she tossed it aside.
“For the last time, its Yoshi, I warned you and that’s torrija. Enjoy.” Yoshi said, his arms in the air as he walked away.
“Where are you going?” Yvonna cried, her twisted in a knot. “I demand a real dish.”
“Make it yourself,” Yoshi responded before shutting the door behind him.
Ignoring any further demands, Yoshi went on to perform his usual morning rituals. Clean, stretched and clothed, he sat at a small and brown plastic table looking at a newspaper. As Yvonna stepped inside, she first thought that he was simply reading a transparent panel filled with words, but what he was really waiting for was for someone to pick up a call. After what seemed to be his third attempt, someone finally answered. The person wasn’t very happy however as Yoshi cringed for the next few seconds.
“Marean,” Yoshi said, trying to end the screaming in his ear. “Marean, I’m sorry, okay? Yes, I know. Marean, listen to me….. Don’t worry abo-….. I’ll make it up to you. If you need me for anything, let me know and I’ll-….. Okay….. okay. It was nice talking to-…..”
Marean ended the call. Saddened, Yoshi placed a hand on his forehead, resting an elbow on the table. Feeling as if he got nowhere in his brief conversation, he let off a large gust of air before sinking his head into his arms. Seeing this, Yvonna felt tempted to make a joke. To kick him while he was down, but she couldn’t. Something within her told her not to. Obeying her inner voice, she receded back into her room without a sound.
-
“You said to meet up with you in the hanger. Was there something you needed help with?” Yoshi asked, walking towards a man standing behind a purring B-02. Turning around, the man revealed himself to be James, now wearing the standard Arks blue and white pilot uniform. A suit Reinhardt would normally wear only in a different color. As James turned, their other pilot, Elm stepped down the ramp, a black tool box bouncing in hand.
“Nah, the ship is all set to take off at any time,” waved James. “We’d do the usual load up the camp ship, pick up the operatives later routine but this case is a special case. You been asked to- do some field training. But because you aren’t just another new cadet, we got to fly you in separately.”
“And because this is just a simulation run, you will only have one navigator assisting you for the time being. I believe it is Aiko who will be accompanying you.” Elm added. He looked to himself, sinking his right hand into a pocket. Upon pulling his it back out, a necklace dangling in hand, made of wood, bobbing from a thin piece of black rope with all sorts of markings carved into it. Now held in the air, Elm walked toward Yoshi. “Here,” he said, presenting the necklace to the man, “a good luck charm to ward away evil entities. When you are in need of aid, do not be afraid to seek the guidance of your ancestors.”
“Thanks.” Yoshi replied, taking the gift. Showing his gratitude, Yoshi immediately placed the necklace around his neck and nodded.
“So, who’s your lady friend?” James asked with a smug face as Elm handed another necklace to her. Yvonna however was not so happy receiving his gift.
“James, Yvonna Boga. Yvonna, James Fraser,” Yoshi greeted the two in a reluctant tone.
“I will be accompanying him on all further missions.” Yvonna imperiously added.
“I see,” James frown. Scratching the back of his head with one hand, James gestured the two to walk up the ramp using the other. “Well, let’s get this show on the road. Elm, you take care of yourself. Wouldn’t need the kids to rescue you on their training run as well.”
“Is there something bothering you, James?” Elm asked, giving a slight bow. “Inner peace is important for maintaining a healthy body.”
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing. Maybe I’ll tell you about it later though. In the meantime, I’ll be seeing you planet side.”
Before James headed off to leathery pilot chair, the two gave one finally farewell. When the vessel’s doors sealed shut, James lifted off the reflective ebony floors and headed to a camp ship waiting outside in space. It bay doors held wide open, welcoming them inside. Sitting snuggly next to another transport of a different model, the camp ship closed its bay doors and dissented into a water portal, heading on its way to the lush planet Naberius. Yoshi, now stuck in a ship within a ship, couldn’t see what was going on outside. He had forgotten the codes and tricks that would have allowed him access to the cameras and windows of other vehicles. Having nothing to do, all he could do was sit back and enjoy the ride. Bored however, he leaned forward to see Yvonna applying make up in front of a glowing mirror.
“Couldn’t you have done that back home?” Yoshi asked, eyes rolling and his back resting against the unusually soft space craft interior. “It’s not like we’re going to a party.”
“Ignorant rat, I would have if you weren’t so keen on leaving so soon.”
“Hey, those insults aren’t getting you anywhere. You got to learn to relax.”
“Me slapping you is what you’re going to be learning soon.”
“Go ahead and see what happens.”
“I can still hear you two you know.” James butted in over the hidden speakers. “If it makes you feel any better, we’re already inside the planet’s atmosphere. May be a good idea to start stretching or at least sort out your equipment."
“Oh I’ll be stretching alright. Stretching this peasant’s tongue so he knows when to hold it times over.”
Yoshi chuckled at her insult. Wiping a tear from his eye, he smile and asked, “So are we going to land in a separate location as well?”
“In one of our safer routes, yes. While it is our job to take on Darkers, it would be best to steer clear of them for this mission. Just keep in mind that if anything shows up, you’re on your own. So stay alert”
“A strange way to prepare a team for something. Shouldn’t Arron be with us for this trip?”
“As you may have guessed, Arron requested a separate mission; which is why you had the pleasure to see Elm today.”
“Right.”
“Alright, we’re approaching the landing zone, prepare for dispatch.”
Now on their feet, they began to shield their eyes from the sun that now flooded their small room. Gaps increasing in size, looking past the brilliant light, they could faintly make out details of the forest outside as the transport’s doors lowered to the floor. The ship stopped to hover just above the dirt floor. Moving to step off, Yoshi felt the B-02’s very faint sway as he walked forward. Looking back, Yoshi offered a hand to his newman teammate only for it to be slapped away shortly after.
Waving his hand, Yoshi shouted to the B-02, “Alright, you are clear to take off.”
“You two stay safe now,” James responded, taking his airship up and over the thick forest. “I’ll be watching from the skies.”
“Hello again,” a female voice said shortly after. “This is Aiko. Your first objective is to enter a nearby cave and clear anything that may prove to be a threat. Nice, simple, easy to do. If nothing appears, then think of it as a jog to get the heart pumping and continue on.”
“Alright, heading into the cave,” Yoshi replied with two fingers pressed against his ear. Yoshi turned around. Facing Yvonna, Yoshi smiled and asked in a light tone, “You ready for a walk in the park?”
“Ugh, just what I needed. A jester to accompany me,” Yvonna groaned.
“Hey, if we’re going to be working together from now on, we may as well start to get along, right?” Yoshi asked with a weak smile, fingers tightly pressed against his palm.
“Would you stop talking and move already?”
Taking the lead, Yoshi treated the trip as if he was on his own. Speedily entering a moss covered tunnel, Yoshi knocked the rod off his back, twirling it around his arm as he would with a pole staff. Poking an eye around a rocky bend, he peeked into a clearing which lead to yet another cave on the other side. Between him and his next destination were a few patches of tall grass and a few trees growing within a gulch. Moving forward like an assassin creeping against the wall, Yoshi held his rod forward to blast anything that tried to get the jump on him, but as he strayed into the sunlight, nothing showed up. The clearing held nothing for him to fight. Only a lone Nab Rappy sleeping behind a bush. Waking up suddenly, Yoshi awkwardly waved at it, crouching, trying not to make another sound hoping it was just half asleep. Amazingly to Yoshi, it waved back, got up and waddled away.
“Why didn’t you burn it with fire?” Yvonna whisper with irritation, smacking Yoshi’s arm.
“I’m not going to kill a dude trying to chillax in the shade.” Yoshi whispered back, tapping the newmen’s forehead with his staff.
Angered, she grabbed Yoshi weapon, raised a rifled with her other arm and whispered, “Do that again, I dare you.”
“Please refrain from harming your fellow squad mates.” Aiko monotonously interrupted.
“He started it,” Yvonna cried.
“And you are a grown woman who is capable of making thoughtful and wise decisions,” Aiko shot back. After a short pause, she then alerted the two. “Careful, something large is approaching your position. Prepare for an ambush.”
Soon after, a large Banther, a wolf like creature with purple dagger sized claws, yellow stripes decorating it gray fur and a large yellow mane flying in the wind, jumped from over the rocky wall and into the clearing. While as menacing as the rest of its kind, something seemed off to Yoshi. Its frame and mane were too small and its claws didn’t seem as sharp as they should be. As it roared, Aiko shouted to Yoshi,
“Initiating Emergency Code: Dual. As Elm would say, may your ancestors guide you to victory.”
“If I didn’t know any better,” James snidely interrupted. “I’d say you and Elm have known each other for a while now.”
Yoshi scuttled to Yvonna. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he pulled her close to his head and whispered, “I’ll distract it and you deal the damage.”
“What are you stupid? I’ll draw its attention, you dish out the pain,” Yvonna whispered back.
