A World With/Out Home

Chapter 28: Fall in. (Part 1)

Chapter 28: Fall in.

"How is she?" Valandus approached the group huddled at the back of the ship.

"She's fine for now," Melissa breathed tiredly as she looked down at the unconscious Reina lying on a bed. "Thankfully this bird has a very decent medical unit. Her wounds mostly healed but it's going to take a bit before she can make up for all that lost blood. Luckily Kyle is basically an infinite supply of blood and he's a universal donator to boot."

"Well put that down as another one of his new talents," Valandus patted him on the back. "You saved our lives back there."

"Yeah...," he smiled weakly in reply. "More importantly, where are we and what is this thing?" He gestured braodly around them.

"This," Valandus began proudly, "is an airship. A secret project we were working and is our dear Hero's new transport, or well it should have been. Truth be told it was still in the prototyping stage but it was meant to replace our truck. It has enough room to sleep four people comfortably and storage for all our gear. Where are we? Well I'm not sure, somewhere between Trentheim and the fog."

Lillia looked at him incredulously, "Wait shouldn't we have gone the other way? Reina's stable now but she could get worse any minute. She needs medical attention."

"Lillia I would love to get back home but let's look at the facts." He raised his fingers and began to count, "First we got ambushed by an organised attack, second though Reina rescued us, it wasn't those knights that shot her, and third... no actually that's all I got."

"Get to the point Valandus," Lillia folded her arms.

Melissa answered for him, "The point is Reina didn't just come to save us, she was running from something. The fact she had escape in the airship and alone, we can only assume something bad happened back home."

"But that means," her eyes widened at the implication. If the knights of Lavise had also attacked the Hero's Guard it meant Maila and the children were in danger. "No, but even if Lavise launched all their forces they wouldn't make it past the walls. We'd see them coming from miles away."

"That's if we saw them coming," Valandus scratched his chin. "This airship wasn't the only secret project. There was another being built in Lavise, though we were told it was far from ready."

"Project sky fortress," the weak voice that responded belonged to Reina and with a tense groan she tried to sit up.

"Reina!?" Melissa quickly went to support her. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine," the secretary gave a weak nod. "I haven't finished my mission and until I have, I can't sleep."

"Your mission?" Lillia asked, her brows creasing.

"To find and keep you safe." She didn't just look at Lillia but Kyle as well. "There's no denying what happened. The Hero's Guard and Church have fallen. We were attacked... and we lost."

Kyle couldn't help but feel his muscles tense, "But how?" He knew just how strong the Guard was, the labyrinth of a complex they lived in and the defences within.

"They hit us when we were at our weakest and in a way we didn't expect." She took a deep breath, "I'll begin my report. At 1830 sundown project sky fortress descended from the clouds above the Capital and dropped armed forces onto temple grounds. The Guard went to intercept but due to lack of personnel and the enemies advanced knowledge of our defences, Lavise knights broke our lines. Priority was shifted to containment of key personnel. Church officials, council members and high ranking officers were taken to the bunker but not all of them made it."

"We had traitors didn't we?" Melissa asked dangerously.

"Yes. Several of the council had defected along with 1st Officer Urza and Secretary Anna. They let the Lavise knights straight inside."

"Damn it," Valandus punched the wall beside him. "I knew that Urza was an ambitious bastard but Anna as well?"

Kyle remembered 1st Officer Urza, and though their interaction had been brief, he didn't think the man would betray the guard. His decision during the Incursion, although callous towards Lillia seemed to be coming from what he considered there greater good. It took a further moment before he remembered Anna, "Anna was the lady who welcomed us when I first came right?"

Melissa nodded, "She used to be in charge of liaison between the Hero's unit, Church and Council."

"Used to?"

Reina answered bluntly, "When you were hired for your position as caretaker she was adamantly against it. Her reason was that you would negatively impact the Hero and other candidates. The Captain and she argued and she was moved to another position."

"Oh...," Kyle couldn't help but feel slightly responsible as his enrolment definitely had a piece to play with her betrayal. "That's right, the Captain! Where is he? Is he okay? How about the Garden?"

Reina continued her report, "With the Bunker compromised we moved to the Garden and took shelter there. It is the most secure location in all the Hero's Guard after all. The children and Maila are safe. It'll take a day or so before they can breach the barrier. The problem is what they'll do until then.... As for the Captain...." Her hands tightened, "He led a group of us to escape with the goal of finding you. In the end I was the only one who made it out."

Valandus stepped closer, "Reina that's enough. We understand the situation. Rest up. I'll take care of things from here."

The fierce determination that had lit up her eyes began to fade and the strong women suddenly looked incredibly vulnerable. A pool of water began to swell at her eyes, "Don't you screw up Valandus..., I've already done that enough." Her strength gave way and her body fell limp against Melissa who continued to support her.

A slap resounded across the airship as Valandus hit his own cheeks, "Okay. We're in a right mess but we can work through this. Lavise hit us hard and we don't know who we can trust but we've still got the Hero."

"Valandus, this sky fortress, just what is it?" Kyle asked.

"Well its name kind of gives it away. It was designed to be a mobile base to fight against the incursion. Damn thing can house a thousand units and dozens of artillery. It was meant to be a combination of work between the four states and us, representing a new age." He grit his teeth, "Urza was in charge of the project and fed us all the wrong intel. If the fortress is functional, even if with entire Guard we'd still be at a disadvantage. Being split apart... we need a miracle."

"A miracle...," Kyle turned his gaze to Lillia and the two shared a nod. "I think we might have just that but first we need to find him and I know where to start." From his pocket he drew a solid black card.