Four days passed quickly as I tinkered around and set my gear up. I even went and started making different elents for Aether Imbuent. At the mont, it was only ice imbuents that I had to a stable condition, but I had plans for a bunch of different ones way down the line.
Anyway, my gear was all repaired and ready to go. I even had so new additions on top of that. Everything—except the coil gun—was ready for combat. Even my wristguns, which had been heavily modified once more, were good to go. One shot was loaded with ice, and the other fire.
I spent most of my ti relaxing and stress-testing my tech. It felt like the calm before the storm as I rested and recuperated. I even spent so ti drawing just for fun. Of course, all while repairing my gear. And it's a good thing I finished when I did, as I got a call from the Inquisitor shortly after.
”Hello?” I answered the phone call and set down the custom-built capacitor I’d been ssing with. The coilgun was still a work in progress, though I had hopes I'd be able to finish it with a couple more weeks of testing.
”It’sh go ti. We’re about to move on Shentinel. Briefing in thirty at the seminar center above the BC Gym. Floor ten. The entire Crusade is being called in on this one, including the other precincts.” The Inquisitor inford before hanging up almost imdiately.
I sat there, staring at my SITCH as it chugged along, for several minutes as I ntally tried to piece together what the Inquisitor said. Moving on Sentinel… I an, I figured it’d happen at so point. The Circle had Sentinel equipnt, was deeply embedded into the gacorp, and the final ritual circle was supposedly aboard Sentinel’s Supercarrier. They definitely had a connection.
Hell, the reason Sentinel's ship was even here was thanks to their tech being stolen. The Circle may have even been the ones who planned everything and hired Nathos--the original interface holder--in the first place.
Still… the Blue Crusade going against one of the Big 7, eh? Normally, I’d say going against the Big 7 was suicide. This was an exception. The Crusade had a fighting force that could make even the Big 7 hesitant. Not worried, but hesitant. Aythryn City wasn’t the only city under BC control, and there was a veritable army to call upon.
Was this going to be the start of another corporate war? Or did they get permission to board and investigate Sentinel? The latter was more likely, especially considering the higher-ups of Sentinel would want to be rid of Circle corruption just as much as we wanted them gone. Then again, there was no telling how far the Circle’s reach was. They even had one of the Crusade’s High Lords under their thumb.
Whatever… I’ll figure everything out during the briefing, I guess. Depending on how it played out, I might cut ties and run. Attacking one of the Big 7 was a good way to get flatlined. Though, even if I ran, there was a good chance I'd get caught. They weren't a gacorp for no reason.
Before doing anything else, I sent a ssage to Shinobu. ‘Crusade making its move. Bad ti to be out.’
A few minutes later, as I cleaned up, a response from the Jade Fang Enforcer ca. ‘Roger. Thanks, mikata. I’ve inford the Elders. The Matriarch sends her regards, as well as a gift next ti you co by the Dragoon Saloon.’
I finished cleaning up, gathered all my gear, and left the speakeasy. On my way back, I adjusted my new poncho to show off the Crusade’s colors. I ran by my apartnt, changing into Crusade gear and ntally preparing myself. Next stop, the BC Gym.
— — —
I stepped into the seminar center and imdiately slamd with a wall of noise from thousands of people talking. Even if all of them spoke in low voices, there were enough people here that it all built up. At least ten thousand, if not more, Crusaders were present.
I stared around the massive room. Honestly, calling this place a seminar center was a bit unfair. It was closer to an arena than anything. An arena filled to the brim with Blue Crusade wackos. The intimidation and guilt radiating from the thousands of enchantnts was on a whole other level. I felt sweat trickle down my spine as I looked around for the section numbers.
Inquisitor Ligh was seated near the front, alongside the Squires. I moved to them, taking a saved seat between Joshua, the shady-looking Squire I’d t once, and Hope.