Pushing Yoshi aside, she began to open fire. Allowing her to do as she wished, Yoshi ran off to gain an ideal spot to attack from. However, he slowed down. Distracted by Yvonna’s choice of wasting all of her ammo, Yoshi felt compelled to say something, but he chose not to. He didn’t want to risk caching the beast’s attention. Soon after, the rifle began to produce clicking noises, causing the newmen to panic in fear. She needed to reload. Resisting the need to hit his own face, Yoshi threw a flurry of hot foie bolts at the beast’s head. It worked. The predator glared at Yoshi with its glowing yellow eyes and made a dive for him. Ducking just in time, Yoshi watched the creature slide across the dirt, uprooting the grass underneath it. Entering a prone like stance, chunks of rock flew in the air as the Banther leaped for a second pass. Still knelling on the ground, Yoshi rolled underneath but still felt something hit his head. He watched his ten gallon hat launch off his head. Checking to see if the Banther prepared for a third strike, Yoshi made a mad dash to recover his hat.
“Try to stay calm,” Yoshi shouted while passing by. “Reload and fire in bursts of three to five. Make sure to aim down the iron sights.”
“I know that you imbecile.”
“Then get it right. You got more than just bullets you know,” Yoshi said, dodging swipe after swipe. Tired of the beast’s hit and run tactics, Yoshi drew his gunslash and blasted his way into the air. Gaining enough distance between him and the Banther, Yoshi swapped his weapons once more and blasted the air to gain more distance. Angered, the Banther roared in rage, not know that this would prove to be its fatal mistake. Because it chose to roar at the two, it had allowed Yvonna to land a weak bullet on its head. These types of bullets increased the power of photons used on the area where the bullet made its impact.
“Its head is extra sensitive now. Wail on it!” Yvonna shouted.
Yoshi began to charge a namegid on it. Watching the purple mark glow from purple to white, it exploded in a beautiful glow of dark energy, causing the Banther to collapse on the floor. Inching forward, Yoshi poked at the downed creature to ensure that it wasn’t playing dead. It no longer budged. Yoshi checked for a pulse, to see if the Banther still breathes. It didn’t. Slumping onto it, Yoshi said in relief, “Well, that went smoother than I thought it would have. Nice work, Yvonna.”
“Careful,” Aiko interrupted. “There is another large creature nearby. Initiation Crossover: Dual.”
“Yoshi, that thing is a Bantha Donna. Do not let that her escape alive. There are still cadets in this area. You got that.” James pleaded.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Yoshi replied. “Strange that the Banther went first then.”
As Yoshi raised his rod, a creature crashed into the dirt behind him. Frightened, Yoshi scampered away from the area. Running away, Yoshi turned to face the creature in fear that it may slash at his back. The Bantha looked furious. Breathing heavily, it began to scream at Yoshi. Producing a roar so powerful, it shattered the ground underneath it. Pushing off the dirt, the Bantha seemed to dive for Yoshi, only to sharply twist halfway in the process, redirecting its path to Yvonna instead. Caught off guard, Yoshi tried to regain its attention by unleashing another barrage of foie. He failed. Unfazed by the balls of fire, the Bantha continued its earthshaking dash towards the female newmen. Diving in fear, the newmen tried to escape but the Bantha continued its attack. In short leaps and slashes, scratching at Yvonna, the Bantha dragged the newmen across the dusty floor with a paw. Knocking the rifle out of her hands, it quickly crushed the gun under its foot, snapping it in two. As if the Bantha planned this from the start, the beast glared at Yoshi and charged towards the cowboy who threw fire at it.
Yoshi didn’t trust his skill as a force to keep him safe from the Bantha. Instead he whipped out his gunslash to repeated the same tactics used against the Banther. The Bantha was ready however. Mixing up her approaches, the Bantha leaped from one spot to another until Yoshi bumped into a corner. Having nowhere else to run, Yoshi let the Bantha dive at him, sliding underneath, shooting a hail of bullets at the beast’s red striped underbelly, until he faced the creature’s backside. Kicking away, Yoshi tossed his gunslash at Yvonna, switching back to his rod in the process.
“Yvonna,” Yoshi said, “Use the gunslash. Hit her with a weak bullet.”
“I can’t,” Yvonna cried. “It’s not a rifle.”
“Woman are you a ranger or not?” Yoshi shouted under a paw. “Is it still not a gun?”
Upon seeing the newmen pick up the gunslash, The Bantha rushed towards Yvonna once more. Scared of being attacked once again, she threw the gunslash to the side and dashed towards Yoshi crying, “Yoshi, help me!”
“Oh for the love of…” Yoshi said as he watched. Without realizing it, Yoshi lifted an arm, his other arm catching Yvonna, and upper cut the Bantha using a pillar of earth sprouting from the dirt. Following up so that it wouldn’t recover from the shock, more pillars knocked the Bantha into the air and quickly formed into spears as hard as dimonds. Screaming in pain, the beast lifelessly hanged in the air, its blood coating the spikes that penetrated its belly.
Yellow eyes growing dim, Yoshi walked to the beast. Staring into its dull gray eyes, he felt a knife stab at his heart. They reminded him of Ijiraku. Sadden to the verge of tears; Yoshi’s head jerked away while he placed a hand on the Bantha’s cheek. As Yvonna walked to Yoshi’s side, she noticed the Bantha’s skin slowly turned to stone, its entire head now seemingly made of dirt.
“What are you doing?” she asked in fright.
“Easing its pain,” Yoshi replied. Shaken up, Yoshi continued, “She was a mother teaching her son to hunt by himself.” Looking forward, the beast’s once soft body had now been overtaken by stone. He leaned closer. His head just above the Bantha's, he tapped the Bantha’s forehead with his own, making its entire body crumble away in the wind.
Shouting from the communication channel, James yelled in a slightly concerned tone, “Aiko, if you value the safety of our team, do not put that last part in the report. And you, boy; never use that ability unless your life seriously depends on it, you got that? I’m warning you. No one must know you have that ability.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Good. Now if you don’t mind, would you be so kind as to come over here and protect an old man while he repairs his ship?”
Giving Yoshi’s head a few shakes, Yvonna pressed two fingers against her head and shouted, “We are on our way.”
- Part II -Spoiler!Tonight was the night. Tonight had to be the night. Arethusa, while protected and taught the way of the Force, grew tired of sitting in her water fill dungeon. She wanted to escape. She felt a burning desire within her telling her to carry out her plan. While it wasn’t a well thought out plan, she had to find Yoshi. If mother wasn’t going to see dad, then she will be the one to bring dad to mother. No matter what stood in her way. By the time she finished her training, perfecting the art of striking an object with ice from several angles, she wished her mother a good night before merrily skipping her way to the enclosed corner she called her room. Kicking over the rock she used as a workbench during her stay, she pulled a makeshift bag from a dug up hole in the moist sand and snuck her way out outside.
Having run a good distance away from home, Arethusa now focused on the second stage of her plan. It was also the most difficult part of her plan; Getting off the planet. For a long time, she had managed to avoid being spotted by the bird like Darkers. She didn’t trust them. While she wanted to hop into their dark portals for a long time now, she felt it was best to wait for something else. If there was anything she was sure of, it was that Elder was looking for her. She knew he would send his minions to search for her. So she waited.
Looking back, she felt something tug at her heart. As if something wanted her to stay in her watery home. Where it was safe and she could better hone her talents. She fought these urges. Feeling that nothing will change if she sat around waiting for something to happen, she pushed on forward.
Peeking around a rock, she almost uttered a cry of joy at the sight of a lone Ga Wonda, a bulky large humanoid like figure with a shield as large as its body attached to one arm, roaming the open area alone. While it seemed to be an odd sight, she decided to sneak behind it, following it around until it opened a portal of hazy red and black darkness. Lucky for her, it didn’t take long to see it happen. In determination to avoid making any mistakes, she jumped onto the back of the Ga Wonda, causing it to stumble into the portal. In a blink of an eye, she reappeared in a beautiful area on Naberius. Unlike the usual forest she would normally patrol in, this area proved to be quite different. A landmass made of metal, surrounded by a shimmering lake and a luminous crescent moon shining over pink flowers. Hoping off the Darker’s back, she posed as the Darker turned to stare at her. Uttering something she couldn’t understand, it spun back around and continued on.
“And where might have you been, my elusive lamb?”
Arethusa froze, her body stiffened. Forcing her torso to twist around, she noticed someone tower behind her. It was Elder in the combat form of HUnar. While she questioned why he was here and why he took on this form, she chose not to ask and instead stared in fright. “You seem to be going somewhere. Mind telling me where you intend to go?”
“I-I need to find my father. I need to take him to mom.” Arethusa said, her voice quivering, fearing that he may be angry at her for hiding from him for so long.
“I see,” Elder said in a calm manner. “Then allow me to assist you.” Elder snapped his large fingers. Falling from a hazy portal, behind the purple humanoid, was a small round darker. Walking on four legs, a red orb embedded on its backside, it stepped forward until it sat in front of Elder. As the small creature moved around the figure, Elder raised an arm over it, his palm wide open, and said, “Allow this Micda to accompany you. Tell it where you wish to go and it will take you to an area near your desired location. I should warn you however. I am only going to give this one soldier. Use it wisely.”
“I understand,” Arethusa said, forcing a brave tone in her voice.
Watching the girl whisper something to the creature of darkness, Elder watch the two walk into a portal with arms crossed. Soon after, walking in from out of nowhere, Persona stopped by Elder’s side.
“You have been giving her too many handouts. I’m beginning to wonder if you have you gotten too soft.”
“Nonsense, I only seek a rematch with her father. I desire to see how much he has improved since out last encounter.”
