On the Lunar Frontlines

The trio enter the Ira System, a region of space constantly plagued by war. Many of the planetoids around had been turned into wandering asteroids. Light from the star reflected off the thousands of battleships scattered across the celestial battlefield. The sight intimidated them.

“Time to enter the jaws of the beast.” Dalain readied herself.

“Remember we’re not here to fight anyone. We’re just here to deliver a message.”

“But which side will we send it to, Hikyaku?” Ako asked.

“Whichever one doesn’t kill us at first glance.” Hikyaku replied.

Just then, they received a transmission coming from within the system. They took their chance and accepted the call.

“This is Major Rudolph of the Ruvin empire speaking! Unidentified Interstellar Vessel, please identify yourself!” The man from the call demanded.

“We’re Hikya-kukan, here to send a message to your leader, Leopold.” Hikyaku said.

After a short pause, Rudolph returned with another demand.

“Fine, please arrive on the moon Prae. The coordinates are linked via the transmission.” He then cut the call.

Following his orders led them to a derelict light-gray rock they classified as a ‘moon’. Descending was already tough as it was, but now they were at odds with a landing crew directing their arrival. Ako and Hikyaku’s ship was packed inside a tungsten hanger alongside the Ruvin space-fighters like sardines in a can. The moon had a thin atmosphere that still carried sound, making it necessary to wear a helmet.

The trio rushed out to find Leopold. They followed the Ruvin soldiers to a station that was set up north of the hangar. Looking above the horizon, Dalain catches a glimpse of a warship closing in on the moon. Hikyaku noticed a planetary cannon a couple miles away from them, pointing in the direction of the warship. And Ako saw a humongous walking battle tank, in the shape of an armored turtle, waiting to be manned.

‘This is not shaping up to be the negotiation I hoped for.’ All three thought.

Getting closer to the crowd, the trio eavesdropped on the conversations coming from speakers on their helmets.

“DOWN WITH IVERNIA! AINSEL CANNOT LIVE NO MORE!”

“FOR THE FAITH OF RUVIN. FOR THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE!”

“GENTLEMEN! PLEASE! COMPOSE YOURSELVES.” Rudolph’s voice calms the group of soldiers.

He was a man that favored brawns, suitable for his role in every way.

A crab-like robot stands across from Rudolph with ‘IVERNIA’ written on its side. It shoots out a hologram in front of them, showing a man a violet mesh cap sitting over a throne.

“Ainsel Albert V… have you come to send this drone as a way to atone for what you’ve done?” Rudolph knew who it was.

“The accusations your people throw at me are repulsive. You really wish to defeat us in the hopes that it’ll stop the bubble from consuming the universe?” Ainsel said angrily.

“Yes.”

“... You’ve overstepped your boundary. If it is to prove my innocence, I will lay down many lives for it.”

“Wait! We’ve come to deliver a message!” Hikyaku stopped them from spiraling out of control.

“Who are you?” Rudolph asked.

“The same Hikya-kukan you talked to. Please, both of you… This battle is meaningless. The contents provided to me by Omne state that it was a result of nature.”

“Now I’m starting to see the bigger picture. There’s no doubt in my mind that you Ruvins spun this fangled story to cover your own tracks.” Ainsel began laughing.

This negotiation was indeed not going as well as they hoped.

“Maybe if you read the contents you could verify it-” Hikyaku gestured to Ako before getting cut off.

“I’ve given them enough chances!” Ainsel’s crab robot self-destructs.

Far out to the battleship, Ainsel gets up from his seat.

“I shall slay your people, Leopold. And once I am through with you, me and my men will snuff out all the other people responsible for this bubble.” Ainsel says, drawing his sword.

Lights flicker from all around the side of the battleship far out of the moon’s orbit.

“TAKE COVER! EVERYONE HEAD TO THE TUNGSTEN-SHELL!” Rudolph signals everyone to run to the walking tank.

“Time to haul ass, Hikya!” Dalain grabs Hikyaku, with Ako latched on her, and races to the Tungsten-Shell.

Closing all the doors to the tank just in time as a hail of bullets fired from the warship finally arrived on Prae. All the buildings on the moon barely withstood the constant barrage of firepower.

“This place feels awfully familiar…” Ako mumbled, looking around the interior of the tank.

“Men! If it is a war he wants, it is a war he shall get! Man the guns on the starboard and port side! We’re taking this turtle straight to the orbital cannon!” Rudolph quickly got to work.

“Haha! So now what? Reasoning with Ainsel ended in him wanting to shred us to stardust. Even the soldiers didn’t listen to you either.” Dalain jokingly asked.

“We’re not out of options yet, now we just have to convince Rudolph that our message is necessary to be read by Leopold.” Ako answered.

