Chapter 7: Mole Upwards

"Arghh!" Rishidu grunted as the shock of the explosion rocked the whole citadel from Enjiros' devastating attack. "What happened?! What is the status of the citadel!?" He asked his subordinates furiously at the command center. One of the Magistoids onboard activated the holographic display showing the citadel and its status. "Sir, we've sustained massive damage at the front gate. It's totally destroyed!" He said frantically as he swiped the display to assess more of the damage. "Moreover, the front hangar is partially destroyed and fires are broking out. Its being put out by the rescue team below but, due to the damage the enemy bogeys are now infiltrating the base." As he delivered his final report, a thread snapped inside of Rishidu that erode his calmness as he asked his subordinate with an extreme furious tone. "What?! How could this happen!? Where are the Alkatiros squad that was guarding the front gate!? What are they doing!?"

The Magistoid sheepishly replied "The squad split off in three groups due to the enemy diverting into two groups to attack the citadel on both sides. The group who remained at the gate... became casualty." He glumly concluded his report. Rishidu grind his metallic teeth inside his battle mask as it dawned to him what is happening. "Divide and conquer, huh? I think we've severely you, Ardugo." He commended as he grip the bar railings atop the command center, crushing it as he goes on with this to say "But make no mistake, I would not fall into the trap ever again." The bar snapped, the message is clear to his subordinates and they started to scramble for an immediate assault into the enemy within the gates.

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"Hm. The gate has been breached, Hiroki. It is time." Ardugo said in a stern tone. "Yes. I know." Hiroki grimly said as he looked upon Ardugo from his passenger seat. He then took his radio and radioed his troops. "Everyone. The climax is starting. Give them all what we got." The response is an astounding shouts abiding by the plan, afterwards he glumly changed the frequency to call upon in his son. "It is time. Commence the operation." He said sternly, although there's some cracks showing through his tone. "... Yes, sir." His son answered, steel willed in his response with the same cracks in his tone as his father had. The commander is about to put the radio down when a static is heard one last time. He pick it up again for the response, a response that surely cracked his stern facade. "I love you, dad. Please. God bless you." It then cut off and a tear fall down in his cheek. Ardugo saw this, thinking that he might be tearing up for his son, but then he sees a resolve within him, which he then reciprocated with a response. "Let's go, my friend. For your future. Humanity's future." he said with a fierce resolve. "Yes. We will." the commander said as they drive off to the destroyed gate.

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Rumble from the battle emanated throughout the citadel, dust falling from the ceiling and two Magistoid guards are chasing something in the corridor. "Come on! Come on! Come on!!" He shouts his battlecry as he shoots against the Magistoids along with his fellow weapons master, Goda and the whole infiltration team are running away from those who are chasing them as they evade their spells left and right. "How long before we reach the passageway?" Takeguchi, the second weapons master asked of Mori, their intelligence officer. "Just about the end of the corridor! We can reach it time, I hope!" he frantically said as he looks upon the holographic display of the schematics of the citadel emanating from his watch. "Come on, we have to hurry! They outpace us or else!!" Taki said in a frantic tone as they ran near to the end of the corridor.

The footsteps are getting louder and louder, the Magistoids who are chasing them are gaining lead. "Persistent Rocks!" Goda cursed as promptly pulled a grenade from his belt pocket and pulled its pin. He promptly throw it at them, but it didn't explode as expected. "That's it? Pathetic!" One of them gloated as he was expecting an explosion but instead, it releases purple smoke that immediately filled the whole corridor, catching them off guard and successfully concealing their presence to them. Once the smoke dispersed they are nowhere to be found. "What in the- Where's those insects went?!" One of them exclaimed as they tried to look at the end of the corridor, but they didn't see any trace of them, leaving them baffled.

"Are they gone?" Taki whispered quietly to Goda, as he look upon through the vents. "Nope. It's all clear." He responded to them as they sigh a breath of relief inside. "So where's this vent gonna lead us?" Taki asked of Mori while drew out his holographic map. His expression is starting to brighten up. "We're in luck. This duct can get us straight up to the hangar above where the Varasgomo is docked." This elicited a positive reaction to all of them as Taki said to them in high spirits "Okay, let's go now. We can't lose this chance now."

