Capítulo 9: Arena Seven: What We Must Do [III]
I opened my eyes groggily. Everything around me seemed like they were spinning.
"Ugh..."
I felt like vomiting but somehow surpassed the urge.
"You're awake?"
Hearing that voice, I finally realized that I was getting a piggyback ride, by the one and only Grey.
"Yeah... But it hurts like hell..."
I muttered. My joints felt like they were about to break apart.
"Sure it does."
Grey said nothing but those words. I turned my head and found the Elliot staring at me.
As our eyes met, she suddenly looked away. I couldn't help but notice the tinge of red on her face as she did so.
"..."
Remembering what I did, I felt embarrassed too... But that soon turned into a troubling feeling. I didn't know why, but the way I used to perceive certain situations had changed.
"Sorry..."
I muttered as I looked down.
"It's... Fine."
She muttered back without looking at me. She had already put on the mask again, and her body was hidden under a cloak. Well, her suit was torn in various places, so a cloak was a good choice.
"T-thanks."
I answered hurriedly, breaking out of my thoughts.
Grey chuckled hearing our exchange, but didn't comment. I was grateful for that.
"We're here."
She changed the topic as we saw a grey steel door in front of us.
It was embedded in a rock, covered with rust and dust.
"Is this really..."
I was doubtful. Seeing that, Grey laughed.
"Don't worry. That's just a camouflage."
He said as the Elliot placed her hand on the door.
Ripples broke throughout the rock. The door changed almost immediately. The rust fell off, and the door turned almost new. A holographic screen appeared on the door, hovering slightly over its shiny surface.
[Scanning personnel... ID matched.]
[ID: Anastasia Valentina, Code: Rusted Blade]
I noticed the Elliot... Anastasia Valentina, frowning as the cold voice read her nickname aloud. But the voice disregarded her feelings as it continued.
For some reason, the surname Valentina felt familiar... Oddly familiar.
[Identifying personnel... Arnold Tilgen; Reaper]
[Identifying personnel... Grey Leonard; Joker]
So Grey's nickname was Joker? I looked at the guy's face from above, but he just shrugged. Anastasia waited for the voice to end without looking at us.
The door then opened with a low hissing sound, and cold air rushed at my face from inside the gap.
"Come in."
Anastasia said as she stepped inside the gap. Grey followed behind with me still on his back.
As we proceeded down the dimly lit stairs, I turned to Grey to ask a question.
"Isn't it too obvious? The door I mean?"
"Yeah, it is..."
Grey shrugged and agreed, then started explaining.
"It's obvious, but no one will be able to get in until the barrier goes down, I mean the ripples you saw. As long as the barrier is up, nothing can harm the door, not even nuclear bombing."
"Is it a benefit of the technology we received?"
"Yeah."
"Then the Omega also have something like this?"
"They do. As long as we don't destroy their central radar, they'll be able to find our bases, no matter how we try to hide. Not just that. Anyone who enters the radar's inner zone gets automatically marked, so espionage missions are impossible too."
"Wait... Mankind has done espionage missions? On Omega's territories?"
"We have... But they have more or less failed to complete their primary objective. It's not really impossible to find bases even inside the sandstorm with our radars. Well, it's quite vague and inaccurate, so one mission can take over a year, just to get the slightest bit of info."
"That's... Rough."
"Tell me about it."
Grey sighed and went silent. The stairs ended abruptly at the same time, and we stood in front of an elevator. Anastasia quickly inputted a series of number, and the door opened.
As we entered, Anastasia turned to me. In a low, barely audible tone, she asked for a favour. The elevator door closed silently behind us.
"Can you keep it a secret? That you had to save me? And... That you can pilot Helios?"
Her eyes were begging me to say yes. It felt off-putting, considering her usual strong demeanour.
"... I don't mind. But why?"
"... I'm sorry."
She looked down. I took her silence as a no, and nodded.
Everyone had secrets they wanted to hide. I wasn't to pry into her personal life.
She quickly muttered a 'thank you' as I agreed, and looked at Grey.
"Can you..."
Her voice trailed off, but Grey seemed to pick up on what she wanted to say. Even I could understand what she wanted to ask.
Even so, Grey wouldn't agree to that, being a government spy and all that...
"... I can... But you know what it means to hide something so crucial, right?"
... He actually agreed.
"I know. It's a major offence to hide something like this from the top brass."
"Exactly. If anyone ever finds out, then both your and my positions will be in jeopardy."
"I know... I'll owe you one."
"... Alright."
The government spy nodded and smiled.
It seemed that he was waiting for those words all along. What a sly bastard.
The rest of the ride passed in silence. The elevator soon stopped going down. The number on the screen showed B1.
"I can stand now."
I muttered to Grey, who let me down accordingly.
I felt a bit dizzy still, but I managed to stand without tripping or stumbling.
The door opened, and we stepped into the base.
The ruckus and shouts, as well as the sounds of machinery hit my ears almost immediately, and I felt overwhelmed.
The area in front of me was as vast as the empire's three cities combined. Looking at it from the elevated platform we were standing on, I felt insignificant. I couldn't see the end of the gigantic base as it extended beyond the horizon.
The sheer number of Regalia moving around was enough to make me question why humanity was losing. Countless small silhouettes moved around like ants, probably the technicians and the other arena related people. Even though it was an underground base, I could make out trees, and residential quarters below us. There were countless tube-like pathways over those areas, the railway tracks for the hover trains. These trains existed even in the real world, but to see them underground was something I hadn't expected. There were also drones and other vehicles moving around. It felt much like a city and less like a military base.
