All the answers were waiting for them at the rendezvous point. The area was as big as GDF's hangar that could fit a hundred space fighters. But instead of fighters, this massive area had hundreds of bio chambers just a couple of metres apart from one another, each one containing life forms that had mismatched limbs or none altogether.
"Looks like you finally made it, little Lyle," Dr. Perez' voice resounded before he appeared with a dozens of guards and in tow. Half of them were wearing dark, hooded uniforms.
"What do you think of my creations?
You look rather upset. Ah, my bad. You came here for the Zirkan documents. Of course, as agreed, I will hand them over. They're here, inside a safe in my office.
Come, let me show you around. I'll tell you a little story along the way.
I found these handcrafted papers with strange writings over three decades ago. Ecstatic about my findings, I shared them with my peers. I had finally found physical proof of alien life!
But I was a fool to think I'd be taken seriously."
His face turned sour. "My peers, who I never doubted would support me, were the first to turn their backs on me. They threw unspeakable insults... But what hurt the most was when they ridiculed my findings, going so far as calling them fabricated!
Furious, I left the research field and moved with my wife and newborn son to some remote place and settled for teaching instead... Until twenty years ago, when a spaceship landed on Earth.
As soon as I saw the news, I packed my bags and flew to Japan. I was filled with excitement, something I hadn't felt in so long. I had to see it with my own eyes!
Dr. Lyle, who was in charge of studying the ship, refused at first. But I proved to him that I was serious about wanting to learn more about aliens, and eventually convinced him to let me join him.
While we were unsuccessful in restarting the ship and finding any clues onboard that could identify where it was from and why it came to Earth, we formed what I thought would be a lifelong friendship.
I saw myself in him when the world turned its back on him. But whereas I turned my back on the world as well, he chose a completely different path. Both ashamed and inspired, I took out the documents I found once more and showed them to him.
Dr. Lyle used to strengthen his case on what he had been warning everyone for years— that while there are good and bad aliens out there, just like humans— Earth was completely open and defenseless to those with malicious intent. He argued that if the alien who owned those documents had visited Earth right under people's noses years ago without anyone noticing, it meant Earth was completely unprepared.
In the end, it was what sparked a change of attitude within the international community and encouraged global cooperation with GDF." Dr. Perez laughed derisively. "I felt insulted. It was the exact same pages, and yet why was I shamed when I presented it to others? But when he did, it made the world take alien existence seriously once and for all?
And as if that wasn't enough, your parents shut down this facility and shattered my son's entire life's work. Losing his life, his dreams, his happiness drove him to insanity.
My poor wife couldn't take what she found out and died from stroke. She didn't understand the brilliance of our child, and was mortified at what our son had done. Bah, women. Too weak!
She and many other animal welfare advocates don't understand that as superior species, everything below us is ours to do with as we please. We dictate their use, how they live, and how they die."
Karl, whose patience had been reduced to a very thin thread, spoke in a low voice. "Who are you to judge? Each and every living being has a purpose and a place where they belong."
"You're just like your father. Too naïve. A pity, really. I thought he and I were the same, I would've shared all this with him-"
"How dare you compare yourself to Dr. Lyle! You're nothing like him," Tala bellowed. "He had unparalleled love for learning, but more than that, he had profound respect for all life. His science had a heart. What you're doing here isn't even worthy of being called science. This is pure malice. This is all just for the satisfaction of your own sick joy," Tala spat every word out with contempt.
Dr. Perez scoffed. "Hmph! I remember you. You were nothing but an undocumented immigrant on the verge of being deported. A charity case saved by Dr. Lyle when he handpicked you to be his assistant. I could've done the same— no even more— for you had you simply opened your legs to me."
Bianca lunged towards the man but was stopped by Tala. "He's not worth it."
"No matter. I don't need Dr. Lyle or any of you anymore. Fate has brought me true allies who understand that to stand at the top means you get the privilege to have absolute control over those below."
"I suppose by 'allies', you mean Zirkans?" Rywa's face voice was calm, but the depths of his eyes burned with rage.
"Ah, right. I did hear GDF were hosting Zirkan guests, however," Dr. Perez eyed Rywa from head to toe then smirked. "You don't have a horn. You don't count as one, I suppose?"
"Why you-"
Rywa put his hand on Viernn's shoulder, unperturbed, and simply refuted "Funny, I don't see one on you either. And from what I know of those stuck up 'allies' you speak of, they only consider those like them as part of their little circle. Which means you don't count either."
Dr. Perez's derisive smile was wiped off his face, then he bellowed "I don't care!!!" He took a deep breath and exhaled through gritted teeth. "I don't need to be friends with Zirkans. This is all just a business transaction.
You see, I discovered a way to get something the Zirkans want. In return, I get to play all I want with all these… by-products," he pointed at the bio chambers. "And with no nosy animal advocates getting on my case, it's paradise."
Chris' blue eyes were as cold as frost. "Colluding with the enemy on top of wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty. You can say goodbye to this facility and prepare to live out the rest of your life behind bars."
Dr. Perez chuckled. "You must be joking, Captain Norland. What wildlife? Last I checked, no alien life form is within the scope of Earth's laws or jurisdiction."
"Well then. Since you don't want to answer to your own laws, you'll have to answer to ours" Rywa drew out his sword. "And the punishment for what you've done according to our law is death."
