Chapter 49: Battle Preparations

'THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FALLING STAR CONSPIRACY REVEALED? BRAKAGI A WOLD IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING ALL ALONG?'

The short peace and calmness after the Phenomena didn't remain in the circles around the galaxy for long before yet another breaking reveal tore open the old wounds for those that once lived in the Olympus system What started as an independent article from one of the investigative journal firms immediately blew up mere hours after its release before it spread from Olympus towards the rest of the galaxy, and all of a sudden, all that anyone talks about is whether Brakagi was the one that was responsible for leading the decay of Olympus B's orbits.

However, this is no easy conversation to have, as there are a few facts that needed to be checked before anyone can truly believe what the article said, and to the author's credit, everything is laid out nicely.

First, one needs to acknowledge the existence of artifacts, metaphysical items that enables the users of such artifacts to violate the physical laws that was thought to be as old as existence themselves. This alone is enough to leave most scratching their heads and the skeptics rolling on the ground laughing. However, not many can maintain their stance after what happened first on Olympus 2, and then to Olympus Prime, AKA the Phenomena when the entire planet literally skipped a bit and found itself on a newer and safer orbit.

Regardless of whether people interpret the Phenomena as a benign gesture from a group of good artifact users, or is it just another one of the elaborate plans laid down by the evil ones, there are no other way of explaining such an occurrence beyond either interference from artifact users, or that of god himself.

Secondly, one needs to acknowledge that the artifacts are capable of affecting celestial bodies such as the sun. Sure, the asteroids were averted rather easily, and then the planet is moved, but the shear size and mass of suns are magnitudes above that of the planets. This is the hardest logical step to take, and yet there is no showing of what the limits of those artifacts and their users are. Therefore, there are also no reason to believe why, all of a sudden, the abilities of the artifacts cannot affect suns, let alone the smaller of the binary at the Olympus system.

Thirdly, one needs to acknowledge that Brakagi is indeed one of the owners of the artifacts, and thanks to a combination of GBI's released files and the live recording that came from an attack on Geb 4 a week prior, this is actually one of the easiest thing to believe. Of course, doubters of both the governments and the two previous conditions are also quick to jump on the bandwagon that the footage are counterfeit. That's where the independent journal agency comes in.

These three questions are the exact three that General Kuviar was facing when combining all of the intelligence at hand. He needed someone that doesn't have clear ties to the government to get their hands on these files, and he needed someone that is trusted at least somewhat by the public.

What could be even better is as if the GBI is going against this individual, making it even more believable for the sheep that tunes in daily to the galactic news. Tasking Cellica with seeking out the suitable journalist, General Kuviar offloaded the tasks of handing on the information to her as he made his way towards the Prison colony and filmed the entire process of him welcoming Zero out of the jail cell. Of course, all of his plan went through Dr Dorry May first, though she is frankly in too much of a bureaucratic deadlock to care at this point.

Then, as the journalist published the article days later, welcoming his boom in popularity as a result, the GBI came out with a front, initially denying the accusations before finally admitting to it and promising the galaxy that the wrongs will be righted, and the mistakes fixed. That was when the footage of Senator Zender/Zero's release and welcome is released, and the ball is now in the playing field of Dr Dorry May and the galactic government.

With the release and wide coverage of the latest development, the people in the galaxy are divided into three camps, with extremes on both sides and skeptics stuck in the middle.

The deny-ists treat the entire ordeal with the artifact as an elaborate governmental scam intending to distract the public's attention away from the issue at hand, which is the incompetencies revealed the prior crisis. The are essentially the far right of the spectrum.

The reformers are the ones that not only actively believe in the existence of groups of artifact users, but also worships the one that saved Olympus Prime from its doom. They are also the ones that furiously demand Brakagi be brought to justice and put on trial, as they are the ones that took in the news the best, most likely because it matches nicely with their prior beliefs. A large majority of them are already in this camp after the bearers showed up at Olympus 2, and it only grew after the Phenomena. They are on the far left.

