Previous Chapter: Chapter 3: Immortal Gorge        Next Chapter: Chapter 5

*Laiot Mountain Range*

Eita: Captain… considering its Masaki guiding us, are we really gonna be okay?

Tetsuya: Actually, I’m a little worried, myself…

Masaki: Oh, shut up. Soldis Shrine is right over there.

Torres: That’s incorrect, Lord Masaki. It’s the other direction.

Masaki: N-no, seriously, it’s that way!

Kuro: …Yeah, don’t listen to Masaki.

Shiro: You should believe Torres.

Masaki: ; ;

Torres: I shall instruct the helmsman directly. If that’s okay, Captain.

Tetsuya: Please.

Masaki: Please, he says…

Kuro: I mean, he’s seen you in action many times by now…

Azuki: I can’t believe I’m this close to Kuro and Shiro…!

Shiro: Who’s this?

Azuki: I’m Azuki Sawa. I used to be a bit further down the staff ladder, but I’ve been promoted.

Masaki: Oh?

Eita: In other words, she’s my protégé. Go easy on her.

Kuro: Nice to meet mew!

Azuki: U-um… could I touch your paw pads?

Shiro: I don’t mind.

Azuki: Th-then… Oh my! So bouncy!

Shiro: A-hahah, that tickles!

Masaki: …Seems she really likes cats.

Azuki: Yeah! So I’m really jealous of you, Masaki!

Masaki: Well, while I’m on the ship, I’ll let you look after them.

Azuki: R-really? Yay!

Eita: …Well, now that we’ve got the important cat business out of the way, lets focus on keeping the ship running.

Azuki: A-ah! Yes!

Masaki: Heh, seems you’re a bit stern.

Eita: Well, she’s my responsibility. You’re the same way with Mio, right?

Masaki: News gets around quick, huh.

Eita: My job is to collect information, after all.

Azuki: Captain, there’s a message from the 3rd medical bay. It seems the boy we picked up woke up.

Tetsuya: Understood. Tell them I’m headed there now.

Azuki: Roger.

*In the bay*

Tetsuya: He has no memories?

Doctor: Yes. He can talk, so he has some general knowledge, but he remembers nothing of himself, except his name.

Rio: Hey, Ing. You really can’t remember anything?

Ing: …Yeah…

Tetsuya: I am this ship’s captain, Tetsuya Onodera.

Ing: You… thank you for rescuing me.

Tetsuya: You were found in a mech’s escape pod.  It’s likely you were shot down in battle. Does any of that ring a bell?

Ing: …Nothing. I can’t remember who I am, where I came from, or what I was doing…

Tetsuya: …

Ryoto: (From his expression, it doesn’t look like he’s lying…)

Tetsuya: …Rio, stay with the security team and keep an eye on his condition.

Rio: Understood.

Tetsuya: Doctor, Ryoto, follow me.

Ryoto: Yes, sir.

*outside*

Tetsuya: Considering his age and the mech he was in, the first thing that comes to mind is he could be one of the Boosted Children.  Is it possible he underwent some kind of mental reconditioning?

Doctor: We ran a scan on him multiple times, but found no indication of that. There’s some bruises on his head, but I don’t think it was physical trauma, but psychological scarring that made his memories recede.[1]

Tetsuya:  Any trace of drugs?

Doctor: Nothing of note. Also, I did a TPL test and it came back clear.

Ryoto: So he’s not a Psychic…

Tetsuya: Then it looks like he’s a normal human?

Doctor: I don’t know if it’s right to say that. He’s obviously had pilot and combat training.

Ryoto: So he’s almost certainly a pilot.

Tetsuya: Ryoto, did you run a scan on the pod we found him in?

Ryoto: It did not match any of the mechs or personal troopers in our data base. When that happened in the past, it meant we were dealing with mechs from the Shadow Mirror universe, or… Maybe something like Raul’s old Excellence.

Tetsuya: So it could be from some other world?

Ryoto: Or, it’s not made by the Federation, Mao Industries, or Isurugi Heavy Industry. There’s a possibility that the GS made it.

Tetsuya: The GS…

Ryoto: They’re testing and producing new weapons separate from the Federation, right?

Tetsuya: Yeah, near Grand Christmas, or as it used to be called, Aidoneus Island.

Ryoto: Considering how they enforced the border, and their “Shade” defense, we don’t even have satellite data for their base.

Tetsuya: I don’t know much, but… Even though they’re supposedly under the direct control of the president, there’s a lot of nasty rumors about them.

Ryoto: Even if we wanted to see if they’re connected to Ing… There’s not much we can do from La Gias.

Tetsuya: Exactly. …Doctor, continue his treatment and try to restore his memories. But don’t force anything.

Doctor: I understand. I’ll keep a close eye on the observation staff, too.

Tetsuya: Thanks.  And make sure there’s a security force on him at all times.

*He goes, in comes Rio*

Rio: Captain, there’s a message from the bridge. We’ll arrive at the shrine in 20 minutes.

Tetsuya: Understood. Let’s head back to the bridge.

