A World With/Out Home

Chapter 37: The duet of a coward. (Part 3)

Valandus immediately turned to Leela and handed her the device Arvel had given him, "You know how to use this right?"

She looked at him surprised, "I read up on it, but what about you?"

"Even if we take control, flying a dead ship means nothing. Mica go with Leela and help her okay?"

The devil child nodded and gently took hold of Leela's hand, her eyes however were aimed at Valandus, "Don't die."

"Still don't plan to, don't jinx me." He looked at Melissa who was still staring at the aerial battle taking place between man and monster. He snapped his fingers towards her, "Hey, I need you here."

"Ah sorry, but you have to admit he's cool," she turned back and focused.

"But even he won't last forever," Valandus said grimly. "You're with me. We're getting this thing running."

"Yes sir," she saluted causing him to frown. "You are a much higher rank than me now."

"Just don't," he sighed clearly put off by her behaviour which only caused her to enjoy it more. "Leela it's going to be rough on your end. Can you manage to rouse any support while you're at it?"

"That is why I'm here," she spoke proudly and nodded to Mica. "Shall we?"

Mica nodded in reply, and in front of their eyes, the two disappeared without a trace, only for the door out the room to open and close.

Valandus took a deep breath and led the way with Melissa following closely behind. With each step he felt his heart churn. They all had assumed something would go wrong but the awakening of a legendary creature was not on the list. While Melissa was certainly capable she was no Arvel and without Mica, even an ordinary Lavise soldier would spot them. There was no time to change into a disguise as every moment would be pushing Arvel to his limits and if Arvel fell, then so would the sky fortress and in consequence so would he.

Luckily however the troops of Lavise were elsewhere, most likely witnessing the fight outside. The corridor and stairwells were clear and aside from the odd engineer who was easy to bypass, Valandus had free reign towards the reactor core. The reactor was surrounded by a circular corridor that broke off into several rooms key to running it. As he reached the chamber door however, as expected his usual code was rejected.

"Shit," he swore and paused to think.

"Should I try break it open?" Melissa asked.

"Unless you could output more power than the Captain, it won't budge." Valandus grit his teeth. "We can still get in but I need you to get me an officer's pass."

"Where do I get one?"

"Remember those gilded knights?"

"Oh?" Melissa's eyes glinted in challenge. "I've killed one before, I can do it again."

"Rather than kill just try to steal their pass and get it back here as quick as you can."

"Sure but what are you going to do?"

"I'll try a backdoor route," he smiled nervously. As much as he wanted Melissa's protection he would just slow her down if he went with her.

"Good luck," she gave him the thumbs up and disappeared.

Again Valandus breathed and walking around the corridor stopped by one of the rooms. Thankfully the door was much easier to open and inside, a plethora of tools which he quickly loaded up on. From there he went to the next room and loaded upon the shelf was a single large crystal structure. Like a child on Christmas Valandus clapped at his luck and immediately hounded onto it. A quick rap here and poke there and he was satisfied. The crystal was of decent quality. Created by the best, it was a pure source of energy harvested from the people themselves. While expensive, the density of energy was one of the best humanity could make and though not as good as the usual reactor core, it would still allow the sky fortress to run at full potential for at least one hour. All he needed now was the pass to get into the reactor.

"Looking for this?" the voice from behind surprised him. It was an annoying familiar tone and after certain events, it was now a sound Valandus hated beyond normalcy.

"Urza," Valandus turned slowly not bothering to hide his dissatisfaction with the man's presence. "And here I thought someone as important as you would be down below."

"Perhaps, but someone still has to run this flying monstrosity don't they?" Urza smiled charmingly, still holding the pass that Valandus desperately needed. As a man, he was a peak specimen both in terms of looks and physique. His talent had carried him far in the Hero's Guard and his ambitions even further. Seeing him now wearing the armour of the enemy Valandus could only roll his eyes. He knew just how much Reina wanted to kill the man and more than shared the sentiment.

"So what's it going to be Urza?" Valandus asked as he stepped to the side. "You saw that monster outside didn't you? Are we working on the same goal or not?"

"I did see that monster Valandus," Urza chuckled. "It was certainly a sight. And when the Hero jumped up to fight it I was honestly impressed. Him being here meant that so would you. So I thought to myself where could the little spies be? Then I realised, even the Hero can't beat something like that serpent. No, the only way he could would be with our help and low and behold here you are."

"So you understand?" Valandus said simply, not lowering his guard.

"Yes, I do and perfectly so."

The next action caught him by surprise. Urza drew his sword and swung. This Valandus had expected and the trained man jumped back drawing his pistol. Urza's sword however wasn't aiming for him, but the crystal that remained on the shelf. With a simple swing it shattered apart into several chunks as it dashed against the floor.

"Are you crazy!?" Valandus screamed at him, gun raised to fire. "Without that we're all doomed."

"You yes, the people on this floating fortress, maybe. Me? No," Urza gloated and pulling apart his shirt revealed a swirling black stone embedded into his chest. "I am to be reborn into a god."

"You really are the fucking worst," Valandus grit his teeth and fired his pistol in succession. The bullets however sparked to nothing as Urza easily swatted them away.

The man laughed at Valandus' effort, "So easy! My eyes, my vision, all that I feel whether it be through sound, sight or anything, all of it is at its peak!"

"Then what about this?" Valandus changed his target and instead shot one of the remaining fragments of the crystal. Curious, Urza let the shot land knowing that a normal bullet would simply shatter the structure even more. Like he expected the crystal broke apart further but as several seconds passed, nothing happened.

"What are you play-," his attention turned back to Valandus only to cut his words short. A toothy grin and between it a pin. Then rolling slowly a small ball entered his vision from behind the cabinet. Without even being able to say a word the ball let out rapid fluctuation of energy causing sparks to fly haywire across the room. Then came the explosion. At first small as the smaller fragments of crystal popped, but then as the larger pieces began to shake, soon the concussive force and shrapnel of stone were impossible to avoid.

Urza threw everything he had in defence as the chain of explosions echoed and destroyed the room around him. A cough of blood fell from his mouth as his barrier barely held on.

"Son of a bitch," he growled to no one as Valandus had already ran through the back door. Angered more than ever, Urza charged after him.