160 Phase 130: Coming Down (1)

Katrin respawned at the J-Knight rally point at Soft Snows Airport.

"Go!" a few respawned J-Knights were cheering as they watched a projection set up in the center of the room. Katrin took one glance and saw the Wind Knights' charge toward the Midway Metro Spaceport. She half-grinned, half-grimaced as Swift went berserk on the anti-air defenses and started running out of birds very quickly. He and his last two crashed into a trio of trucks full of Green Men with big guns and all of them vanished together with him.

"Hah!" Shinji chuckled next to her, then coughed, and grunted. "Ugh."

"Hey!" Rita waved at them, looking somewhat sickly herself. Henry was there too, beaming at her. "Good job!"

"How are they doing?" Shinji asked.

"Made it to the runway. Ooh! They're hitting the spaceport! There goes Hawk!" Rita exclaimed. "He almost made it! Go, Valkyrie!"

"Valkyrie?" Katrin eyed askance at Shinji.

"Val. Our boss." Shinji explained. "The lady knight with the winged helmet."

"Ah." Katrin leaned back against the wall with a sigh. Seconds later, amid more exclamations, she heard Rita shout, "The Tower is DOWN!"

"What about the siege?!" Henry jumped.

"Give me a moment." The girl answering was the little one who had flown with Shinji, Henry, Rita and Katrin earlier. "There!"

"Thanks, Tomoe!" Rita said. "There they go! They're pushing forward!"

"What about the north side?" Shinji asked.

"They're moving too." Henry told him. "Oh? There's another bunch of knights on a suicide run! Silver Helms! It's the Three Inquisitors!"

"What of the Seven Champions?" Shinji questioned.

"Still fighting the Command Saucer." Henry reported. "Except Satrox, who is with Sora somewhere."

"We need to take down that Saucer." Shinji breathed. "Is it still headed north?"

"No. The other Saucers around the world started spreading out once Katrin died." Henry said. "Our big guns took out three of them when they got in range and damaged two more."

"You guys did great!" Rita beamed. "Let's do it again! This time we'll join too!"

"Not right now, Rita. Give us an hour." Shinji groaned.

Beeping sounded. Tomoe jumped. "Incoming announcement, worldwide, Royal Blue priority."

Shinji raised his head. "An announcement from a Princess or… a Prince?"

"Sora?" Rita opened her mouth automatically, but Henry put his hand over it just as automatically as Tomoe tuned to the broadcast.

It was Iylara, the Ocean Princess. All she said was, "The Ocean has a new Prince."

And with that, the broadcast ended, abruptly, with no further explanation.

"Wait. What?!" Henry protested. "The Ocean's Tournament of Ascension is over already? But they didn't even tell us what time it was!"

Rita tugged his hand off her face. "Quick! Rewind it! What did she saw before we tuned in? Who won? What did she say at the start?!"

"That is the start." Tomoe said. "That's all there was."

"But…" Rita protested. "She didn't tell us who!"

"Yeah." Tomoe said shortly, and hit a few buttons. The screen switched back to the siege of Midway Metro.

Katrin watched long enough to see the Three Inquisitors crash into the forward artillery battery among the Cult's ranks and then she slinked away quietly, feeling sick and wobbly as she made her way to a quieter corner.

She called Phillip. "Hey."

"Katrin?" Phillip was in someplace quiet too.

"Congratulations." She said simply. She had no need to ask him who won. She knew. Without a sliver of a doubt, she knew.

"Thanks." Phillip told her. "You should come join me. It will be safe here. I'll give you my old Oceaneer post. I'll be headed there in a minute."

Katrin sighed. "That's nice. But first, I want to make another attack run on Midway. The Cult has caused me all sorts of trouble. I want payback."

"Be careful, Katrin. Don't underestimate them." Phillip warned.

"Careful? I'm intending to kamikaze. Don't worry, I'll just respawn back somewhere far, far away, and then I'll slip away to join you."