“And again, you allow your pets to roam free to accomplish this. Shouldn’t you be more concern over the consequence of your actions?” Persona scolded.
Elder gave a hearty laugh to the man’s question. “It should be obvious that I have nothing to fear. Do you want to know why? It is because she is accepting and is likely to never think of attacking me.”
“You sound so sure of yourself when her very kind wages war against us.”
“Here these words,” said Elder. “There are those who seek domination, claims, or even total extermination of one side. And then, there are those who seek balance, equality and peace.” Elder turned to face Persona. “Imagine this. Two factions are at war. One side fights only with what they have; with only the brave men and women who enlisted and nothing more and the other with a much larger army. This side has forced their people and their enslaved into service to fight for their cause. Logical, sure; those with the stronger, much more capable army could easily win a war given that they are lead competently. However, they don’t stop there. They continue push their limits, seeking to find power beyond what they could only hope to achieve. And when that side starts to become far too powerful, they suddenly find that their very own people have begun to rebel for reasons unknown. They begin to wonder, where have we gone wrong? How can we stop it? Civil war now plagues this faction. The people, no longer repressed by their leaders, have forced their faction to face a two front war. Her kind seeks balance, as is the nature of her kin, between both sides; and the light doesn’t like to be balanced. The light refuses to be limited. It wishes to expand, to grow, blinded by its own righteousness, believing that they could do no wrong. The light is growing in power and they know it. They have learned the history of Diga and have thus worked hard to put down the resistance before it became a threat.”
“So a few people start to attack this ‘stronger faction’. Big deal. What do we have to gain from a mere rebel?”
“Oh, she and her father are more than just mere rebels. They are people who can shift the tides of war in our favor.”
After Arethusa had left an area labeled ruins, she fell from the portal created by the Micda and landed on her feet. As she hit the floor, she rolled to absorb the fall, but as she rolled, she noticed something odd about the ground. It was cold yet moist, movable yet solid. It felt like dirt and the area continued to be lit by an overbearing moon covered by towering trees. With one knee on the ground, she looked around. She was still on Naberius.
“Why are we still here?” she asked herself. Arethusa looked to the Micda but didn’t bother to ask any more of it. While it did spoke, as if attempting to answer her question, she couldn’t understand a word it said. Producing a sigh, she watched her escort spin in place. As she watched its shadow gracefully flex under the moonlight she noticed it clash with a more human like shadows.
“It seems we have found a missing partner machine,” a voice said in the darkness.
“Yep, she’s one of clones, sir,” another voice added.
“Kill her,” a third voice said flatly.
Four figures leaped from the shadows. Having no time to draw her weapon, Arethusa rolled away, catching a glimpse of newmen ears. Dodging an explosion of ice, the human girl let off a burning wave of safoie with her hand to light the area. The grass and shrubs instantly caught fire. In the flickering light, Arethusa realized that she her attackers were all newmens of various hair colors. Catching someone closing in from her left, she dived out of the way, witnessing the spot she previously stood on become a crater under a purple newmen’s fist. Hopping back onto her feet, she drew her prototype magislash, a gunslash like weapon made to shoot techniques instead of energy bolts. She dragged her gun upwards, blasted the purple hair newmen in the face with a gifoie and leaped away; avoiding another explosion of ice. Looking to the direction it came from, Arethusa noticed a newmen of blue hair preparing for another attack. She wasn’t sure if the newmen was holding a charge or underestimation her, but she wasn’t going to give him another chance. Redirecting her gun to the other newmen, she kicked a large amount of dirt into the air and followed up with a bolt of zan. Satisfied by the cried of pain utter on the other side, she was knocked off her feet by a third newmen, a newmen of fiery hair. Watching the newmen close in for the kill, Arethusa shielded her face with her weapon until she saw the Micda tackle the newmen between the gaps in her blade, saving her life.
Blinded by unexplainable rage, Arethusa threw her weapon to the floor. With both hand in the air, she grasped for the purple hair newmen. The newmen smirked and laugh, but his laugh was cut short. Spurting out of the ground, a mound of dirt shot up to engulf the newmen’s head. The human’s hand now balled in a fist, she slammed it into the ground, forcing the newmen to follow after. When the newmen hit the floor, the dirt muffled sounds of cracking bones and bled many streams of blood. With her first target dead, her leering gaze now shifted to the newmen of blue. Fighting magic with magic, counter acting effect after effect, she tripped the newmen and impaled him with a spear made of dirt. The man hung horizontally in the air screaming in pain. Ignoring his poor attempts to draw breath, she finally turned to the newmen of red hair who fell backwards in fear. Knowing that he was next, he pleaded for mercy. Scared for his life, he cried like a child.
Arethusa was now hyper ventilating. With no intentions to show him mercy, she held out her palm and turned the man to stone. Picking up her magislash from the floor, she aimed it at the newmen statue and blew it apart. All her attackers are now dead and she had survived. Eyes wide open; she looked to her shacking hands and began to utter a deranged laugh. Then it hit her. She fell onto her knees. She murdered them without mercy, without hesitation.
“What have I done?” she cried. “Why? Why did it have to be this way?”
Slowly walking to weeping girl’s side, the Micda lightly bumped into her waist and pawed at her bag. As the bag opened, the Micda dragged out a photo of her and her dad in front of her. Slightly comforted by the Micda’s efforts to keep her focused, Arethusa grabbed the photo off the floor with a smile, wiping the tears off of her face.
“Right, let’s go find him.”
- Good Old Bait and Switch -Spoiler!Blue bulky boots stepping down a drowned metal ramp, blue pitted gloves bouncing in the mist, a sweaty pilot removed his orange helmet in relief. Combed back gray hair bouncing in the breeze, the man watched a dark grey transport descend from the air and land near a similar looking spacecraft. Shaking his head, his teeth visible in a smile, he tucked his helmet under his arm and walked towards the second vessel. Trending through the rapid water, climbing over an angular rock which lays embedded in the overflowing river bank, James watched a ramp unfold down onto the dark dirt floor the B-02 rested on. James hunched over. Interested in what the ship held inside of it, he peered into the shaded ship and saw Elm walk out, his own blue boots stepping over the water and on moist green grass, removing his own bulbous helmet. While he approached his fellow pilot, Elm jerked a wire out of his helmet. He then gestured James to do the same.
An arm resting on a knee, James asked in a lofty voice, “Something wrong, Elm?”
“Can you tell me what kind of relationship you have with the boy. You seemed very concerned over something he did. Do you know his family, who he is?” He paused and reacted when the old man jerked up straight. Before James could respond, Elm shot an open palm up in the air. “Don’t worry; this will just be between the both of us.”
James sighed. He spun in circles, unsure of what he could share with his fellow pilot. James didn’t think about sharing this information with Elm, but he made a choice. Cracking his neck, James looked up and said, “In my old man’s time, there was a guy who looked just like the boy. I don’t know his entire family history, I don’t really care to know either, but I do know his grandfather was a violent smuggler who liked to start bar fights, kill people, and knew how to avoid capture every time someone tried to capture him; including my father. For several years, my father kept a photo of him and a newmen girl on the wall. Her name was Lea, Layna or something, I forget. Anyways, my dad couldn’t find him, made him spend many nights locked in his office.”
Two hands shot up in the air. This time James kept Elm from talking. Wanting to finish, James sat on the rock and continued, “One day, my father found out the man had a son; a trouble maker just like his father. We also found out that he hate his father. He was a drunk, a womanizer, left home and became a drifter; more or less some punk on the street. So my father felt he could use him to find this man he’s been hunting all his life, took me with him during the ‘take your son to work day’ nonsense, and when we arrive, he insisted we park and wait for the son to leave the bar he was in. He did eventually leave and I remember it to this day. I saw him get pulled into an alleyway. I watched newmens brutally murder him in front of our eyes. Nobody seemed to care. They walked on by as if they never noticed it happening. My dad did and eventually find this man soon after. Took me with him to see his proud moment of ‘history in the making’, he called it. When we arrived, all I saw was a shadow of an old man sitting in a cluttered home filled with all sorts of old trinkets and personal treasures. Shriveled up and sitting on a chair, he clutched onto two photos. One of his partner, the other of his dead wife. Then pops closed the door on me. I don’t know what happened between the two but when he walked out, the man was dead with someone covering his head. I asked my father what happened but all he told me was that he left behind a man he now pitied. He also couldn’t get the whereabouts of the newmen woman.”
“So how does this make you feel? Do you seek to help the boy or find revenge for his grandfather’s actions, for taking away time from both you and your father?”
“Honestly, I don’t know how to feel. If it wasn’t his grandfather, it would have been someone else. The funny thing is the boy is with Arks, something his family has been said to despise becoming. Something his grandfather would have killed him for doing. It’s happened before. So I’m told anyways. But that’s not the thing that bothers me. What really concerns me is the newmen who follows him.”
“Why is that?” Elm asked, his voice seeking knowledge and his eyes narrowing in sympathy.
“I feel history may be repeating itself.”
