Hot Pursuit: Act III

Through teleportation, it seemed that New Gaian’s new formed Alliance had managed to beat the two Heiarch fragments to their intended destinations. The Itami trio to arrive in Merricent to the site of a massive compliment of soldiers from both the Malaikin main guard as well as the Rogue Special forces.  As the fully materialised now, shaking off the mild discomfort that came with that form of transport, the soldiers gave them some time to come to their sense. After a few seconds, Roun in particular noticed a number of familiar faces within the group, most notably the members of K-Four, the elite squadron that made up the higher ranks of his superior officers.

“What’s going on?” He inquired now, expressing the sentiment that Setto and Ryuu also shared.

“Commandant Mirakama got wind of your little quest, as well as the run in you all had with the entity outside Seina.”  Daniel Hattori started.

“Yeah, we’re just here to make sure that the peace is kept.”  Zed Cross added, causing the trio to nod.

“Do I take it you guys are tracking this thing too then?”  Roun inquired now.

“That’s correct... oddly enough, since you initiated the teleportation from Seina to here, its started to change course.”  Harry Benet now answered.

“It’s heading north.  If you plan to intercept it, you should probably start heading in its direction, rather than just waiting for it to come here.”  Loki Hattori spoke now, causing Roun to nod again.

“Can you transfer the coordinates to my Data Pad?”  He requested now.

“One step ahead of you Lieutenant Commander... now get going.”  Would be Daniel’s reply, which prompted the three towards the coast as they moved to intercept the entity.

Unlike the Itami trio, who had arrived long before their target, the team of Jayce, Xavier and Nikolai only managed to beat their target to Jaegard by a matter of hours.  Interestingly enough, they were greeted with a similar welcoming committee, consisting of Jaegard’s main security force as well as select members of the Shadesmith Royal guard.

“What?”  Jayce opened, being the first to overcome the disoriented feeling and witness the mass of soldiers that were now staring at them.  Little did the young channeler know however that it was actually his general appearance that made them quite curious.  By now, they had grown somewhat accustomed to Terrans and the variety of skin tones and hair colours, which more often than not meant very little about their lineage, but they still couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the Senior Dias guardian and the Falco Royal line.

“Pardon my associate’s rudeness.” Nikolai spoke up now, also shaking the feeling before he attempted to explain the situation.  “We do not wish to cause any trouble, we are simply seeking...”

“The Destroyer, yes we have been informed of your purpose here.  The Talon clan requested that we watch over the area.”  One of the members of the Royal Guard spoke now.

“Yes, we were also informed of your encounter with the Grand Plague.  It is our job to deter him from making another stand here.”  Another man explained.

“I see, then we thank you.”  Nikolai replied, whipping out his Communications Link and contacting the Archetype.  “Archetype, we have arrived in Seina, can you still sense the fragment?”  He inquired now.

“Yes Nikolai, but it seems to have shifted course... Heiarch is heading northward.”  Came the reply.

“North?  What the hell is north of here?”  Xavier inquired now, looking to the mass of soldiers.

“Directly north of here, past our borders, is contaminated with energy as a result of a Terran device... there is nothing there.”  One of the soldiers replied.

“Archetype, why would he be heading that way, what’s the catch?”  Xavier inquired now.

“It would not be safe for you to follow him through the fallout in that area, but it would also not be safe for Heiarch to stay there in his current state.  I believe that he may be using it as a smoke screen to hide his true destination.”  She explained, causing Xavier to growl.

“I’m going after it.”  Xavier stated adamantly.

“Agreed, let’s stop wasting our time here.”  Jayce concurred.

“If we leave the protection of Jaegard, we expose ourselves to the possibility of being attacked again.”  Nikolai reasoned, but it seemed that his pleas fell on deaf ears.  “And how are to traverse this contaminated land without being contaminated ourselves?”  He inquired further.

“Quickly...” Came the reply from the two, almost in unison, before they both glared at each other and activated their transport equipment, decompiling it from their stored inventory and summoning it into existence.

In the six member group, each channeler of the Alliance was equipped with a method of quick transport, designed specifically according to their tastes in some cases or simply standard in others.  Ryuu, Setto and Nikolai utilised the standard X-3 Hoverboard models, which were available from most common stores while Roun, Xavier and Jayce utilised more customised devices.  For Roun, a modified thrusters pack, created from a disassembled X-3 would facilitate his motions, while Jayce and Xavier both used warp devices created at their factions Research and Development facility.  Regardless of the form of the device however, the function was essentially the same, allowing both teams to make their breaks towards Heiarch, while the relative armies of the nations nearest to the battle kept an eye out for the collection of souls dubbed the Grand Plague, which made up the junior Heiarch host.

Unfortunately for both teams, their targets had long gotten wind of their pursuit plans, and had since changed course, modifying their initial heading to areas where both teams were simply find themselves too weak to follow.  This made for an interesting chase none the less, as both teams managed to at least intercept the energetic concoctions some time before they reached their destinations and used their various legendary energies in a bid to ensure that they did not escape the grasp of the guardians.

Unfortunately, even with Synchros’ binding ability and Geon’s stabilising ability, both teams would be unable to stop their targets.  In the vicinity of Malaikin, one half would cross the threshold into the Storm Plains, allowing it to be sheltered by Byakko’s winds, which formed a barrier that the three Itamis simply could not penetrate without facing certain reversion and possible oblivion.

Within the Jin area however, the chase lasted much longer, forcing the three guardians to conserve their stamina as they attempted to remain powered up for two straight days.  This was a task in itself, especially when crossing through the ethereal fallout which plagues the Haiman area, as it forced them to seriously ration their power.  This reduced their ability to actually attempt to stop the Heiarch fragment after the first day, resigning them to utilising external weapons and add-ons with great futility, until the fragment finally reached its destination.  Pandora’s Temple would be where the chase would end, as much like their counterparts in Malaikin, the three soon found that an attempt to travel into Pandora’s temple without an appropriate plan would leave them worse for ware to say the very least.

It was with this in mind that each team returned paused outside of the their target’s new stronghold, before eventually being forced to return to their original destinations.  The conversations which followed the events would not be particularly jovial, but would allow each member of the team to essentially reach the same conclusion.  The events that transpired had been enough to push Nikolai and Jayce over the threshold into their Boss tier states, while leaving Roun extremely close to a similar change.  Ryuu and Xavier trailed behind, but it would not take a whole lot to bring them up to that level either, leaving just the young Setto Itami to trail the others.  For this reason, each team would spend the next few weeks training their abilities focussing on their ascension to the Boss Tier.

Nikolai, Jayce and Xavier would take their training to the field, where the two Terran trained channelers could give Nikolai a lesson in the art of high energy doom bringing while he attempted to refine their channelling methods to be more efficient.  In Merricent, Roun and Ryuu would put on a small training camp for all of the player tier channelers who were interested, garnering support, though minimal, from the Rogue Special forces.  The camp would consist primarily of the 3 Itamis, select Rogue Ensigns and a handful of civilian channelers who were interested in the activities.

As they trained and gained power, the six channelers could only imagine the power which the Heiarch fragments were amassing as they came closer and closer to a fully awakened state.

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