I then looked at the ceiling, and the grey ceiling stared back at me. Countless lights were flickering on it, but there were enormous orbs of light at set intervals.
These were acting as substitutes for the sun it seemed.
I tore my eyes from the ceiling and stared at the horizon. There loomed the tall tower which kept humanity warm and cosy, even when the outside world was being raged by thunderstorms. The Tower Of Babel.
I could vaguely make out the shape of the tower even at this distance. Or, at least whatever part of it was underground.
The tower stood as the guardian in the real world, creating artificial weather and maintaining the soil using its relay bases spread throughout the three countries.
That fact hadn't changed even in the world of Stigma.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Anastasia asked as she watched me stare at the tower.
"The base?"
"What else?"
"Well... I'll agree. It's impressive."
"The industrial zones are far ahead, so you can't see them. Below us... Or behind this wall is the garage for Regalia. The area in front of us is the maintenance area, as well as the debriefing and reporting area for us Elliots. It also doubles as the living and resting quarters for the people involved in the offence and defence of the Tarra bases."
"Wait... You mean this whole base doesn't cover the entirety of the Empire?"
"Of course not. It only covers the outer city."
"Then why does it look so large?"
"Ah, that's because of the expansion technology we got from the Neura... it's a pain to explain everything, so just learn it in the academy."
"Hah..."
Anastasia had been somewhat friendly towards me ever since we fought that phantom together. I had to say, it was a nice feeling.
"Come on, we should get down."
Grey nudged us forward. A hovering platform appeared in front of us, gently emitting a pale green light.
To even go further down after walking for so long, I felt slightly scared at the sheer size of this underground base.
The platform silently descended with us on it. Several drones flew by us as I gripped the guardrails tight. I didn't really want to fall off and die, not here at the least.
The platform landed finally, and I stepped down on the grey floor. The people around immediately turned towards us.
With my torn and dirty suit, as well as Anastasia's wounds which could be seen every now and then as her cloak swayed, and with Grey's staggering movement, we stood out quite a bit.
"Come on."
Anastasia ignored them and walked forward.
We both followed behind her. We walked through the gigantic machinery looming on both sides of the street(?). Soon, Anastasia brought us to a station, where we boarded a train.
It left the station silently. There were other passengers around us, but none questioned our dirty appearance.
We soon found ourselves moving through the sky(?). Tall skyscrapers were jutting out of the countless smaller residential buildings. Even further away, I could see the Regalia moving around, probably getting maintenance.
There were countless Regalia stationed there, hanging from the tall, gigantic hangers that locked them into their designated places for repairs.
"Who governs this base?"
I asked Grey, who was standing in front of me.
"Well, Governor-General Alkatraz."
"Governor-General? So this base is independent?"
"All bases are independent and free to do whatever they wish as long as they provide enough results. Only the central base is under the Emperor's direct command."
"I see..."
It made sense. These bases were as large as the empire's main cities, and there were many of them. The Emperor alone wouldn't be able to control all of them.
But suddenly, a thought came to me.
"Wait. You mean, there are many Governors-General?"
I was never interested enough in the empire's inner workings, so I was almost ignorant about the number of people each rank had. Well, not to mention that it would be pretty weird for me to know all of these people, even by name.
"Well, yes. There are. But they are only given authorities in the Stigma, in the real world, there is only one Governor-General active."
"Ah, that makes sense."
I nodded.
If it was only for Stigma, then having twenty or more Governors-General wouldn't harm the emperor's authority.
The rest of the ride passed in silence. I was too tired, so I had dozed off.
...
When I opened my eyes, the train was stopping at our destination. The station we had entered was inside one of the tall skyscrapers I had seen before, right in the middle of the building.
The door opened with a hissing sound, and we got down. Noticing us, several people in uniform came running. Probably to receive us.
From the group, someone suddenly jumped at us. I hurriedly tried to pull out my gun, but before I could do so, the figure landed on Anastasia, knocking her down.
"Thank god you are okay!"
A high pitched voice reached my ears. The assailant in question was a young girl, around my age if not a year older.
Her chestnut hair was cut short, with her childish face seemed relieved. She opened her eyes, and two golden irises entered my view. Her face was surprisingly cute, and had a charm that was different from Anastasia's beauty, which looked distant and cold.
"I'm fine, Feli. You can let go of me now."
Anastasia sighed and patted the girl on the back.
"But I was worried! The radar suddenly indicated an S rank, and you weren't responding at all!"
"Ugh... Well, I was busy taking it down..."
Anastasia averted her gaze and looked at me. I shrugged, putting my gun back inside its holster.
"Though, to think you'd take down an S rank. As expected of you, Anastasia."
Another young voice reached my ears, and I turned towards the crowd.
A young man, possibly a year or two older than us, was looking at the two girls on the ground with gentle eyes.
His hair was pale blonde, and his blue eyes seemed deep and sincere. His face was cut perfectly like a sculpture.
The trio, who were probably friends, was so beautiful that I felt ashamed at my face... I hurriedly clapped my cheeks to stop that line of thought.
I wasn't particularly bothered with my looks anyway.
"Thanks, Phillips. But I couldn't have done it without Arnold here."
Anastasia said in a slightly colder tone, colder than the tone she had taken with the girl named Feli.
Hearing her words, the boy and the girl turned towards me.
"And thanks for your help too, Arnold."
Phillips extended his hand, and I gripped it loosely.
He smiled at my caution, and said in a warm tone.
"Welcome to the Phoenix."
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