Phillip said nothing. Katrin could sense his disagreement without needing to hear his voice. He didn't like the idea of her pushing her luck.

"I'll see you later." Katrin said a bit more coldly than she expected, and cut the link.

As she did so, she felt a flicker. A small echo, like the voice of a great blue bird at a distance beyond space. {The Blue Phoenix… you like that?}

Katrin smiled. It was nice to know she was watching and approved of Katrin's action. {Maybe she remembers who it was who damaged the Continent of Eternal Winter, the ones responsible for sinking Skycrown Mountain. Maybe she wants to make the Cult pay too.}

Beeping sounded from Katrin's watch.

It was Abby calling. "Katrin! Where are you?"

"Back at Soft Snows rallying point." Katrin said. "We're going to gear up for another suicide attack run."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Katrin. You should run." Abby warned her. "The Cult knows you're around. They'll be on the lookout for you."

"That's sort of the point, isn't it?" Katrin asked. "They'll chase me all the way to Hourglass, and I'll die there and respawn back here, halfway across Nakama World."

"That's assuming you even make it that far." Abby warned her.

"Katrin, this is Geoffrey." The leader of the Justice Knights said over Abby's side. "You are ordered to stand down. I repeat – stand down. Do not provoke the Cult or show yourself. This is a direct order."

Another voice sounded. "Oh, relax, Frey, she has a right to Dream as she wishes."

"Lady Valkyrie?" Katrin recognized the voice.

"Just Val, please, Katrin."

Katrin hesitated. She considered Geoffrey's words, and then Val's. "Do you believe I should stand down?"

"I do." Val answered without hesitation. "You've done enough. Take it easy the rest of tonight."

"But you just said…"

"You have a right to make your own decisions." Val said.

"Not while she's in my guild, she doesn't!" Geoffrey said grimly. "That was a direct order! Stand down, Katrin!"

"And what of you, Val? Would you order the same of your Wind Knights?" Katrin questioned.

"Me? No way. Wind Knights fly free." Val said.

Katrin took a deep breath. She felt bad about what she was about to do, but she felt it would probably be worth it. "Would you accept me if I put in for a transfer?"

Silence fell.

"Do you have any Comrades that can't fly?" Val asked seriously.

"No." Katrin only had one Comrade, and Grace could definitely fly. The only other Comrade she wanted to bond right now was the Blue Phoenix, and she was definitely a flier.

"I'll have to call a vote." Val paused. "Unless you have an objection, Frey?"

Katrin held her breath.

"No. No objection. If she has trouble following orders, she's better off with you." Geoffrey said shortly.

Katrin let out a slow breath. {I'm sorry, guys. But I can't just sit this war out. I owe you. I owe all of you for protecting me as much as you did. But now I have to pay it back. I need to take action, I need the Blue Phoenix's approval… and Colin's at the top of the J-Knight's Most Wanted. I owe him too. I don't want to have to hunt him. Not to mention Phillip. If he wants me to join him as an Oceaneer… well, I've seen how being a Forester conflicted with being a J-Knight. Maybe it won't conflict so much with being a Wind Knight.}

"It's unanimous." Val announced. "The Wind Knights have all agreed. If you truly want to join us, we will accept you."

{All agreed…?} Katrin remembered when she'd joined the J-Knights. Almost nobody was around, and Abby's approval was all it took. Almost nobody even knew it happened. To have all the Wind Knights accept her… {all} of them…

Katrin almost felt like she wanted to cry, though she didn't know why. Joining the J-Knights had felt {nothing} like this. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Thank you."

"Confirm transfer?" Abby asked, sounding very formal, but somewhat vexed. Katrin couldn't blame her for being irritable about the whole thing. Maybe she could explain things to Abby. One day.

"Confirm." Katrin said, trying to sound firm, but unable to keep a touch of sadness from her voice.

"Confirm." Geoffrey said.

"Confirm." Val added, and sealed the deal. "Welcome to the Wind Knights, Katrin. Come meet me in Guild Chat."