Chapter 4: Soldis Shrine

Masaki: Hey! Granny Ybun! Are you there? It’s me, Masaki!

*dead silence*

Kuro: …No response.

Masaki: That’s weird. She’s always around this area.

Eita: ! Something’s coming out of the temple!

*Stuff*

Tetsuya: What are those?

Masaki: Oh, don’t worry, those are guardian machines. Pilotless robots to protect the temple. Hey! We’re here to see Ybun! Let us through!

Shiro: …No response.

Masaki: Very weird… Is something going on inside?

*KaBOOM*

Masaki: Whaaa?

Shiro: Th-they’re shooting!

Masaki: Wait! We’re not your enemy!

*KAboom*

Masaki: Yeesh, they ain’t listening! Well then, we’ll just crush you all and work our way in!

Tetsuya: …So it seems. All units, deploy.

*deploy screen*

Irm: I didn’t expect it to come to this. I guess our lady Ybun is hard to handle, like Masaki said.

Ryoto: But if we don’t do this, we won’t be able to go home…

Excellen: Oh well. We’ll let Irm smooth things over with the gal later.

Irm: Well, not that I’m confident or anything.

Excellen: In any case! Let’s start this fight!

Chapter 4: Soldis Shrine

Victory: All enemies defeated

Defeat: The Hagane is shot down.

SR Point: Fulfill the victory condition in 3 turns.

Eita: There’s a high speed unit approaching! Identification…Found! YAM-008, Altairlion!

Tetsuya: !

*And so it is*

Ibis:  I knew it, it’s the Hagane! And the Cybuster!

Tsugumi: Thank goodness… We were able to find some people we knew!

Masaki: What’s that machine?

Irm: That’s Ibis’s new mech.

Ryoto: So they too were called to La Gias….

Ibis: Masaki, what is going on…?

Masaki: Before that, could you give us a hand? We have to beat these guys and head into the temple. We can talk later.

Ibis: G-got it. I trust you guys.

Masaki: Thanks!

*ibis fightans*

Tsugumi: Even though we’re faster, you can’t get careless!

Ibis: I know! We need to be focused on clearing out the shrine!

*and blow errybody up*

Masaki: Alright, we’re finished here! Let’s head inside!

*And so they go*

Masaki: You in here, you old fart?

Ybun: Who’s that, being so damn loud in here? Oh, it’s just Masaki.

Masaki: What the hell! What’s up with the Machine Guards that we had to deal with?

Ybun: Well, that’s what happens when you come barging in! You’re as rude as ever.

Masaki: Shut it, I came here to ask you a favor. Do you know anything about the recent summoning from the surface? The truth is…

Ybun: Is that’s how you ask someone for a favor? Kids these days.

Masaki: What?  You’re never modest, so why should I be?[2]

Mio: …When did being modest come into the conversation?

Masaki: It doesn’t matter, now answer my question!

Irm: Stop it, Masaki. …I’m terribly sorry that we’ve created such a disturbance. We came here to ask something of you, madam.

Excellen: (Oh, he said he had no confidence, but he’s really going for it!)

Ybun: …Yeah, I know. You guys were called here without reason from the surface. And you wanna use my power to get back.

Irm: Exactly!

Ybun: But I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who did the summoning, or why…

Irm: So even a shrine maiden such as yourself doesn’t know?

Ybun: There’s only a few people who could do something like that.  Those I know of would be the silver mage Katex, Lord Feil, or perhaps Lord Terius, if he worked at it.

Masaki: Oh, so you don’t know. So basically, all we have is guesses. But what about the fight earlier?

Ybun: The thing with the guards? That wasn’t my fault. If you wanna complain, tell it to REB.  I mean, it’s not like it can hear.

Masaki: REB was hacked?

Ybun: More like they were possessed by some bad-intentioned spirits. Thanks to them, I’ve been holed up in here. And I’m getting old. I couldn’t do the back-up spell.

Excellen: Um… What’s she talking about?

Ibis: What’s… REB?

Masaki: It’s the main computer here. And someone hacked it. It was probably someone working with the Shutedonias forces…

Ybun: No, it was probably Louzorl.

Rio: Um… So there’s no way for us to return to the surface?

Ybun: If you can get the spirits out of the REB, maybe I can do something… But there’s demon golems down there, so I can’t get close. If you want me to use that backup magic, then you’re going to have to do something about them.

Masaki: Yeesh, right after guardians it’s Demon Golems…

Excellen: But hey, shouldn’t we at least give it a shot?

Irm: Yeah. Until we find the other folks, it’s not like we’re going to return to the surface, but it’d be nice to have a way home prepared.

Ybun: Then I’ll try to draw out the spirits. If I don’t do something about it, the worst case scenario is REB will self-destruct. But I can only control it for 5 minutes. You guys will have to kill the demon golems before that.

Masaki: And after that?

Ybun: I’ll seal the spirits out somehow. Now, let’s head under the shrine.

Previous Chapter: Chapter 3: Immortal Gorge        Next Chapter: Chapter 5: Demon Hack

[1] Medical terms in Japanese are difficult, and this is my best guess.

[2] You’re not one to talk about behaving modestly?