-
Yoshi felt lost. He felt like a limp body drifting in warm space. No longer aware of his surroundings, Yoshi stared blankly at the floor. Feeling drained away from his body to the point where the sun ceased to exist and the forest breeze could no longer be felt caressing his pink cheek. The floor no longer felt like a floor, but a distance prop, blurry and falling. In the silence came a memory of Ijiraku, her voice reverbing in the blur. “Remember what I taught you. Even if they bring back painful memories, don’t let the past hold back who you are.” Her lessons danced in the blurred background. Yoshi floated in front of it all, witnessing it all in action. Out of body, he saw a miniature version of him spin in a circle of dirt. While he spun, the earth flowed with him. It bended to his will, dancing in sync with his hands as trails of slip. While seem familiar but something about the mini Yoshi felt off. It felt like it wasn’t him at all. He had things Yoshi had never owned before. Now dancing between several darkers, he donned armor of earth, something Yoshi had never worn at all, and held several blades, each made of stone. He recognized the swords. First starting with clay nubs on his back, they became edges protruding in opposite directions. He remembered preforming this spell before but not on a scale the miniature him had achieved. Yoshi could barely hold two at once while his miniature version carried twelve.
“Is this what Elm meant”, Yoshi wondered in his head. “Could this be one of my ancestors showing me what I could do in the near future? Or am I just having a strange illusion?”
His eyes narrowed and focused on the details. Yoshi watched for more. He wanted to learn where he had failed. Paying close attention, he watched, the armor took many blows, caused by dark figures he had never seen before. Being made of stone, large chunks chipped away after each swipe, only to then be replaced by a fresh slab of brown earth. Watching the original piece of armor fall, the mini him raise a sword and launched the chunk at his foe. Before impact, the broken slab became a spiked object, greatly injuring its victim.
“Yoshi,” A faint voice called in the distance. “Hey!”
Yoshi regained focus. His head pounded. Turning to face the angered Yvonna, who wore a face of worry, Yoshi gave a faint smirk and then frowned. The pain began to set in. A hand on his head, Yoshi asked, “What did I miss?”
“The hell do you mean, what did I miss?” She repeated in a mocking tone. “We are on a mission,”
“A training mission,” Yoshi interrupted with a fingertip gently waving in the air.
“Whatever, a training mission, we don’t have time for spacing out. For all we know, we could be timed for this.”
Yoshi’s smirk suddenly came back in greater effect. “Never stopped me before,” he shrugged.
“I am going to hit you.”
“But you already did.”
“Stop it!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Yoshi placed a finger on his ear and looked up into the sparely clouded sky. “Aiko, what is our next objective?” Waiting for a response, only met static fill the air. “Aiko?”
“Yoshi,” James said in the static. “I could use you help right about now.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Ship down……Darkers……require immediate…..”
The static died. Communications had halted. After many vain attempts for a renewed link, Yoshi quickly grabbed Yvonna by the arm and dragged her deeper into the forest. They hopped over moss covered rocks, leaped over unreal tree roots, slid through damp tunnels and around sparkling lakes. While they traveled, everything felt odd. Meeting no resistance along the way, Yoshi couldn’t help but feel it was all a test, a clever setup. His guts told him nothing. He didn’t feel anything. As if they had tried telling him, everything was fine. That he had nothing to worry about. His brain said otherwise. Scenarios rushed through his head, playing worse case scenarios so he would panic. Calming down, taking in what he knew, he questioned why nothing showed up. If Darkers were really in the area, shouldn’t they be swarming him as well, he thought. Holding out an arm in front of the newmen, he halted. His hand waved in the air and summoned a map. Worried eyes scanning around his mini map, Yvonna pulled at his sleeve and said, “Look.”
In the air, Yvonna pointed towards a smoke trail in the air, trailing in the blue sky like a snake trapped in a small hole. Baffled, Yoshi asked himself, why didn’t he see it sooner? The sky had been crystal clear all day. Even if it wasn’t, an explosion would have been heard. Could it have been a soft landing? Nodding at the newmen soon after, the two dashed for the crashed ship, hoping that James remained out of harm’s way. Scaling a small bush covered hill, the two leaped across a small gap in the rock wall and into a river bank. Out in the distance, they saw a lone B-02 buried deep in the river bed. It engine dead and the ramp door still seal shut, the only signs of combat seen were only a few faint scratches on the hull and gray smoke fuming from the nose of the vessel. Yvonna taking the lead, the two crouched and inched forward for a closer look at the fallen vessel. Extreme caution painted on their faces, a serious aura in the air, their hand on their weapon at all times, they huddled closely around the fallen B-02, looking for anything hiding in the lush flora.
Yvonna’s thumb rubbed the small gold plate on the handle of Yoshi’s gunslash. Eager, hoping something would leap out in the open, she fought the urge of whip out her and destroy the first enemy she saw. To her disappointment, nothing jumped from the dense forest leaves. Not even a flock of harmless birds or a tiny critter searching for its new meal. “See anything strange?” she whispered.
“Nothing too out of place,” Yoshi replied, his eyes squinting at the hull of the ship. “I don’t think there was a darker attack. These marks appear to be made by something else. Then again, I could be wrong; since we’ve just recently improved our tech.” Crawling around the backside of the B-02, Yoshi punched in a series of buttons that would open the transport ramp. Stepping backwards, Yvonna now by his side, the ramp door dropped on floor and reveal a man sitting in a slouching position on a bench.
“The hell is this?” a voice whispered in the darkness.
“Arron, is that you?” Yoshi asked. “The heck are you doing sitting down at a time like this?”
“You idiot, can’t you see the pilot is repairing the ship?”
“What repairs?”
Yoshi entered the vessel. Alarmed, Arron shot up expecting a confrontation with the cowboy, believing Yoshi would pick a fight with him, but was pushed back into his chair instead. Yoshi had no quarrel with Arron. Instead, he made his way forward, aiming for the gray protective doorway. Yvonna followed after. approaching the metal door, Yoshi entered the usual codes. Three sounds of rejection beeped in rapid succession. The codes didn’t work. Grunting in frustration, Yoshi entered an emergency override code. This time it worked and the welcomed him in, there sat James in the darkness, his chair spun 180 degree around so he could beam at the hostile human in front of him.
“Nice work, Yoshi. I didn’t know you trained in the ways of the Bastone series.”
“I wasn’t,” Yoshi replied with a face of anger and confusion.
“Now, now, don’t blow up on me yet. It was just a simple…nope.” Quickly leaning on his side, James poked at a button. As he did, the ramp door shot closed, trapping Arron who was almost home free. “We knew Arron wouldn’t agree with the working with the team and everything. So we crafted a plan so he would be forced to work as team instead.”
“Seeing as you finished off the unexpected event sooner than we expected, we figured we would have to stall you somehow. However, your daydreaming bought us enough time for phase two of our plan.” Aiko added over the com channel. “Thank you for working in our favor, Mr. Blue.”
Shocked, Yoshi stumbled backward, falling with great force. Like a mysterious person forced him on the bench behind him. Producing a sigh of relief, he rested his head on the seat’s dark cushioned backrest.
“Your next assignment is on Lillipa. There, you will be tested on your team coordination skills. Assign a team leader if you must. You will be timed as soon as you arrive at your destination.”
Arron looked away in disgust. “I don’t exactly trust any of you with my life. Count me out.”
“Hey, if I could work alone, I would, but I can’t. So you’re going to suffer with me.”
“You suffering? I’m the one who’s suffering. Now I have two morons surrounding me instead of one.” Yvonna frowned. “Order is needed if we are to survive this war. That said, only the qualified should lead and that is me.”
“Go ahead,” Yoshi said with a shrugged.
“I am the more qu– wait what?” Yvonna gawked. She couldn’t believe the words she had just heard. Yoshi, of all people, allowed her the role of leader. After all the times he had avoided her. She didn’t know how to feel. She expected a feeling of superiority. She yearned for such a feeling. That he had admitting she was the better of the two. But she couldn’t. The moment of Bantha surfaced in her mind. How fast he killed the creature sent shivers down her spine.
Snapping her from her moment of pondering, Yoshi said, “You’re calling the shots.”
Yvonna’s jaw dropped. She felt frustrated. She believed it all just a trick. “You better not be playing games with me, Yoshi. If you are, I’m going-,” she shouted, her finger shacking over his face.
“I’m not,” Yoshi interrupted. Supporting his head with both hands, Yoshi continued, “I just don’t feel like being the leading man for now.”
“Quick and easy. Very nice. Welcome, Yvonna.” James over the speakers. “When we arrive on the planet, you will be regrouping with another member of the team who couldn’t come to the party earlier. I was informed that he was still undergoing rigorous testing in the factory or something. Or so I’m told at least. Also, Arron, you’re no longer allowed on any further missions without a partner. So you can get over your fears. I got orders from the higher ups and everything; if you want some proof that is.”
Over in the distance, a little girl looked up through the green leafy trees and watched an airship shrink in size while it left the planet. As she stared, her hands knotted and waved over a small flat rock. Gray in color, warmth provided by a happy sun, it carried a large chunk of dull gray fabric on top of it. At first glance, it looked like a fold of clothe held together by long black velcro like straps and a large hole cut in the center. However, using her mother’s teachings, she sewed on two portions of gray fabric, one for each side, to complete her craft. Having done so, it soon became a backpack of some sorts riddled with many holes. Beside her, a lone gulf, a gray wolf that normally travels in packs, sat next near the human girl, panting in excitement.
