Chapter 3
One year ago, Anatoray and Disith allied together in order to defeat Maestro Delphine in the Grand Stream. This was achieved through sacrifice of many, including that of the captain of the Silvana, Alex Row. Concurrent to those operations, Claus Valca and Lavie Head, accompanied by Alvis Hamilton, piloted a vanship through the Grand Stream. They brought to light the true nature of the Exile, a ship veiled in mystery, and paved the way of the return to their home planet.
"As you should be aware, Miss Sophia has been busy in Weskia, where there appear to be remnants of the Guild in that airspace."
"But it's Claus who's coming back!"
Mad-Thane, who had already retired after the war, dismissed the opinion of his friend, the former chief of staff, with a single word. His ship swayed from side to side through the white clouds, the visibility in the front clear. Through the large window of the heavy cargo ship, he could see the large form of the Exile that had just arrived.
"To hell with the spirit of chivalry!"
... that girl, I wonder how she is doing now?
And just as Mad-Thane smiled along with that thought....
"In the sky, seven star-shaped units!"
The three military vanships that had been escorting Mad-Thane's heavy cargo ship discarded their external tanks.
"Into the clouds!"
The cockpit of the ship was flooded in tension as the aircraft tilted itself to the left. Mad-Thane could see the form of their escort machines as they zoomed past the window; dark green aircrafts piloted by courageous pilots.
"It's Mad-Thane's heavy cargo!"
The word of the shocking scene happening just outside spread among those on board the Exile, which had had a peaceful voyage so far. Busy in the hangar with landing preparations, Claus rushed to his aircraft, a prototype of the next main fighter for Anatoray's military force that was prepared for him by Tatiana Wisla. Compared to current aircrafts, this new one was more slim around, faster, and all around exceeding in performance to its predecessors. The look of Claus' impatient irritation was reflected in its unpainted silver.
"There's not enough time."
Without waiting for his navi, Claus took off. He flew from the large hangar and into a tunnel to exit the ship, one so long and winding that her couldn't immediately see the light of the exit on the other end.
On the morning of Claus' departure, the sound of a thick steel plate being hit echoed in the small hangar adjacent to the cottage.
"Wake up, sleepyhead!"
Clinging to his blanket, Claus remained lying next to their vanship, after having finished some maintenance on it before preparing to leave.
"Claus, you'll miss the Exile!" Al shook him beneath the blanket. While Claus had slept until the very last minute, Lavie had remained awake to finish preparations for his trip that morning.
"Lavie ... thank you."
"There are leftovers from last night. You should eat some before it spoils."
Claus thought about how much he loved Lavie making that excuse.
"I want to go look for Dio."
Lavie and Alvis agreed with Claus right off the bat, when he decided that. Tatiana prepared a prototype vanship from the military, and Alister introduced a friend of hers to Claus, who was also a navi.
I'll absolutely find Dio, and return.
Claus thought, wanting to answer the thoughts of his friends.
"A white vanship?!"
Experienced veterans who survived during the war with Disith had been chosen to escort Mad-Thane's heavy cargo. Those three escort aircrafts did not allow one shot to Mad-Thane's aircraft, at first. Four starfish were downed despite their numerical inferiority, due to their their skill in maneuvering to dodge their shots.
... Until the shining white vanship appeared.
"Wow~!"
"The sky isn't visible." Dunya's little brother and little sister stared up, wide-eyed. They were standing beneath the Exile, which seemed to cover the entire sky, and were gathered to see Claus off on his journey.
"Sorry, Claus, though we wish we could come with you ... there's important things we have to take care of here. Gah!" Mullin was elbowed in the side by both Lavie and his bride, Dunya, Dunya blushing as she did so. Claus didn't quite understand what he meant by that.
"When you arrive, you'll be able to speak to us with this." Alvis fastened a small, important communication pendant around Claus' neck; a gift given to her by Lucciola.
"Can you please give this to father?" asked Holly Mad-Thane, and just like she had done when they first met, held out a cylindrical tube with a shy look.
"Ten stars?" Lavie laughed next to her.
Holly's tube bounced around on the floor beneath the navi seat. The glass of his windshield shook and vibrated dangerously as he tried to speed toward the vibrant, pure white vanship as it quickly downed two of Anatoray's machines.
"Quickly, I have to get there quickly." Claus felt a rush of urgency. And although he pulled full on the throttle, his speed was not gaining.
Lavie, Lavie, why aren't you here?
If she were there with him, she would have been able to keep up and help him a great deal, without a doubt.
"This is the end." Moving his thumb to the joystick, the boy gently pulled the trigger. An array of gunfire shot at the approaching unit and hit it in a briefly targetable weak spot on its side. Its duralumin airframe tore, the claudia engine that was set within the metal tubing of the framework began to fall apart. Shards of iron flew and liquid Claudia began to splatter out of the engine like blood, but the boy dodged it all gracefully.
With the final escort aircraft downed, Mad-Thane lost all of his shields. Waspishly speeding to its now defenseless main target, the Guild machine drove a bullet into the heavy cargo.
"Holly, my love, is the wheat growing well?"
On the mother planet, in the wheat fields that spread toward the horizon, the young people were smiling. Holly stood with them, her expression just as wide and joyous. With sharp, wind-like noises, one of the attacking starfish shot its needle gun and pierced Mad-Thane's heart and collar bone.
"To the young people who will carry our future, I wish you luck..."
Holding tightly onto that hopeful thought until his very last moment of life, David Mad-Thane slowly slipped into darkness.
The aircraft hit the sandy ground and slid down a sloping hill, skidding a few hundred meters before eventually finally halting. Thin beams of light shone through the countless bulletholes and cracks as Claus advanced toward the downed heavy cargo ship, his shoes quickly stepping across the sand.
Mad-Thane's face still held the the ghost of his last smile. Claus placed Holly's request tube into his hands, and then disappeared.
<— Chapter 2 | Chapter 4 —>