They proceeded to crawl upwards in the vents that leads them to the hangar bay and it was a lengthy venture, but they managed to reach the top in the end and dismantled the ventilation cover. As they emerged from the vents, they were greeted by the sight of a magnificent ship hovering over them. "Wow." That was all Taki could say as he looked upon that ship with awe with a tinge of the memories of horror that he experienced when these ships first came into the earth, a sentiment shared across all of his comrades. But they didn't have time to ponder on it for long, as they immediately scrambled to board the ship undetected. As luck would have it, the hangar door of the ship is ajar open and there's no one guarding the entrance. It can be their chance.

"Wait!" Mori said as he pulled up a tracer to see if there's any Magistoid nearby, suspicion's starting to arouse. "Why there's no one around here?" Goto asked in confusion as he continued to turn his head around the place. "We've been running around the place and no one's guarding the place. Even a stroll, nothing." Mori is looking at the scanner, also noticing the strange situation. "It's weird. According to the scanner, there's no Magistoid in a ten foot radius from here." Taki is starting to feel uneasy when all the sudden, all the alarms started to blare out all over the place. "What!? I thought you've disabled all the security system in the places we've entered!" Taki frantically asked Mori as the situation is starting get hairy. "I don't know. My spy drone should've disabled the security system before we entered!" He is starting to get frantic by the situation.

Before they further continue on formulating a solution to their dilemma, another problem is starting to descend upon them. Literally. A sliding door is descending down from the metal ceiling, blocking their path ahead. "Oh no! They've started to closed down the path. We had to get put of here!" exasperated by Mori, all the while looking at the holographic display for a way out of their situation. They had no time to waste, they immediately ran far away from the sealed path. Not farther from where they came from, another door is descending down to seal the path ahead. "This way!" Taki shouted as they turn to a adjacent path. This pattern of evading the sealed paths continued until they managed to reach the end of the corridor they were in. But this became a grave turn for them because they're met with several Magistoids ahead of them, waiting in tow.

"Oh-" Taki's would-be curse is cut off when the path behind them is sealed off, cutting them off to their only escape route away from them. "Surrender yourselves, pests. If you value your pitiful lives." A tall Magistoid of the Majiros type, most likely the leader of the bunch that was flanking them, said as he walked in front of the infantry, his footsteps is rumbling with each step. He then proceeded to point his metal finger to them as he continued on with his ultimatum. "If you surrender yourselves now, we might reconsider if we let you live as our slaves." he ended with a huge air of haughtiness in him as he belittle the humans below him.

'This bucket of bolts is so full of trash on himself. He must've think no one can lay a scratch on him.' Taki thought as he stands still on the spot, thinking on what to do next. "Can you understand me or not?" The commander impatiently asked "If you surrender now, we can work on an agreement to let you live, UNDER US. It would be a tolerable existence for such pitiful insects as you all are. If not." He proceeded to lift his wand up, along with many of his infantry as they raised their hands, their spells ready for their complete decimation. "So what's your choice? Live or die." The commander hauntingly asked of them.

Goto came in front as he said his reply. "Yeah, No." He then pulled something out of his back pocket. They're maybe surrounded, but they will not go down without a fight. "Dick!" He shouted as he threw out a grenade of some sort on the metallic floor, after which it released, not an explosion of the traditional sense, but an explosive burst of blue energy which expanded into a field that enveloped everything within a 30 foot radius. The whole place went quiet and the Magistoids that surrounded them are frozen in their tracks. "I can't believe it worked, Goto-san!" Taki said with a cheer in his face while the whole team is getting up. Goto replied to him on an unassured tone as he said "Don't count your blessings yet, kid. We only had 2 of them and they're hard to make, according to Enjiros." He nodded in response when suddenly, the alarms blared again and its sound echoes throughout the corridor.

"What in the- What is it this time now!?" Taki exacerbated as he looked around to see if any problems is going to arrive at them now. "It's most likely the ship is detecting damage reports. The grenade is designed to stop the flow of magic within the Magistoids and any tech that uses them, barring our equipments of course." Mori said as he looked upon the holographic screen, the display showing worrying signs. Taki then looked up to the Magistoids and saw that one of their fingers are moving slightly, eliciting him to a panic. "We need to get of here! The paralyzing effect is starting to wear off. Move out, now!!" He said in a frantic tone as they started to move out of the place. They need to hurry.

They run into the last corridors until they've reached the first door of the first level. Mori then proceeded to hack the door using his watch that connected thin cables to the side of the door. But several Magistoids are starting to rush in into their position, prompting Mori to hasten the process. "Mori, is it gonna take long?" Taki is getting impatient for a good reason as he and the other started to shoot the Magistoids down. "I'm in! Its open now!" Mori exclaimed as he successfully opened the door and they immediately went in. It was in the opportune time as the remaining Magistoids that wasn't shot down was nearing. Mori then immediately initiated the door to close down, leaving the remaining Magistoids stuck on the other side.