“There we go,” Arethusa said in approval. “A backpack made of fancy fibers and stuff so we can hide the fact that you are a Darker. I even left a hole for your cool red orb!” Stuffing the Micda into the bag against its will, its little arms sticking through convenient holes on sides, she swung it over her back and got onto white blocky boots. Breathing in the clean forest air, she smiled with a hop. “Now, how to keep Arks from detecting our form of transportation? Hmm. Ready for an adventure, doggy?”
- Filler -Spoiler!Yoshi had returned to the mall Kerri had taken him to a few days ago. Dressed in a white and green sweater along with a pair of blue jeans, he felt more comfortable in his attire this time around. Excited, his gaze flicked between the walls of the hallway in all directions, looking around to see what had changed. Since he was eager to come this time around, he felt much more interested in the building than he had before. While different people filled its stain glass halls, the building was still just as colorful and vibrant as he last remembered; even with the artificial moonlight shining through the stain glass roof. Bright lights glowed and bounced off of every wall. Colored glass windows bounced colors onto the floor and pillars. Lost in their beauty, he watched the colors flow and sparkle, like a flowing river’s reflection in the sunlight. Curious, he looked to the light inside the store to see the cause of this effect, but there was nothing special about them. Was there actual water running under the floors, he pondered. Was the floor even made of transparent material and he never noticed?
A purple arm bumped into his side. Aware of his surrounding once more, Yoshi looked to his friend, Kazamir, who walked closely beside him. To the other side of his dewmen friend, people Yoshi leaned forward to smile to, Reinhardt and Marisa. Both newmens of seemingly similar age, though it was hard to tell thanks to their prolonged lifespans, one was of burning hair and the other of jet black; though sometimes Yoshi thinks he sees traces of green in Marisa’s hair from time to time.
“Chivalry this, chivalry that,” Reinhardt complained, Yoshi unsure if it was to himself or to the others. “I’m tired of being taught this pointless stuff.”
“Well you are the heir of your family,” Kazamir replied in his usual stoic tone of voice. “Your family seems to feel that it is best you act like one. Noble, wise and fair; they believe you should be one who is worthy of only the best of brides.”
“That’s just my mother, Kaz. My father on the other hand...”
His interests piqued, Yoshi jogged in front of the group and asked, “So what’s chivalry?”
Halting in front of the human, Reinhardt gawked. Kazamir shuffled in discomfort. Marisa however stepped forward to place a hand on Yoshi’s shoulder. “Chivalry is a concept that no longer continues to exist the same way it did several years ago. Now a day, you will find that some families will teach it the proper way, in a reversed fashion, never at all, or even chose to teach it in a very warped manner. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“Doesn’t really answer my question but alright,” said Yoshi.
“Long ago it was said to be a sort of code for men to follow. Dealing with worldly issues, how to treat those like you and the opposite gender. Think of it like a warrior’s code only it dealt with aspects beyond simple rivals and warfare.”
“Man, how could you not know this and still find someone to love you?” Reinhardt mocked.
Marisa spun around with both arm spread wide in the air. “Simple, a naive girl fell in love with a naive man. Judging by how Yoshi currently is now, I say they both learned from their mistake.”
“Hey!” Yoshi shouted.
“I kid, Yoshi, I kid.” Marisa curtly smiled.
After patting Yoshi’s shoulder, Marisa spun back into the group while Reinhardt drifted to Yoshi side and leaned onto his shoulder. “One thing is for sure, something has to change. So who’s willing to make a wager?”
“What are you proposing?” Kazamir asked with a curved brow.
“One hundred- no five hundred thousand meseta says Yoshi still has it. One of us gives him a target and if he wins a date on his first try, he wins the money.”
“And what do we win should he fail?”
“I buy us all something to eat.” Reinhardt bowed.
Even though Yoshi knew the answer, he asked, “I don’t get a say in this do I?”
“Nope,” said Reinhardt with a pop produced by his lips. The newmen now rubbed his hands together. Eager to choose his victim he looked around. “Now, who to choose…” Leaning from side to side, he froze as Kazamir said in a cold manner.
“I feel Marisa should be the one to choose. We would not want you to make it too easy now would we?”
Marisa stood proudly beside Kazamir and looked around, her feet lifting up and down on her toes. With a finger on her chin, she peered into every store, at every corner, near every exit, until she came to a sudden halt. Pointing to a window across the hallway, she said, “Her. The one looking at dyes.”
“Are you sure?” Kazamir asked with a trace of skepticism in his voice.
“Positive,” Marisa slyly replied without looking at him.
Pushed forward by Marisa, Yoshi looked back with concern. “Go on,” Reinhardt said. Though the red head felt a bit unhappy, his arms crossed in disapproval, he gave Yoshi a warm smile for comfort. Yoshi pushed through the crowd of people, looked back a few times in doubt, until he finally reached two pillars made of stone bottles, hair dryers and curling irons. As Yoshi awkwardly walked into the store, Kazamir leaned towards Reinhardt and said, “Five hundred thousand. You must not have a lot of faith in our friend.”
“On the contrary, my friend,” Reinhardt smugly replied, “I hold so much faith that I am positive he will succeed.”
Looking back to Yoshi, Kazamir skeptically replied, “So I am told.”
“Quite you two,” Marisa armed the two mean beside her, “He’s about to make his move.”
Yoshi took a deep breath. He didn’t want to do it, partially because he thought this was all a practical joke, partially because he wasn’t interested, but he moved through the isle anyways. Moving past the aisle of shampoos and conditioners, Yoshi approached the lone newmen female browsing a wall of hair dyes. A woman of seemingly equal height, her hair brown hair glowed in the light and was complemented by a beige dress. Wearing mostly of loose clothing, everything drifted sideways to the little fan installed by the nail section. Use to dry paint samples. Having taken so long to get there, Yoshi was bit surprise that she stood there so long. Until he looked up at the wall of thousands of colors, all lined up to create a giant rainbow wall. With boxes in hand, she seemed to have focused so greatly on finding a particular color that she failed to notice the cowboy approach her from behind. As he did, he placed a hand on the shelf and leaned over her.
“So, what’s a pretty newmen like yourself doing here at a night like this?”
“Trying to buy dye, obviously,” The newmen slowly replied before shuffling the products in hand.
“Now why would you want to hide hair as beautiful as your? It is perfect the way it currently is.” Yoshi cooed.
Startled, the newmen turned over to glare at the man. However, as her brown eyes met with Yoshi’s own, they grew wider than Yoshi has ever seen eyes open before. Unknowingly, he did the same. Both their mouths hung agape. Out in the distance, Reinhardt elbowed Kazamir’s ribs in excitement of watched them hold a gaze which though was love. Kazamir however felt it was a gaze of fear.
“Can I help you?” the newmen nervously asked.
“I’m sorry. Your eyes are very, very beautiful. More so then the heavenly stars in the night sky. Do you come here often?”
Back outside the store, Reinhardt pulled at his red hear and groaned, “Yoshi, you’re killing me.” Spinning around, it took Kazamir’s grasp to hold him still. Meanwhile, Marisa held a hand over her face, trying to hold back her laughter. “I wish I had popcorn to go with this.” She giggled. The two men both exchanging various looks to silently complain to one another, Kazamir broke the silence and said,
“Doubting Yoshi now, oh faithful one?”
Looking back at the isle of dye, they noticed the newmen instantly return to plucking and replacing several boxes, faster than she did before. Doing so, it wasn’t long until she shoved them into Yoshi chest and run away. “I’ll buy dye somewhere else.”
Catching the gold foiled boxes so that they wouldn’t fall; Yoshi uncaringly shoved them back into the shelf and ran after her. Strafing past the other shoppers, he caught her by the shoulder just as she left the store. The newmen looked back. “Could I offer you a show, a romantic dinner, or even an afternoon stroll at the beach?” Yoshi asked. The newmen smack his hand away. Watching her run once again, he faintly heard her say, “I’m sorry,” before disappearing into the dark sea of people. Hurt, feeling a little empty in his heart, Yoshi turned with a hand on the back of his head. Bowing his head in defeat, he removed his hat with the other hand and approached his friends. All of them held different expressions. Kazamir looked to Marisa with a face of stone. Marisa held a faint smile. Reinhardt was the first to approach.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, buddy. If I won a heart on my first try, every time, I’d be a rich man.”
“Were you really ready to allow yourself to become rooted, Yoshi? Maybe its best you remain alone,” said Kazamir, resisting the urge to smirk.
“Speak for yourself, Kaz.” Reinhardt glared as he tugged Yoshi forward, his arm wrapped around Yoshi’s shoulder.
Kazamir turned to Marisa while the other two walk away. Muffling a quick chuckle, he asked in a vaguely amused voice, “satisfied?” The response he got wasn’t what he was expected. Slightly leaning away from her rather large smile, he felt his stomach tighten as she said, “Absolutely. The result came out just as I imagined it would.” She squealed.
“And you knew this would happen, how?”
“Who knows? Maybe I can control fate? Maybe I can’t?” She responded with a hand over her chest. She then turned towards the direction of the other two to shout, “Yoshi, wait up.”
Yoshi turned to stop and watched the black hair newmen rush up to his. Asking what she wanted with a rising hum, she grabbed the other arm and said, “Hey, you want any dating tips, don’t be afraid to ask me. You can trust me.” Yoshi chose not to answer. Instead, he looked forward with a halfhearted chuckle. “So why don’t we put this all behind us with the free meal you owe us, red ears?”
Last edited by yoshiblue; Oct 6, 2014 at 04:30 PM.