"What?" Katrin blinked, but Abby had cut the link, and a little pop up announced to Katrin that she had been invited to the Wind Knights Guild Chat Comms Channel. She tapped it and said, "Join."

Instant chatter sounded in her ears as if she wore a headset. She didn't, of course, but it sounded like she did and she felt quite sure nobody else could hear it.

"Welcome aboard, Kat." Shinji said, winking at her from across the hall.

"Meow." Swift said in a level voice. "Mew, meow meow, mew, miao, meow."

"What?" Katrin blinked.

"Nothing. Just trying to speak your language."

"Hey, Katrin! We need to get you a real nickname." Sparrow added. "It won't do to have Swift mewing away every time he tries to talk to you."

"And of course, he will." Raven threw in.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Swift asked.

"Girl." Raven said, and burst out laughing as if one word explained it all.

"Um… guys… we're about to lose comms." Heron added. "I think that Saucer is…"

Abrupt silence fell.

"Hello? Guys?" Katrin gulped.

"Kat, I think they lost their comms Tower." Shinji told her. From across the room, he pointed to the screen displaying the battle at the Hourglass Continent.

On screen appeared the burning ruins of what used to be a Comms Tower.

"So much for Guild Chat." Katrin said, half laughing, though she had no idea why she felt so buoyed up right now.

Shinji just laughed.

**

"{How}? " Colin burst out. It was the question foremost on his mind as he met Phillip to congratulate him upon winning his new title. "How did you bond Kyria?!"

"Michi." Phillip said.

Colin remembered last night. He remembered meeting Michi. He remembered what she said. {"The important thing is Phillip."}

"But what about her other breedings? The others in the M-series?" Colin asked.

"Why?" Phillip questioned.

Colin hesitated. He didn't want to come out and say he wanted to bond them all. That just sounded greedy and arrogant. "I heard that if they were left loose, they might become dangerous some day…"

In response, Phillip brought up his Comrade Summary.

https://imgur.com/KyO2w0P

(Author's note: Colin doesn't notice right away, but Satrox had it wrong. He thought Kyria was a Pristine Lioness. She's not. She's far more than that.)

Colin felt a chill run through his blood. "This is… this is…"

{Michi's breedings. All of them are Michi's. M-6? M-7?! I thought Shiro was the youngest of Michi's experiments… yet…}

"I have never seen a summary of Comrades so powerful." Alicia said, half in awe, half in envy. "The lowest one is Class 11…"

"Kyria is also the oldest. And the strongest." Phillip said.

It was, Colin felt, truly a worthy Comrade Summary for the Ocean Prince. {Michi... She was so concerned about him… concerned enough to do this. She went and got her own Breedings and gave them to Phillip.}

"You have the other two, don't you?" Phillip asked Colin next. "M-4 and M-5."

{Raiki and Shiro.} Colin suddenly felt wary. "Why?"

Phillip shifted. "Never mind. I won't insult you by offering to buy them. I could see that they were happy with you, and you really care about them."

"Would {you} be willing to sell?" Colin couldn't keep an edge out of his voice.

Phillip let out a soft, rueful laugh. "No."

Alicia perked up at that. "Really? Not even for a million Clira?"

Colin's jaw dropped. But Phillip only chuckled. "Nope."

"That's twenty thousand Clira in real life, you know." Alicia said conspirationally. "What about you, Colin? Would you sell one of them for that much?"

{Twenty thousand real life Clira…} Colin froze.

"I thought so." Alicia smirked.

"W-wait…" Colin fumbled. "That's… I mean…"

"That's not fair." Phillip told Alicia. "You can't ask him something like that."

{But she asked him the same question. He didn't hesitate to refuse. Not even for a moment.} Colin turned away, feeling ashamed of himself.

"Colin?" Phillip asked, softly.

"Congratulations, Phillip." Colin told him, trying at least to be a good sport. "You earned it."

With that, he swam for CC's boat, and left the Ocean Prince behind.