Cross Ange: The Knight of Hilda

Chapter 14: One Man's Stand

As she regained consciousness, Ange winced as she felt the lump on the back of her head. What happened? she wondered. The last thing she remembered was something tripping her in the hall and then...

"Momoka!" she cried, kicking out her legs to strike something hard and broad with her foot. Now that her eyes were open, she looked around but all she could see was darkness. Ange reached out and felt another surface. From what she could feel, it seemed as if she were trapped in a box of some kind. As she managed to stand, her elbow banged against something hard and long that fell against her and she cursed in surprise. I have to get out of here! she realized. Momoka and Hilda...I can't let that DRAGON kill them! She banged on all four sides but couldn't figure out how her cage opened "Hey!" she called. "Someone get me out of here!"

"So you're saying the DRAGONS have Para-mail?" Hilda asked.

"Exactly!" Rio answered. Peering around a corner, Rio gestured for her and Momoka to follow once he was certain no DRAGONS were in sight. "And one of them is equipped with a WMD. Just one blast took out a huge chunk of the island. When I left the command bunker, the rest of first squad minus Salia was about to engage them. But if we don't get Ange and Vilkiss into the air before that red unit fires again then we're dead."

"What happened to Ms. Salia?" Momoka asked.

"Jill sent her to release Ange and Hilda. Once we find Ange, I'll go look for her." Ahead, gunfire echoed down another passage and the three hurried towards its source. Turning the corner, they were greeted to a squad from the reserves who had just taken out another Schooner.

"Captain Sir!" one said as they saw Rio approach.

"At ease!" he told them. "Status report!"

"We're picking them off just as soon as we can find them," the leader said. "Luckily their size works against them in tight quarters but they keep getting in from the outside." As if to emphasize the point, another screech echoed through the halls followed by a scream and more gunfire.

"Understood. Now listen up all of you. We need to find Ange. She and her cellmate here were separated when they got attacked by a DRAGON. It's imperative that we find her and get her up into the air. Have any of you.."

"Wait a minute?" Momoka interrupted. "I hear something." Rio cocked his ear and beneath the sounds of the battle that raged throughout Arzenal, a thumping like someone kicking a wall could be heard along with a muffled yell.

"Hey! Someone answer me!"

"Is that Ange?" Hilda wondered. They followed the sound until they came to a maintenance closet in which something was banging wildly. Hilda and Rio exchanged puzzled glances as Momoka unlocked the handle and Ange stumbled out, a cluster of brooms and mops falling down behind her. "Seriously! You ditched us to hide in the closet?"

"Lady Angelise would never do something so low!" Momoka protested

"Of course I didn't!" Ange gasped. "Something tripped me and then I got knocked out and when I woke up I was in there! I don't know why but...my ring!" Ange gaped at her barren hand and then frantically turned back to the closet, throwing the fallen broomsticks and other cleaning supplies out of her way. "They took my ring!" As Ange frantically searched for her missing ring, a thousand thoughts raced through Rio's head at once. It didn't seem likely that someone would take the chance to steal some random jewelry in the middle of a siege. The only logical reason was that they knew about the ring's connection to Vilkiss. But who? Minus himself Rio could count the ones who knew the truth about that ring on one hand. And none of them could possibly have any motive to steal it except to...Wait a minute, he realized. She wouldn't.