Spoiler!looking good again
MultiCore------------Male Cast~~~~~~~~~~~Moriah----------------Female Dewman
Zyonyl----------------Male Newman~~~~~~~~Shilka ZSU-----------Female Cast
Did you try turning it off and on again?
Author ExcusesSpoiler!Heh, this chapter was almost delayed for two or three days. Being stressed out, I found it hard to write anything. But I got it done. May throw in the filler whenever I get to it.
May have also reach the point where its hard to post a chapter without throwing in a filler to go with it. It feels... empty without one.
- This Is Why I Didn't Want To Be The Leading Man -Spoiler!No two trips have ever been the same for Yoshi. Because for every visit, came a new varied location. Even after having visited the dry and arid planet so many times, the tumble weed kicking space cowboy never grew bored of it. He had never forgotten his first steps on the planet. Still a fresh recruit, only just recently allowed access a week after his graduation, he remembered stepping onto warm unstable sands. A black combat boot coated in welcoming yellow specs. He remembered ignoring the all too friendly sand when he noticed the sun’s absence. His entire body had been hidden in the valley of sparkling mineral which also so happened to be quick sand. Rescued from this mishap, his first trip had him surf the waves of sand dunes. His second, a trip near decaying ruins, factories, machinery and a civilization long since gone. His third, an escort and protection effort for an excavation site uncovering secrets of old. The few airships unearthed beneath the chilled sands can now be seen in a museum, in a hologram form thanks to the scientists and engineers who’ve petitioned their dismantlement for further research and knowledge.
No trip has ever been the same and this one was no different. Brown eyes bounced off the black gaps embedded in the landscape. Gluing his face on a hovering panel, just off the dark shuttle wall, Yoshi’s eyes wondered about his intriguing and remarkable surroundings. His destination became a rocky one; still covered in the same old sand, but not as much as the rest of Lillipa. This particular part of the planet proved to be an area of stacked rocks, where arcs of earth formed above the ground for seemingly no reason. Some canyons became cliffs, others mere bumps in the landscape others and subtle depressions covered in sand. Orange in color, plenty of shade, Yoshi wondered if water flowed in this area long ago. He found it unusual for a planet, that hadn’t seen water for a time only their creator would know, which lack any rivers or streams, somehow support life and still have a vast number of canyons, gulches and fissures.
Using what he had learned in his self-taught days, Yoshi theorized that this area had been a river delta. Reasoned drawn by all the scattered canyons; which broke into several branches, like when a fist punches nearly dry clay. Up ahead, he noticed all the canyons come together; gathering around a vast depression, sharing a similar appearance to an ocean. So Yoshi thought however. He had never studied the history of Lillipa but he does know that Arks had spent quite some time at the planet for some time now. Thinking on it, Yoshi pondered things, such as “How much life had been lost?”, “Was the planet always a desert?”, and “How much time was invested in saving it?” He shook his head, remained focused and he was glad he did, for they flew low, just above the weaving landscape.
Yoshi looked at Yvonna, who sat across from his seat, nodded and lightly shouldered Arron so he would wake up. Arron, who looked rather angry because of it, glared at the cowboy with teeth bared but was met with a smiling man. Proving that he hadn’t just done it with immature intentions; Yoshi lifted from his comfy seat, glided an arm towards his floating window and headed for the door. Yvonna sleepily followed. Oddly enough, James and Aiko haven’t said a word since their gathering on Naberius, though Yoshi didn’t mind. Thanks to what happened before, he mentally wrote it down as another part of the test. Assuming this was all for a recording of how well they would work together under chaotic situations. Leaning over the slightly angled doorway, his hand near a protected button panel, Yoshi and Yvonna prepared for a signal of any kind, such as an unlatched hinge among the dark metal frame, ready for anything. They waited. Minutes had passed. Arron stayed in his chair, slightly scoffing to himself. Yoshi grew restless and began stretching. Yvonna held onto a handlebar in case of a sudden crash. Five more minutes have now passed. Yoshi had grown tired, yearning for a nap.
Almost falling asleep, a series of rapid beeping sounds could be heard emanating from the cold and dark roof, its four rectangular lights blinked green in synchronous harmony. After ten lightning quick blinks, the sounds and flashes slowed, majestically fading on and off. Tearing his gaze away from the light show behind him, Yoshi witnessed a white number, surrounded by three rotating white rings, appeared on the door soon after, giving off its own subtle yet pleasant glow. Startled by all the commotion, Arron scrambled onto his feet, yet tried maintaining his cool appearance at the same time. With everyone now huddled against the B-02’s ramp wall, everyone crouched for reasons they couldn’t understand. In an instant, the door ramp shot open. Light burned the room. Leaving no time to let their eyes readjust, the three hopped out of the transport and found themselves rolling across the rocky surface beneath them. Black photon shades formed from floating particles floating above their face, shielding their eyes from the harsh sunlight.
Out of everyone in the group, Arron recovered from the fall first. Standing on his feet, he brushed himself off, patted his long coat and walked away, leaving Yoshi to stab his gunslash into the floor in an effort to save Yvonna from falling in a dangerously close canyon.
“Whose bright idea was it to jump off the ship?” she cried as she hanged off of Yoshi arm.
“I don’t know. I thought you were going to say something first?” Yoshi shouted back as he grabbed Yvonna. Making sure he had a firm grip on her sleeve, he pulled her back onto the rocky desert floor. Making sure she had no signs of cuts and bruises, he patted of the few specks of sand that clung to her dress.
“You imbecile! I thought you knew what you were doing.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think everyone would follow my lead.” After dusty off her shoulder, Yoshi then asked with a quick chuckle, “That was quite the entry though. You alright though?”
Yvonna glared at Yoshi. Turning around, she stared down the black abyss. How far she could have fell frightened her. The fall seemed endless. Shaken with fear, she spun to leap out of Yoshi’s way and cried, “Why, so you could push me down?”
Yoshi laughed. “As second in command, it’s my job to ensure your safety. Besides, if I wanted you dead, why would I have saved you from falling?” he asked with a smile.
“You, second in command? Don’t make me laugh. Only a newmen could have such a title.”
“Well, seeing as there are no other newmens, it has to go to someone, right? If not a stranger, then at least to a friend," Yoshi said, maintaining a now flustered smile. Seeing how Melchior Newmens treated other races, he wasn’t sure how she would respond. Yoshi had never been told of their social structure and how they make or retain their companions.
“I have no friends,” Yvonna barked. She turned with her arms crossed and walked away. “And you, you are nothing more than mere cannon fodder.”
“You slay me,” Yoshi uncaringly replied. Choosing not to watch the newmen walk way, Yoshi sighed above his backup gunslash and unhinged it from the stone pedestal he stuck it in. Upon putting it away, he placed two fingers on his ear and shouted, “Yoshiblue to Aiko, we have landed and are awaiting further orders.”
“This is Aiko, where is the rest of our team?” She asked.
Yoshi gave an unsure laugh. “We kinda feel apart after the unexpected launch.”
“Then I can not give any further orders until you have gathered them up. Aiko out.”
Slouching in devastation, Yoshi’s arm dropped for the floor, dangling by his thigh. Looking up, he stared out at the horizon and whispered under his breath, “Well, better find Arron then.”
“Greetings,” A metallic voice said out of nowhere.
Frightened by the unexpected voice, Yoshi jumped in a panic and turned around. Behind him was a CAST wearing the angular Hunter armor. Mainly black in color, white lines decorated his frame while blue glowing eyes stared back at the human. “I am Stamato, a CAST of the Hunter kind. I am new to Arks and hope to do my best in assisting you and team Zelatus in the success of all our future missions as well as this one. I am only a few days old but am programed in several variations of hand to hand combat, sword techniques, partisan techniques, wire lance techniques, dagger techniques, dual blade techniques, katana techniques, knu-“
Yoshi lifted his hand, shaking it so Stamato would stop. He then approached the CAST and lowered his hand for a handshake. “Relax,” Yoshi calmly said. “I’m Yoshiblue, a fellow member of team Zelatus. Please to meet you.”
“May I ask a question?” Stamato asked in a metallic yet curious voice.
“Go ahead.” Yoshi replied.
“You say you are Yoshi Blue yet records show that is not your true name. However, I find it intriguing that while you have name, it is marked off for an unexplained reason. Can you enlighten me as to why that is?”
“Sadly, I don’t know either. But what you are saying is true. Yoshi Blue isn’t my real name.”
“Care to share what your true name is then?”
“Maybe some other time, Stamato. What’s more important is for us to rally up our team. They can be difficult to deal with so don’t take whatever they may say personal.”
“Sir, whatever they may or will say will not affect me. I am program to retain clarity in any situation.”
“That’s what you believe for now but the real thing will always be different from anything learned in a book or simulation. As for the newmen, don’t worry about her, she’ll show up again pretty soon. For now, let’s focus on finding Arron. The team’s Fighter.”
“Arron, a human male in his early twenties. Twenty to be precise. Fighter class; he specializes in double sword combat. Appearance; black hair, white skin, black long coat will be his normal choice of attire along with a black shirt and gray pants. He carries an assortment of mementos that had belonged to his previous team, which has been wiped out during a raid on the darker den. His favorite food is-”
“Stamato,” Yoshi said in a commanding voice. “Enough the life story. Some things are best left unsaid. So for now, let’s go find him, shall we?” Yoshi asked with a faint trace of restlessness. Grimacing over how much the CAST knew, he shook his head and walked forward.
