God Eater 3 (Complete Retelling)

Chapter 6: The Chrysanthemum

Luca, Hugo and Zeke step aboard this massive vessel and it begins to move away from the now destroyed Port. As they take an elevator up to the bridge, they wonder to themselves why a ship like this is not only lacking any form of weapons, but also barely anyone aboard. That, and what will happen to them and the children. As the elevator stops and they step out to the bridge, a woman with long blonde hair and a monocle walked up to greet them.

Blonde Haired Woman: Gentlemen; welcome aboard the Ash Crawler Chrysanthemum. I'm the captain of this vessel, and the owner of her namesake: Hilda Henriquez.

Hilda stretched out her arm for a handshake, Hugo reached his hand out and accepted the gesture.

Hugo: I'm Hugo Pennywort. That's Luca and Zeke.
Hilda:  It's a pleasure to meet all of you. First of all, I would like to talk about one of the children who was brought on board. We've put him in the infirmary and is being treated as we speak. By tomorrow, he should be okay.
Hugo: *sigh* That's good to hear.
Hilda: Secondly, in regards to your payment for clearing the way...
Hugo: You saved the kids; that's all the payment we need. Being alive is all that matters to us.
Hilda: Unfortunately, all of you being here is only a temporary solution.
Luca: How so?
Hilda: AGE reassignment requires the permission of both the governor of your Port and an official from Gleipnir. And, from what we've gathered, the governor and the rest of Port Management had already evacuated moments before the Storm appeared.
Zeke: Heh, if they get killed in the Ash Storm, that's fine with us. That's what they get for leaving kids to die.
Luca: ...That's enough, Zeke!
Zeke: What the hell, Luca?! An hour ago, you were calling 'em bastards for not helping Sho!
Luca: They may be scum, but their deaths aren't gonna make anyone happy!
Hugo: Luca's right, Zeke. I'm sorry Miss Hilda, you were saying?
Hilda: Hm... just Hilda is fine. Under Ashland Navigation Law; I hereby place you all under my protection and transfer you to our Port. At least for the time being.
Hugo: Then our services are yours. But I wanna make one thing perfectly clear. We have no problems with killing Aragami, but I refuse to do anything that I know will put the lives of my friends in danger, understand?
Hilda: *chuckle* That's perfect to hear. We have a deal then. Now, let's talk about what you'll be doing.

    As Hilda was about to begin her explanation, Zeke turned around and headed towards the elevator.

Hilda: Is there something wrong?
Zeke: I'm just gonna go check on my little brother Keith. That, and Luca and Hugo are way better at understanding complicated stuff than me. *walks away*
Hilda: Right, then. You boys understand how a caravan route works, correct?
Luca: You use low ash density areas as reference points, travel along the connected dots and then place beacons along the way for future use, right?
Hilda: Exactly. There used to be an old but reliable route through here. Unfortunately, the beacons have all gone dead.
Hugo: Knocked out by that Ash Storm. Huh, we've never been on a crawler before. But the number of crew members here seems pretty small for a ship this big, doesn't it?
Hilda: I can't afford to hire very many people. Resources and bias factor supplies aren't what they used to be.
Hugo: Which is why you decided to bring us on to do a little work for, am I right?
Hilda: Yes, and I can assure you you'll be be compensated.
Luca: Yeah, well, a "weekly allowance" isn't going to cut it.
Hilda: If we can reestablish the old route, we should be able to claim pioneer royalties. And a cut of said royalties will go to you. Does that sound fair?
Hugo: Since we're the ones who'll be out there risking life and limb; 70-30 our way.
Hilda: Heh, 30% for us? Do remember that the rewards are split amongst the entire crew.
Luca: Then 50-50. Considering your cargo is sure to be extremely valuable, we refuse to take any less than that.
Hilda: Heh, heh... Now that sounds more agreeable. We have a deal. You're free to roam the crawler, though some parts of the ship are restricted.
Hugo: Compared to our cells, it's paradise.
Hilda: Good. Now there are a few more things we need to discuss, but that can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure you must be exhausted. Go get some sleep. And once again; welcome aboard.

    With the negotiations complete, Luca and Hugo head to elevator and down to their new living quarters. During the ride, they agreed that Hilda was someone the can trust. The way she spoke to them as equals, and didn't take pity on them nor think of herself as above them. Equality like that was something they had almost forgotten. All that was left is to prove their value. They step out of the elevator and into the men's living quarters. There they see Zeke, Keith and Marr, along with the same God Eater who was at the prison the day prior.

Black Haired God Eater: Well, hey there.
Luca: You're...
Black Haired God Eater: Yup, the name's Ricardo Sforza. From here on out, we'll be bunking together.
Hugo: So you work for Hilda, huh?
Ricardo: Pretty much. I don't do much fighting, though. Information gathering's more my forte. Which was why I was at your Port. According to Doyle, a fellow intelligence specialist from another Port; the AGEs at Pennywort were being forced into some "questionable" experiments. So I wanted to find out what they were hiding and send it to Gleipnir. But thanks to that Ash Storm, any evidence that could be used against them's gone. But enough about me, it's getting late, so lights out.

    Ricardo shuts off the lights and they each take to their respective bunk. Before he falls completely to sleep, Luca begins to wonder what next day will bring. And if this could be the opportunity they had been waiting for.