Hope smiled at . For once, she nailed the expression as her face seed to light up, and the heavy bags under her eyes lifted cheerfully. “Zuku! Glad to see you! Had us worried back at the container yard...”
”Hope.” I returned her smile, holding out my gauntleted fist. “Thanks for the tily assistance back then.”
She bumped my fist with her own as I took my seat. “Of course, of course… new eye? The pink suits you.”
My hand raised to my left eye automatically, touching just below it. I’d yet to look at it too much, but it was a really pretty pink shade. After it mutated thanks to Panther’s Sight, it even had a faint glow alongside an amber center. “Thanks… accidental though. The clone flesh mutated.”
“I see… still, it looks good.” Hope nodded to my neck. “So, you get the tracker removed? Even in a severely injured state, you were practically wailing at us to take you to Fox’s Shrine when we tried to move you.”
I felt my cheeks warm up slightly in embarrassnt. “Sorry about that… I don’t really rember anything after the explosion. The tracker is gone though.”
”Nova! One less thing to worry about.” She sighed as she glanced around the massive room. “Got enough worries as is.”
”Zuku, right?” Joshua asked from my side. He eyed my gear with a look that I certainly recognized in his eyes. Not quite greed, but… interest. “Still in one piece, I see.”
I shrugged, pulling my poncho a bit tighter around to cover up most of my stuff. “Barely.”
He smiled lightly at my action and winked. “Dev and I were out in the field at that ti. He was quite beside himself when we got the news.”
Dev, sitting next to Joshua, punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t go telling lies, bastard.”
Joshua chuckled as he rubbed his arm. “Hey now, can’t bla for-“
The massive sound system in the seminar arena crackled to life as the Commander’s voice ca across. “Testing, testing… we’re good?”
I was close enough to see him in detail, but for those further away there was a massive jumbotron above the central stage. This place was seriously decked out. Surely it wasn’t just used as a seminar center, right? That’d be such a waste.
“Alright, glad you see you all here… We’ve got, what, half Aythryn City’s Crusade present? Let's get straight to the point then, yeah?”
The Commander waited for a few monts before nodding his shadowed face. The shadows on stage coalesced, forming a massive symbol of the Crusade. The shadows slowly faded, changing colors as the emblem turned into a blaze of crackling blue flas.
The Commander finally spoke up. “We’re launching an all-out Inquisition! Lock in, ga faces on, and let strength speak! They underestimate the Crusade, looking down on us like we’re weak… that ends now! It’s ti to shake this city to its core. Its ti to remind them, and everyone watching, once more why we’re the ones at the top!
“The target is Sentinel! A quarter of us are headed to the Phalanx Supercarrier, a quarter to Sentinel’s building, and the rest of you are assigned to various Circle hideouts we’ve identified.”
A hologram popped up, revealing the entire city covered in red markers. ”Listen up! We’re only going over this once…”
The briefing continued for hours afterward, with groups splintering off as their jobs and missions were assigned. Basically, the plan was for an all-out attack. Yeah, typical Crusade. Simple, but effective.
Oh! Also, we have Sentinel’s cooperation to look into everything. We won’t be sparking the next corporate war over this, which is definitely a relief. The last one nearly tore the planet apart as it ended with the Internet Crash. And the one before that ended with a country being nearly vaporized by BosSpace's Orbital Piledriver. Scary stuff.
After the briefing ended, we split up into groups. I joined the Inquisitor and his Squires in the elevator as we headed for the flyer bay at the top of the building. According to the plan, we’d take a flyer all the way to the carrier from here.
”Sho, everyone knowsh the plan?” The Inquisitor asked. “We’ll be taking the rear, investigating after the vanguard knights passed through the place.”
”Uh-“ Joshua raised a hand. “There's sothing I still don't get. Why’d Sentinel suddenly say okay? We’ve been requesting permission to board for over a month, right?”
The Inquisitor leaned against the elevator wall, fishing a familiar flask from his pocket. “Water really quenchesh thirsht… they lost contact with the carrier a day ago.”