“Question: How shall we approach him?”
Yoshi stopped in his tracks. Looking back at Stamato, Yoshi replied, “We’ll pull up a map and walk up to him.”
“And should he prove to be hostile? He has been labeled as emotionally unstable.”
“Then we’ll smack some sense into him and move on.”
The two walked into the sunset. With no further questions asked, the two began their adventure across the desert. Much to Yoshi surprise, Arron had covered a lot of distance since their landing and at the same time, found it odd. Transport insertions were an uncommon sight these days and teleporting and warping had always been the quicker and arguably safer option. Since he moved across the environment so quickly, Yoshi constantly threw up the map several times on their sub mission and questioned how someone could get around so quickly. Having spent an hour just trying to catch up with him, they also had to defeat many waves of darkers. Seeing that no progress had been made, Yoshi asked for Stamato’s advice. Pleased, or as pleased as a new born CAST could get, his new team mate suggested that Arron was actively avoiding the two and was also keeping an eye on his map. When forming their first plan, Yoshi suggested they hide their presence and sneak up on him. How he would achieve this without affecting his map eluded him however. So instead, Stamato formed a new suggestion. Since Arron didn’t know who Stamato was, he could send the CAST on another path and restrain the man until Yoshi arrived. Being given a sound plan, Yoshi agreed and let the CAST wonder in another direction.
The new plan worked. It didn’t take long for Stamato to pin Arron against a rock, who fruitlessly struggling for his freedom. Much to Yoshi’s amazement, the man couldn’t wiggle his way free, despite his violent flailing. Impressed with his robotic friend’s work, Yoshi complemented the CAST and sat down on an oval boulder, waiting for Yvonna’s arrival.
When she walked over a rugged slope to the left of him, Yvonna stomped her way towards Yoshi. Her nails dug into her palms. Furious, chucking a random rifle at him, which barely missed his head by a few inches, punched his chest and yelled,
“How dare you leave me all by myself and let me wonder this desert alone. You were supposed to be following me.”
“Why would I follow someone who would just throw me under a campship?”
“Because you’re my right hand man.”
“Oh, so now I’m your 2nd in command?”
“No. One does all the work I can’t do and the other simply advises me.”
“You do know they’re the same thing right?”
“What did I just tell you?”
“Statement,” Stamato interrupted. “He has a point. The right hand man is another way of saying second in command.”
Yvonna stared at Stamato with a sour look on her face. Grabbing Yoshi by the shirt, she asked, “Why is this box of bolts speaking to me? I didn’t request for a robotic info booth.”
“Greetings, I am Stamato. A CAST Hunter specializing in-“
“Enough, Stamato.” Yoshi intervened, ripping the newmen’s hand of his chest.
“Yvonna needs to learn how to treat her team with respect if she wants to receive a dignified answer from us. Yoshiblue to Aiko, we are ready to proceed with the mission. Stamato, keep hold of Arron for me, would you?”
“I will do my best to prevent our teammate from fleeing.” Stamato replied, giving a stiff nod in confirmation.
“This is Aiko, the other team is approaching your position. They will fill you in with the details upon their arrival. Have a safe mission and please treat your team nicely.”
“The hell was that?” Yvonna cried.
“That was me getting the gears in working order. Like a good leader should be doing.”
“Oh so whatever happened to ‘I don’t feel like being the leading man’?”
“I wouldn’t have to be if a certain someone picked up the slack.”
“Would you two shut up already?” Arron shouted in the background. “I’m going to kill myself because of you two.”
Everyone went silent. Soaking in the words Stamato had mentioned to him before, Yoshi place a hand over the mouth of the fuming Yvonna and calmly said, “Right.” He shifted his attention to the newmen and continued with angled brows, “I’m sorry. Let’s try to work together as a team, okay?” Yvonna bit his hand. Flitching in pain, his hand lifted in rage, he applied pressure using his other hand and returned to his rock. In an attempt to take his mind off the pain, Yoshi drew his backup gunslash. Before glancing over it, he gestured for Stamato to unhand Arron, who then let go of the human drop. Dusting off his coat, Arron sat on a rock of his own, pondering. Just as Yoshi prepared to dismantle his tightly bolted weapon, a voice shouted from behind a stone pillar.
“They’re over here,” a woman shouted. Popping out from behind, the dewmen woman scanned the area. Walking down a much less weathered down slope she greeted the group. “How’s it going? We’re Dame squad. We were told to meet up with you.”
“Ah, a fellow newmen, good, good,” said Yvonna, moving past the dewmen and towards a female newmen who timidly appeared behind the dewmen. The woman looked to Yoshi with a confused face and pointed a thumb behind her. Yoshi’s reply: a shrug and a leap with his eyebrows. “I’m Yvonna, leader of the team. Now, would you be so kind as to tell me what we are to do?” The newmen girl uttered cries of uncertainty. Looking towards her dewmen leader for help, she slowly withdrew into a coil, showing obvious signs of nervousness.
“Hey, let not instill fear into my team. You need someone to talk to, you talk to me.” The woman shouted. However, she only met the cold shoulder of Yvonna in return.
Seeing as that the conversation would get nowhere, Yoshi stepped up, his hand gunning for a handshake. “Don’t mind her. Melchiorian Newmens….. have a hard time adjusting to the other races. Yoshiblue, Zelatus squad. How can we assist?”
“Yoshiblue of the T57, I presume?” asked the woman, accepting his handshake with a smile. “So this is a Celestial team?”
“No, just me.”
“Odd that a member of a team would be thrown into another group. Would defeat the purpose of a team’s existence.”
“Yeah well not everyone on the time is a field solider and they ran out of free people to pair me with. And after a certain crash landing of the team ship, they don’t trust me with maintaining the ship either. So, here I am,” Yoshi replied with fake excitement.
“I…see. I think? Well anyways, we’re here for a co-op mission. The task is simple, mine some ore. But, there’s a Gwanahda Nero up ahead guarding the rare minerals we need to mine. So we will distract the Darker scum while your squad handles the drilling operations. Sounds good right? No scars and amputations to worry about”
“Can’t argue with that. When do we start?”
“We’ll have our Force over there launch some fireworks when your good to use the drills.”
“Right, staying back until ready. Stay safe in the meantime,” said Yoshi as he walked towards the Yvonna, who continued to pester the girl for information.
Grabbing Yvonna by the shoulder, Yoshi pulled her away. As the newmen protested, Yoshi rallied his group together and sought out for a good spot to hang back in. Moving under a shaded cliff, Yoshi poked the others for any questions.
“If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.”
“Drilling? Ridiculous. We should be the ones out there killing the Darkers. This is peasant work.” Yvonna complained.
“I assume you know how to work the drill?” Arron asked with sarcasm.
“It’s simple. You readjust the giant mining laser so that you don’t damage the ore. It will prompt you when either all the ore is dug up or when you need to readjust the direction or intensity of the laser. It shuts off to look for another sample afterwards. Sometimes you may need to readjust it constantly but that’s for the really delicate stuff.”
“That was a rhetorical question, you moron.”
“Statement: Arron has no history of using any form of mining equipment. Therefore, he would have had no clue as to the operation of a drill,” said Stamato.
“Can someone tell this hunk of junk to shut the hell up?”
“Hey, don’t mock the CAST, or I’m going to order him to pin you down again. And maybe glue your mouth shut while I’m at it,” scolded Yoshi. “Are there any other questions?”
“Yeah, when can you lay down and die?”
“After you’ve lived a full, slow and very painful life.”
“The fireworks have set off. Shall we proceed with the mission?” asked Stamato.
Last edited by yoshiblue; Oct 14, 2014 at 05:59 PM.
Spoiler!I like Stamoto he's such a cutie and so innocent and well mannered <3 He must be fresh from the production line plus he reminds of Beastwars Silverbolt cept Stamoto didn't talk like a shakespearen knight xD Vin would totally give Stammy boy a try if things between her and Legendaim goes sour lolz.
Spoiler!Heh, I still haven't work on that Filler chapter I wanted to write. orz
- Tests and Dragons -Spoiler!“Enigma, may I ask a question?” Stamato asked Yoshi the next morning, who then spun in a violent fashion, balancing on one foot, mags flying overhead. A curious face now stared at the black and white CAST. Strands of teal hair on top of the human’s head blew sideways in a stream of wind. As he gave the CAST his full attention, Yoshi fiercely held a pretzel in one hand and a cup of coffee, with a grip of death, by the other.
“Yeah, Stats?”
“Can I share with you a matter I find most pressing?”
“What it means to be a human?” asked Yoshi quickly before chomping away at his salted pastry.
“Well, that would be a question asked by most if not all CASTs. No, what I wish is this. Could you hold out your hand and emit a flame?”
Nodding like buffoon, Yoshi wordlessly kicked up an arm. His palm spread flat. Moving his head left and right, ensuring nothing flew in the way; Yoshi flexed his fingers and conjured a small orange flame, which sat comfortably on top a cupped palm. Staring back at his stiff robotic friend, Yoshi watched Stamato lift a gleaming arm. A pointy yet sleek black hand held vertical to his own. In the next moment, the flame went out. Yoshi looked up, then back down with furrowed brows. He flexed his fingers once, twice, three times to reignite the flame, but was met with only his pink hand. Not even a spark joyously leaped out from it.