Metal clanged against metal as Rywa's sword hit the brazier of one of the hooded guards, which was engraved with Zirkan runes that glowed. Dr. Perez quickly got behind the mage who shielded him, cowering.
"Hah! That shield is imbued with magic, it's impenetrable!" Dr. Perez taunted from behind.
Rywa smirked before gripping his sword tighter and breaking the shield in half in one swift movement. "So is mine."
"Kill them! Kill them all!" Dr. Perez hollered, pushing the guards out of the way and running towards the opposite direction.
The mage cast a lightning spell that Christ swiftly blocked with a magic barrier.
"Karl, help Rywa. You two go after Dr. Perez. The rest of us will cover for you."
"Roger."
As soon as the barrier was down, Karl ran after Dr. Perez, effortlessly dodging spells and attacks coming his way. He noticed a guard aiming for Rywa and pulled out his guns, shooting the guy's weapon off his hands. Rywa saw another guard aiming for Karl's head and blocked the metal baton with his sword, then flung the attacker away.
Every time Karl tried to shoot. Dr. Perez would use a bio chamber as a shield.
"Tsk. Sly bastard," Karl clutched his silver guns tighter.
Karl deviated from Rywa and went around Dr. Perez then shot at him, forcing him to scuttle and hide behind another bio chamber. Karl went around again and shot, Dr. Perez scampered to the next one again. And they repeated this pattern a few more times until Karl finally stopped firing.
"Ha! You see? It's pointless. As long as you're too weak and hesitate to kill these beasts, you'll never catch-"
Dr. Perez's eyes widened when he sensed someone behind him. He turned around and saw Rywa.
"You've already toyed with their lives and subjected them through unnecessary cruelty, and now you use them as a convenient shield? You vile demon," Rywa raised his sword, ready to strike but before he could, another mage came to Dr. Perez's side and erected a barrier.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill them all and get me out of here!"
"It's impossible. They also have mages in their midst," said the hooded Zirkan.
"Animals are sacred to Zirkans. A crime against an animal would be treated as a crime against a Zirkan, thus was our vow to the guardian spirits, especially the guardian spirit of earth— the god of wildlife.
Do you not fear the consequences of your actions that await when we bring you back to Zirka?" Rywa pointed his sword at the mage.
The hooded figure frantically shook his head. "N- Nothing is more frightening than the punishment we're going to face from our lord if we fail to carry out his orders and protect this human."
Rywa positioned his sword in front of him and ran his middle and index fingers against the blade. As he did, runes glowed on its surface and turned cinnabar red. With one slash, it shattered the barrier.
"You useless- Cover me!"
Dr. Perez frantically shoved the mage towards Rywa and bolted for the exit. Karl aimed but the mage used himself as shield. With a pitiful, pleading expression on the face beneath the hood, Karl opted not to shoot and knocked the mage out with his gun's barrel instead.
He and Rywa chased after Dr. Perez who ran towards the hangar. By the time they got there, the man had already boarded a fighter. Karl kept firing while they chased the fighter as it flew out of the hangar. Once the fighter was airborne, Karl said "Ava, disable limiters on Fang and Claw."
Ava confirmed, "Gun limiters disabled."
Rywa stood beside him as Karl aimed at the fighter. An array glowed beneath their feet, similar to the one with intricate writings that Karl first saw during the fire near Tokyo Tower. Rywa raised his hand towards the fighter as well then told Karl, "Whenever you're ready, just shoot."
Karl nodded. A crest glowed on his guns as little lights that looked like blue fireflies danced around him before concentrating on the barrels. With one shot from each gun, two ether bullets blasted off towards the fighter. Fireballs then appeared and revolved around them, matching their speed. Upon impact, the back of the fighter exploded and left a trail of black smoke and it began to plummet.
However, the fighter was not even midway through its fall when a wormhole tore through the sky and a ship that looked like the galleons of old came out. Only it was a colossal— and flying— version. It looked like it could easily fit three football fields inside.
Rywa stood in front of Karl as they watched the spacecraft shoot a beam towards Dr. Perez's fighter and reel it in. The ship then charged its canons and aimed, prompting the pair to rush back into the hangar.
Karl swiftly punched the gate controls to close it before they slid under a fighter for cover as the ship fired a series of shots that shook the entire base before disappearing back into the wormhole. Rywa held Karl tight and shielded him with his body from the falling debris, not letting go until the last shard had fallen.
The dust made Karl cough violently. Rywa kept rubbing his back until his coughing subsided then helped him up. "Are you all right?"
Karl nodded. "Yeah, thanks."
The hangar gates withstood the blast but were now stuck, rendering them useless and sealing the hangar's exit. Running footsteps resounded from the other side before the door slid open and the others came out.
"What happened?" Chris asked.
"Are you all right?" Viernn followed.
Rywa nodded to her as Karl explained. "Dr. Perez got away. A wormhole opened and a cruiser came to take him." He then faced Chris, his gaze lowered. "Captain, I failed to catch him. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. None of us expected this to happen," Chris touched his shoulder.
Rywa added "I doubt that ship came here simply as reinforcement. A ship of that magnitude would've taken a long time to get here. I'm guessing they were already en route, or were stationed nearby, even when Dr. Perez contacted them."
"Do you think that's the ship that has been transporting our wildlife here?" Viernn asked.
Rywa frowned. "That's what we'll have to look into."