"Don't worry. They won't open that door immediately, I made sure of that. But we need to go now or they might catch up to us." Mori exacerbated as they immediately took off to the second door. As they run through the second level, they're always attract pursuers on their way as Goda and Takeguchi shoot their way out of them. They managed to get away from them enough to arrive at the second door. Mori immediately hacked their way in and they entered the third level. But there's something beyond the door that managed to caught them off guard.

It's a whole room, every corner filled with many Magistoids, probably every personnel in the ship they didn't managed to bump off into. "Welcome, pitiful pests." One of them, a high ranking Majiros, mockingly greeted. "We need to-" before Taki could say anything, the high ranking Majiros pulled out his wand and with a flick, pulled them all inside through an invisible force, smacked dabbed in the middle. "Gh, Telekinetic Magic." Taki grunted as he tried to get up from the floor, the team behind him. "Ho, apparently you're knowledgeable. I never thought that you even comprehend the power we wield." He mocked at them, even though his face is concealed in a battle mask, has a beaming quality to it as he said those words.

"Well, you've been with those traitorous Defendatus. I just can't comprehend why the wanted to halt the progress of our society. Of our people." He said with a burning passion as he continued his magnanimously taunting spiel. "They wanted to mess to the right of our society to rise up on its ashes and to bring it back to its glorious light again. Those accursed Blegerus!" He angrily said as Taki, suddenly clenched his fists as his anger started to boil up. "Huh! You are really out of your blithering heads!!" He fired back with such intensity that his teammates is so caught off guard. They never see him this mad, even throughout the war his emotions doesn't break down in such level as he is now. You destroyed our cities, our country and killed everyone of our families, because you wanted your society and people to prosperous again!? We're just pitiful insects that needed extermination so could clean room? No! We're not!! We're not something you could just stepped on. We have lives. We are living beings. We're not gonna be just be exterminated without a fight due tour stupid delusions of grandeur on yourselves. You're the one who is ignorant here, you abominations!" He howled in such extremity, his own voice is almost hoarse at his own anger, it echoed outside of the room.

The Majiros, upon hearing it, goes into a fury as he lifted his wand again, pointing at them. "You wretched pathetic pests that don't know anything! You don't know anything about us to talk back like that about us!" His fury is as unabated as Taki. "You don't know you're real place that's why you're being pressed down and I will relish on it. Kill them!! Leave nothing behind!!!" He commanded as the Magistoids under him started to attack them with all of their might.

The team scattered as they each dodged many magic spells while they try to take a shot at them. The high ranking Magistoid raised and flicked his wand and in an instant, Taki and the whole team floated in the air in an instant. He knew what would happen next and immediately picked something up out of his back pocket as he scan the room for the exit. He immediately threw it to the exit as they immediately fell facedown into the floor. The thing that he threw is a grenade and as it sets off, it sets off several lightnings that strikes all around the room. Anything that the lightning strikes were immediately obliterated that leaves no any trace of what it hits. Among those it hits was the exit door, leaving it with a huge gaping hole revealing the hallway outside. "We will gonna finish this!!" Taki howled as he lay on the floor with a look of resolve in his face.

They were all racked in pain as the Magistoids that managed to survived that onslaught surrounded them, leaving no room to escape. "Well, well, well. You are such a persistent bunch, I tell you that." The Majiros Magistoid said with a contempt. "You said you're gonna finish this. Then how, to the sake of my own sanity, are you are gonna do that when you're on the floor, surrounded by all of my Magis." He is walking near towards them, leaning down on one knee to see at their pathetic state, gloating as he uttered his words from under his battle mask. "Now look at where you are, on the floor where you belong." Taki, Goda, Mori and Takeguchi are now at their mercy, contemplating on what will happen to them. But Taki then looked at the blasted door, a faint beam across his face as his mission is done now. Now it's all up to him.

In the hallway far from the battle, there's nothing amiss happening in place. Unless if you look even further, something is stirring in the air. Almost as if the air is starting to split up, revealing something very out of the ordinary: Daichi's floating dismembered head. Or it seems to be, as he starting to come down in tears, his head floats down almost facing the floor. "Taki, you idiot! It didn't have to be this way." He silently tears up,

letting out one of his many silent tears he cried throughout the years.