“It appears I have a redundant ability to render photons unusable. Should I be concerned?” Stamato asked in a metallic yet still concerned voice. “It would prove to make our team very ineffective should it ever be used.”
Yoshi chewed away. Brown eyes locked on the robotic hand, the cowboy questioned its potential uses. His mouth calmly chewed. His head bobbled to jumbling thoughts. ”Well, on the bright side, if we fight rouge dudes, they wouldn’t be able to use anything against us. And solid metal blades like my gunslash, should Yvonna ever return it to me, would then be really nice to have. For now, I don’t see it being a problem so long as you only use it in emergency scenarios. Like technique explosions, meltdowns and maybe some darker attacks if it works against those.”
“Would you like to test it out now?”
“Maybe some other time. For now, let’s figure out why we are here in the middle of a testing facility,” said Yoshi who now took in the large spacious area he stood in. Surrounding the group, in what seemed to be located in the ruins of Naberius, was an enclosed Arks facility. Made up of white blocks, pyramids and slanted yet artistic windowed buildings; many arch ways were evenly spaced overhead. Isolated in the center of the room, a giant cube like island; separated by a sea of empty space, the depth of its pits uncountable to Yoshi. Returning his gaze above the island’s surface, Yoshi believed that everything they could stand on appeared to be made of gray matted material.
“Aw yes,” Stamato replied, distracting Yoshi from his quick size up of the building. “We were requested, by Yvonna, to accompany her in this testing facility. Seeing as she refused to go nowhere unless in the presence of your company, I had no choice but to carry you while you slept. My apologies.”
“No problem… I guess. So where is she now exactly?”
“Still in the camp ship preparing for the machines and Darkers we will encounter.”
“I see. And the reason why she’s here?”
“Confidential. However, we were allowed to tag along for other research reasons.”
“Alrighty then.”
“I’m intrigued by the fact that it took you this long to ask.”
Yoshi lifted his cup in the air. Wiggling the plastic container to check how much of its contents remained, he then took another sip and said, “Can’t start the day without my coffee.”
“Oh, you’re finally awake,” said Yvonna from behind. “Good because I don’t want to waste any more time in this place. Everyone on the warp pad, chop, chop.” Walking past Yoshi, Yvonna stepped inside a blue ringed pad with her hand on her hips. Taking a hasty glance at the other two, she cleared her throat and tapped her foot.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming,” Yoshi reassured her.
“HELLO!” a female voice shouted at the top of her lungs. “Welcome to your exciting adventure that is the extreme quest! I will be you navigator, Karin. Wooooooo!
“Oh no,” Yoshi replied. Hunching over in his misery, Yoshi place a hand over his face.
“What’s wrong? Are you ill? Do you have a headache?” Stamato asked, his hands held up high, ready to assist.
“They warned me about her. Oh did they warn me about her.” Yoshi placed a finger over his hear. “Excuse me, can we get another navigator for this course.”
“Sure!” Karin replied. “After we find someone else who is just as qualified to run these tests. Now let’s see here. Oh, looks like there is no one else on the list. Sorry! Now, whenever you’re ready, let me know.”
“We’ve been ready, you pleb,” shouted Yvonna, her head lifted in the air, seeking the origin of Karin’s voice.
“Okay! Get ready, because it’s time for a Chrome Dragon. Yay! Try not to get hit~”
“Do you believe we can handle a Chrome Dragon?” Stamato whispered to Yoshi.
“Only one way to find out.”
In the next few seconds, the team lost their vision. Colors quickly been washed away by a white wave. Normally, one would freak out at such a site and some trainees have in the past. However, Arks soon become use to this phenomenon as this is the usual, quick and painless ground teleportation system use for most of their missions. In a usual warp, the color will sweep back into place in the next half second. For some, like CASTs, it’s instantaneous as they would simply need to refresh their visions. For some of the more sensitive folk, the colors would sway back in forth like the waves of the ocean. However, this is usually uncommon and is normally aided by special eyewear or enhancements, such as Yoshi glasses. Which not only allow him to remove the warp side effects, but also act as sunglasses, a HUD and at times, a photo gallery with the image of his daughter placed at the upper left corner of the left lenses.
Blinking once, then twice, Yoshi glanced around at the island his group now stood on. He waddled on the gray square mat he stood on and realized that the mat was made up of even smaller squares. On the edges of the island, blue glass like fences wrapped around, protecting any Arks operatives from falling off mid combat. To Yoshi’s surprise, nothing appeared. The Chrome Dragon, a white oversized lizard with a sharp pointy head, shark like teeth and claws as large as a meter stick, was still missing. Wasting no time idling, Yoshi grabbed his comrades and huddled them into a group.
“Okay,” said Yoshi in a low voice. “When I say on, I want you to use you photon draining ability, Stats. When I say off, that’s when you stop. Got it?”
“Heard and recorded, Enigma. I will be waiting for your command.”
“Yvonna, you’re now free to lead.” Yoshi replied with a smug smile.
“I don’t need you to tell me when I can and can’t lead, Yoshi,” Yvonna barked.
“Oh, you called me by my first name. I’m touched,” Yoshi interrupted. Yvonna punched him in the face. Taken back by it at first, Yoshi then laughed his head off until the ground wobbled under his feet. The group turned, looking over their shoulders. At other side of the arena, standing behind Yvonna, was the Chrome dragon. Its blood stained hands gripped at the floor. A white mouth drooled like it spotted its first meal. Yvonna stared defiantly back at its yellow eyes. With Yoshi’s gunslash in hand, she pointed it up at the chrome dragon and shouted,
“Attack!”
The team scattered. Like marbles rolling in separate directions after a collision, Yoshi dashed left of Yvonna while Stamato hovered past her right. Each of them, keeping their eyes on their prize, moved into position. Watching them split up, the Chrome Dragon began to shoot blue spheres from its mouth. Each sphere grew as large as a human body and homed in on them at an easy to avoid pace.
“On,” shouted Yoshi, his finger aimed at the head of the dragon. Doing as he was told, Stamato threw his hand above his chest. When he did, the balls of energy vanished, leaving a baffled dragon to search around for them. “Off.”
Yoshi nodded to an impressed Yvonna. Nodding back she shot a weak bullet into the dragons head. Normally, this would appear as a small red orb on the head of the dragon, but to Yoshi and Stamato, it was a red rotating target, where red rings spun around the brighter red orb. Yoshi shot a beam of Ragrants. The dragons flinched. Its hands covered its head. The light burned at the dragon’s skin. Letting go, the dragon leered at Yoshi. Seeing this as an opening, Stamato surfed on his sword, kicked at the blue underbelly of the dragon and overended it. Stabbing the creature with a giant photon blade the size of one of the columns supporting the tall structure, he ripped away at its belly and rolled for safety, avoiding the dragon that now collapsed onto the padded floor. The dragon wasn’t dead. Not yet. It struggled to get back on its feet, roaring in anger. A cry so strong, it caused Yoshi and Yvonna to cover their ears. Out of nowhere, Darkers appeared; but instead of letting them roam around, the dragon sat up and sucked them into its mouth, eating them in the process. Standing in awe, everyone watch the dragon work its magic. After all the black and red mist had cleared, the dragon smile. Its mouth no longer salivated in hunger. Standing up straight, boney wings protrude from the dragon’s backside and stretched the red webbing in the air.
“Looks like something went wrong.” Karin gleefully said in the middle of the transformation. “I hope you don’t plan to heal any time soon.” Karin closed the communication channel. After she did, white machines emerged from blue swarming triangles, emitting a pink glow in the area after the triangles dissipated. Consoles popped up onto the floor at the same time.
“On,” Yoshi shouted again. Stamato listened. The photons drained away. With nothing to run on, the machines collapsed and the pink aura receded. Much to Stamato’s surprise, Yoshi didn’t shout off. Instead, he watched the Chrome Dragon lift into the air, mouth open with its eyes staring back at the cowboy. Attempting to summoning pillars that would impale the people below it, only breezy air came out in the end. Yvonna smiled. Stamato fist pumped the air. The only unhappy person on the team was Yoshi, who only frown with a shaking head. “Off,” the human finally said and walked forward. The dragon fell to the floor. Strolling towards to the fallen reptile, Yoshi finished it off if a mighty burst of light and turned around.
“Well, that’s floor one I guess,” Yoshi remarked. His staff planted into the cushioned ground.
“You guys are no fun. This experiment is now over! Please gather you findings from the console at the other end of the stage. Please do come back when you don’t plan to cheat.”
“Cheat?” a shocked Stamato asked.
“It was a simulation, Stats. Your draining ability not only affected the health of the Chrome Dragon but would have made the rest of the quest too easy. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to prevent the pillars of darkness either. Now don’t feel too bad. We did a good job. Don’t you agree, Yvonna?” asked Yoshi.
“A good job? I now have more time to spend the rest of my day. Come, we head to the mall.”
“Why does everyone keep taking me to the mall?” Yoshi groaned.
“A question of being pulled into one place for a number of consistent times. I shall accept this challenge and record why this happens,” said Stamato proudly.
“Gee, thanks.”
Last edited by yoshiblue; Oct 20, 2014 at 07:08 PM.
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