“How will we meet with him during all this mess we’re stuck in now?” Hikyaku was confused on how to continue the mission.

“The controls are tightening up!” Rudolph complains from the driver seat above them.

“That might just be our answer.” Hikyaku said, looking over at Ako.

Climbing up to the control room, they were met with Rudolph fidgeting with the controls.

“Major Rudolph! If we take in any more bullets, the armor around the legs will snap!” One soldier stated.

“I know that! We must continue to deliver the payload to the cannon. But the controls are failing me…”

“Perhaps we can help, Major.” Hikyaku sneaks into the conversation presenting Ako.

“We can’t have civilians take part in the war.” He responded.

“Considering what’s going on in the universe, I’d say it’s fair game.” Dalain reasons with him.

“What if I-” Ako instinctively latches onto the control panel.

“What are you doing? Hey get off there!” Rudolph attempted to pull Ako off but was surprised how he fixed himself within the machine.

“Allow our friend to help, he’s an expert at this stuff. Plus it’d be a shame for you to lose your life at the start of this conflict. What would dear Leopold think? His best man losing to an electrical fault?” Hikyaku calmed him down.

‘When she’s got the chance, her words will puncture deep in her victim’s mind. I can’t think of any job that’s more suited to her than getting the message across. Still, she ain’t scam-proof.’ Dalain thought.

As Ako wrapped around the chassis, a faint spark of nostalgia flickered in his memory core.

“Mitera, is this your work?” Ako’s body lights up.

The tank strutted forward, almost like it was one with Ako.

“Where to next, Major?” Ako’s voice was more energetic than his usual monotone vocals-almost like he was a living breathing organism.

“To the orbital cannon! We must suppress this sleet of shrapnel with a countermove!” Rudolph responded with a cheerful grin on his face.

Dalain looked at Hikyaku, surprised at Ako’s work. Hikyaku simply gave her a shrug.

Each step the tank made was not a command but a commitment. Portions of the ground began to deform from the colliding bullets. One step at a time, they closed the distance to the cannon. Rudolph unloaded the cartridge from the underbelly of the tank. Releasing it into the backside of the cannon’s bore. He readied for a countdown.

“3… 2… 1… FIRE!”

The missile accelerated past escape velocity. Its shockwave flung oncoming bullets off trajectory and even made the walking tank stumble on its legs. It ended up successfully hitting the front of the battleship, ceasing the firing onslaught.

Back on the battleship, many were scrambling to recover from the hit.

“Sir we’ve been hit!” One of the Ivernian soldiers reported to Ainsel.

“Stubborn as always, we’ll hold off for now but send in the frigates.” He responded.

“Yes, sir.”

Ainsel contemplated what Hikayku said during his virtual talk. He looked out through the window of the command center, the small black dot still visible in the star-covered backdrop of space.

“Hikya-kukan, huh. People will believe in anything to hold onto their own stability. Weak men don’t hold conviction to the end. You must face this world with your feet on the ground! Give death a black eye if it so chooses to even glance in your direction! I WILL NOT BE BESTED BY THE LIKES OF SOME STYGIAN BUBBLE!” Ainsel vowed.

Back on Prae, everyone had a short celebration for socking it to the Ivernians.

“WE DID IT THANKS TO THAT ROTUND ROBOT!” Rudolph cheered over the sounds of his soldiers celebrating.

“You all good, Ako? Seems like you almost short circuited there.” Hikyaku said.

“Yes I’m ok. I… don’t exactly know what came over me.” Ako popped out from the control panel.

“Thank you once again for helping out. I swear you’ve saved my life more times than I’ve helped you out.” She replied.

“That robot you guys have, where did you find him?” Rudolph asked.

“He’s our business partner. Him and my superior have quite the history together.”

“Almost three months in the making.” Ako replied.

“I believe we have our reasons to meet up with Mr. Leopold now.” Hikyaku states to Rudolph.

“Of course, I will bring you to him. But do you really think you’ll stop what Leopold Von Loticus has spent his life working up to?”

“When disasters beyond our control happen, we tend to blame it on someone so that we feel our fate is in our own governance.” Hikyaku responded.

“We’ll see about that. Once you talk with him, you’ll understand that it isn’t just an act of his disposition.” Rudolph marches back to the hangar with the trio following behind.

“My men will draw out any space-fighters targeting us. To reduce the heat on us, we’ll use your ship then!” Rudolph walks over to the starship.

Everyone was squished in the cockpit, more packed than what the ship went through in the hangar. Rudolph was almost twice the size of Dalain or Hikyaku so they used emergency seat belts for take-off.

“We’re heading for the planet Ruina. That’s where you’ll find him.”