”So they’re saving manpower by letting us go first?” Hope asked. A sour expression clung to her face. “Typical corpos.”
Hmm… it was smart on their part though. Can’t really bla them. For the entire supercarrier to go down without getting a distress call out implied an extrely strong force raided the ship. Why waste their own manpower when they can send in the Crusade? Although… it would’ve been cool to see Sentinel’s Valkyries in action.
”Prechise- preshiousl-“ The Inquisitor sighed and shook his head. “Affirmative. Honeshtly, the Sentinel brat in Aythryn City was the one who pushed the plan forward, at leasht according to internal shources.”
”Really? Wasn’t he supposed to be the useless, unloved son of the family?” Joshua asked.
Were they- were they talking about Sean? He’s the only one that I can think of that might get called a Sentinel brat… still, calling him unloved and useless wasn’t very nice. Sure, he was a bit stupid, but he had a good heart from what I saw. I an, he still texts every once in a while. At least he contacts more than Mira.
”One of dozens of unloved kids. Anyway, the brat hash been more active recently. Probably hoping accomplishing shothing will earn daddy’s love.” The Inquisitor tossed the flask back into his pocket. “Shucks for us. Now we have to worry about Shentinel becoming more active. As if Shen Kang pushing in washn’t a big enough issue.”
I zoned out as they continued to talk. How is Sean? I should really send him a ssage. I kinda miss just hanging out and talking to soone my age. Maybe once this was over, assuming I live through it, I could claim to co into town for a visit? Could probably eat well on his card, at least.
After a while, the conversation died as the elevator dinged. We stepped out into the flyer bay. It was absolutely packed with people and vehicles. Front and center though were massive flyers being boarded by dozens of Crusaders at a ti. There were three in here, and about three dozen of them hovering just outside with their lights flashing.
Each beast was about the size of a train car and built like a flying tank. The armants and armor could probably surpass even a devac from dtech. A massive main cannon sat on top, with several turrets poking out of various spots. It was painted a dark blue with silver highlights, seemingly pulsing with blue and red lights like it was alive.
Unfortunately, it was too big to scan with Technical Expertise unless I got the opportunity to walk all over it and freely caress every inch of the beautiful tech. I doubt I’d get an opportunity though. Sha.
The back hatch of the vehicle--a Knight Security Waymaker--sat open, allowing Crusaders and varied personnel into its main bay. Several logistics teams were loading boxes of sothing into the middle of the storage bay. Ammo, maybe?
We joined the boarding group, following Inquisitor Ligh like he was a mother duck as we likewise took seats inside the absolute beast of a vehicle. I glanced at Hope next to , following her actions as she strapped into the seat.
“First ti in one of these?” Hope asked as she noticed following her.
”Chek… I didn’t even know they existed.” Granted, I also didn’t look up at the Crusade very much growing up. When I heard the sirens and saw the lights, I kept my head down and got out of the way.
Hope smiled, though it took on a vicious tone as her eyes seed to wickedly crinkle. “They’re usually locked in the armory. It’s the second ti I’ve seen them used en masse since I joined.”
”When was the first?” Man, I would love to go to the Crusade's armory for a little looksie. They probably had all sorts of cool stuff in there, wherever there was.
”About four years ago? Maybe? A massive horde of Dune Walkers approached the city, and a monster wave started thanks to it.” She shrugged. “It was a while ago.”
I thought back, faintly rembering such an event. I would've been... what, twelve? The mories were faint though. Hell, everything before the interface felt a bit faint, like it was another life entirely. So much has changed since then.
We chatted idly about this and that with Joshua occasionally jumping in to say sothing. The Inquisitor was quiet the entire ti, sitting upright and staring ahead in perfect posture.
Eventually, though, the flyer pulled out of the landing bay and took off. Next stop, the Phalanx Supercarrier.
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