Dean walked into the office of the Supreme Commander of the Cosmic Patrol, the rather unassuming woman sitting quietly behind her desk. He gave his salute and she did so in kind, beginning this meeting. “I have read your formal complaint about putting the Ziegfried into lockup. I understand your logic, but this will be our only opportunity to secure this dangerous weapon the same way we have the sister stones to your own locked up as well. That said, your security concerns are well considered and are exactly why I am asking you, apparently one of the engineers who made this marvel, to…” she trailed off as she looked for a phrase he would understand, clearly ignoring his extensive experience as an officer, “…removing the firing pin from it. Due to your due diligence within your role and knowledge of this situation, I’m going to leave all solutions to your discretion as a Special Detective. You are to report to impound and will be given clearance to inspect the craft. Render all weapons inoperable and make any modifications necessary to make the engine inoperable. Last thing we need is that monster to awake under our feet.”
Dean did his best to hide his frustration. It wasn’t theirs to take. It was a mobile fortress for times just like these. What’s worse is that he knew just how pointless his efforts might be. Unless…
He saluted the Supreme Commander and left. He quickly made his way to the elevator, entering just before the doors closed. Looking to his side he saw an automata that he didn’t expect. A black and gold humanoid combat machine covered in assorted orange spheres. Bioelectric Living Automaton Zeal, the robot known as Blaze to most of the cosmos. He was curious as to why he was here but decided to remain quiet for now. Better not to harass the bounty hunter. Regardless, the machine voiced passive greetings before asking, “Are you guys really working for the Falos?”
Dean sighed, his usual casual demeanor taking hold, “Not in the slightest. Best way to put it is political sanctuary to facilitate a peaceful transition of power.” After a few moments, he continued, “The cosmos is facing the quiet before the storm and my goal is to help the innocent weather it. I’m worried that our current cast of heroes isn’t strong enough to overcome what comes next.” He got a distant look in his eye, “I know the Chief and I weren’t and now we are on the precipice of war once more.”
Blaze nodded a little before stating, “You are from the other time. I take it you are familiar with what I am. The oldest success of a new form of life. And now we have three of us.” Dean jolted at this, such a claim completely unheard of. Blaze nodded, “Yep. Zora’s found a new one of us. He claims to be a Replica, but I can tell the difference. So based on your reaction, I’m guessing that things are already different.” The elevator was silent for a few moments, no one moving. As the doors opened, Blaze patted Dean on the shoulder, “My old partner taught me something. If you want things to change, you have to take action. My suggestion is that if you are worried about the strength of your heroes and the war to come, take action to change it. As for me…” he turned back to Dean as the doors began to close, “Blame and I need to talk.”
Blaze’s words rang through Dean’s mind as he stepped out into impound. Usually in situations like this, Dean would stick to the plan and be the shield for the rest. Maybe, just maybe it was time to act more like the Boss. His first stop was the scheduled one, stopping by the dock they were storing the Ziegfried in. He exchanged pleasantries, but it was all a formality while he kept his mind on his mission. Upon boarding the ship, he activated the Evac Protocols and took the resulting crystal with him off the ship. No OS meant most of the interfaces were useless to those who didn’t know how to trigger the backup. He then used the tunnels to make his way to the security room and collected all the footage onto the crystal as well. It was better to keep that information on lockdown as well. Finally, making his way to the engine room and putting his badge into the interface, he used the drones to not only retrofit the engine into a simple high output engine. It wasn’t going to take much. Finally, and with great hesitance, he had the drones remove the Phoenixian Crystal and bring it to him.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
This was the most he could do here. But there was a prototype that never came to pass. He would need more than just this. Heading over to the impounded armory, he showed his papers. The officer at the counter asked, “Okay, so you had permission to go on the ship, but why come here?”
Dean laughed and answered honestly, “I’m doing so in my capacity as a Special Detective. There are some tools in here I will need for our next mission.” The officer nodded, Dean’s reputation being enough for his motives to be trusted. As he was given the clearance to enter, he scanned the shelves looking for the all too familiar security case. The timeline might be different but the only way to contain these stones safely was the same. A case with glowing lines cycling the energy. He was annoyed to see that the collection wasn’t complete, but he supposed that was expected. His own stone managed to be acquired by Gavin so he was sure the remaining two stones would make themselves known as well. He opened the case to find the red Cir stone, the blue Tal stone, and the yellow Deg stone. Collecting them and putting them in his pocket with the Phoenixian Crystal, he left the armory.
Eventually, he made his way towards the hanger reserved for their operation. As he entered he nodded in approval at the progress being made on the modifications for the craft they would be using in the operation. Seeing Anisa, he quickly closed the distance, explaining to Anisa about the Ziegfried and forcing the Phoenixian Crystal on her. He knew their little leader was going to be annoyed by him doing this, but it was better to keep Anisa in control of the situation. Still, between what he had heard from the interrogation and the distant look in her eye, he was beginning to question his plan. It was only as Katsi pulled him away that he remembered Blaze’s words. Maybe this was fine.
Pulling him atop the fighter she was working on, Katsi asked a question that Dean didn’t expect. “Hey, so, do you know who Leithan is?” He coughed a little, the look of confused betrayal slowly forming on her face.
Dean hated this. So he decided he would explain what he could, “I can’t be entirely sure. We developed code phrases and callbacks for just about every situation under the sun so we could communicate just about any situation we needed to without anyone else figuring it out. Each one unique to each person. I know the callouts he used, but there are a few different people who might know and use them.” He sighed, “Whoever they are, their goal seems to be the same as ours. Working with the Falos as controlled opposition to keep the body count low.” He stared for a moment, Katsi patting his shoulder, “Short version, no matter what show he tries to put on, he is definitely our ally.”
Katsi hugged Dean tight and whispered in a pained tone, “I trust you, Dean. If you can’t tell me, I’ll wait until you can.”
He laughed, “I did the best I could.” Hugging her back as gently as he could, he then stated, “That said, I trust you too. So I need your help with something.” He produced the three remaining stones. She looked at him incredulously before waiting for him to explain, “I heard you can build things with your new power. How would you like to work with me on an entirely theoretical device that no one has seen before?”
Her eyes lit up, her heart racing at the prospect, and her mind completely forgetting the questions she had just been trying to answer, “Oh, please do elaborate! I can’t wait to see what you’ve been keeping to yourself.” Her joy brought a smile to his face. He didn’t realize how much he had missed this. Not just working on his machines again but even talking shop with Katsi. Even in all this insanity, it was nice to have these moments.