"Oleg— start the engine!Sese!how's the N-13's repair coming?Anta!what about N-12's"the captain shouted
"N-12,all green!"
"Hold on!N-13 need at least an hour and a half!"
"Engines running— captain!"
A little stuck pull the piston plug,but Oleg didn't knew it
"Anta—call N-12,tell them to shoot traction cable to N-13,we'll tow it while Sese works.Leningard doesn't have time to waiting for support"he through of a moment,then spoke quickly
"Leningard… the signal observation station…damn!they knew more than we through!"anta shouted
Cables shot from two ship flanking N-13's ship.their engine roared in unison,and the frozen ground beneath them was scored with deep grooves— the sound of straining metal and the groan of hulls under pressure.
The sun sank slowly,painting the sky in orange and veins of purple.The gray and black ships melted into the shadows,cutting across the land through the gray snow.
The fortress shrank until is vanished beyond the horizon. Artificial light illuminated their path,revealing the scars of other fleet— burn marks,blast craters,the detritus of war scattered across the permafrost.
"Captain— an signal of an unknown MPU appeared in near 500 meters,shall we went there?"he said
"N-13's MPU storages are still full,N-12 may use N-13's,but belial was destroyed,karl… he may awaken in anytime…"he think
"Don't care it,we have not time to pick it up"he said
"Sese— how's N-13?"
"It's damage was too extensive— the bridge are completely destroyed,it's unusable"
"Understood. Prepare to transfer personnel to N-12"the captain said
"Enin's asking about you?"anta said
"Tell her those pilot are more important for her fleet"
"Enin— kolorafo ask me to tell you— they didn't need those soldiers!"anta shouted
"N-12,N-7,report status and position."a voices cracked from the speaker
"N-12's pilot all death… N-13's ship crew also"kolorafo reported
"Fleet status updated,proceed to support leningard signal observation station,this facility is critical to the entire war,it must be secured"it said
"Enin,did you heard that?"
"Yes… another suicide mission"
Suddenly,Polaris Star shuddered with a deafening groan,and stopped
"Oleg— what's happening!?"
"The engine was dead— check it now!"Oleg shouted
"What's going on!why did it stopped—"anta asked
"Which damn engine shutted down!"
"Enin— shut down your engine!"
"What the… the engine's dead!?"enin asked
"Well… enin— the engine failure,we don't have enough spare parts"
"Oh,what do we do?wait… didn't kolorafo call Sese to repair N-13's engine for…"
"Is it?kolorafo…"anta asked
"Yeah,that is…?"he said
"Oh,Kolossova— had karl woken up"he ask
"Uh… he's still unconscious"she said
"captain… has the radar observer picked up amything?I… I feel some thing…"she asked
"Anlov— did the scanner pick up anything?"kolorafo ask
"Nothing,sir.except that MPU signal"
"Now we have time to go back for that thing…"
"Oleg— swap the whole engine from N-13,and get Sese ready to pilot that thing back"he said
"Okay… but the trailer hatch is offline,control system are shot"he said
"I'm back~did someone say we need the trailer?"Sese said
"Yes,Sese I think you'd better come with us"kolorafo said
They made their way to the cargo way,but the heavy hatch held the storm by the bay.
"Wait… there should have a manual override… oh— there!"Sese pulled a red lever
The hatch dropped with a deafening crash.Wind and snow flooded the cabin.They climbed onto the trailer and start it's generator
"Okay… it still can work…"
"Captain— we need to go west about 350 meters,there's a container"
"Okay…"
The trailer lurched through the snow and wind,a container emerged from the white.
"Okay… it is came from fleet eight,what's inside?"
"Bring it back first—"
The trailer's chain connected to the container and dragged it back to the cargo bay.Once it was inside,they could finally see what they'd found.
"Okay… opening it still requires a code,but there's a gap,I can get inside and control that thing break out from inside"Sese said
She slipped through the gap
"Wow… what did you guys find,and… she just crawled into that hole?"enin appeared and ask
"That's why we call her'Sese',she is smaller than the rest of us— fits into tight spaces like a Piston plug"anta said proudly,as if he hadn't just made that up on spot
After a moment,a hand punched through the container from inside.Then another,Sese emerged from the cockpin,swinging herself up to sit on the hill.
"This thing… only karl can control it… the controls are too rough"Sese sighed
"Okay,so what is this thing?"anta asked
"Well… it's called Barbados,it was a machine like belial,I mean in terms of role,belial is the prototype for all MPU,structurally they are all the same,even like florence… but Barbados is different,it has a mechanism for… transformation"she said
"Great— Another MPU even harder to repair than florence"the captain said
"Actually… it may not be.the transformation system is simple,just the backpack shifts and the body tilts,it is easier than repairing twenty-five vests of florence,but Barbados' control are just as touchy as belial's"she said
"Well,now we have a new machine.Too bad it's pilot is still unconscious"kolorafo said
"How long did he want to sleep at here…"anta sighed
"I true him will awake no longer… I will prepare for fight"Sese said
"We hope that…"Kolossova said
"You three… back to your working position now…"captain said to them
"Oleg!how did the engine swap coming—"
"Ah… still need a bit more time… and tell Kolossova— she might need to kept a bed empty for me…"oleg staggering toward like a drunk
After a while,the engine rumbled to life,and the ship resumed its journey though the frozen waste,behind them… the tides of machines are creeping to the shadows,going through to the sea…
And far under the sea… something is moving on to the ashore… and a part of the path of calamity's host,opened the curtain…