The skeptics in the middle refused to take either stances, as they do indeed believe in the artifact's involvements with the previous incidents, but they also doubt that the galactic government is exactly in the dark with this. Though they strongly disagree with the what the galactic government has done in response to the crisis, they also don't trust the groups of artifact users fully. They are in the middle.

The formation of the three groups are as expected, and not exactly a new occurence in the post modern age. Dr Dorry May also know of this fact, and prepared for it. By releasing most of the GBI files on artifacts so far, courtesy of General Kuviar of the GBI, she shuts down the deny-ists and pleases both the reformers and skeptics in one fell swoop, then, she announced that the One Rock government will have one month to respond to the accusations and have Brakagi appear on trial to test whether he is indeed an user, and whether he was responsible in the destruction of Olympus 1, 2 and beyond.

Senator Zender was also released, much to the agreement of the reformers. A rumor is then spread about how the GBI is allowing for the artifact users to work as a team and capture the new Rocky president by force, though it remained a rumor that remained unacknowledged by Dr Dorry May.

With the massive sway of public opinion against the One Rock government, the ball is kicked in the direction of Brakagi, and it is up to him to respond to it. Convincing an entire galaxy is no easy task, especially when footage of Brakagi engaging in his fight with Miss D is shown throughout the galaxy before Jozzor and the chief had any chance to censor it. Then, after their return from Poseidon 5 and the few that went through the enhancements projects awoke, the entire galaxy is turned upside down.

'The easiest thing to dispel would be that of the scope of your power.' Caliditas explained, 'I can usher the astrophysicists to explain the amount of energy that is required to move a sun.'

'But master didn't move it.' Jozzor said, shaking his head.

'That's exactly the point. Brakagi's system level manipulation exists out of what they now view as telekinesis.' Caliditas said, looking over for an approval from the president. Ever since the news first broke out, Brakagi has been on edge, and yet amidst all this tension, he managed to stay silent, indulged in his own thoughts.

'They will attack before the deadline.' Brakagi suddenly said before calling up Hong Fu to verify this fact using Probable, 'that's why Senator Zender is out. The GBI wanted him to pull the same stunt, but now with governmental support.'

'So that's why you have been rushing the training...' Jozzor said understandingly.

'Not the only reason, but one of.' Brakagi nodded towards him, 'please, Caliditas, if you would reach out, that would be the best.'

Whoever wrote the article outlining the scientific inconsistencies of what the reformers believe in are obviously going to be put under the microscope, and hence the identity and backgrounds of the author are just about as important as the actual contents presented. However, there are plenty of eager academics in the Academy city.

That was the only response from the One Rock government beyond the most obvious options of denying such reports and labeling it as nothing but a tarnish on the One Rock government's name just because they have provided a better response in comparison to the galactic government.

The point of whether Brakagi actually possesses an artifact is also ignored, though the official spokesperson repeatedly stated that Brakagi was merely engaging in self defense against Miss D, and how this is not the first time that GBI has formulated fake evidence and leak it out on purpose to manipulate the people.

As the war raged on between the podiums and finger pointing politicians and spokespersons, the artifact users, the true stars of the show are preparing in the dark for their inevitable face off against one another.

Taking the time off to 'recover from his injuries', Brakagi took the five artifact users underneath him towards the outskirts of the Rocky system nearing the wild regions and proceeded to set up an extensive training camp. The one month deadline is rather generous from the galactic government, but Brakagi knew that it is also to give Senator Zender enough time to put everything together, as well as give Geb 4 some time to recover after Miss D's attacks.

Ten days have passed since the start of the galactic government's ultimatum, and the final preparation for battle began.

'The timeline doesn't quite work out, but I can't argue with the results.' Zero said to himself as General Kuviar reached out with his hand for a handshake and posed for the camera.

'Excuse me?' General Kuviar asked, his brows raised, but Zero shook his head and changed the topic.

'What is happening out there?'

'An assassination attempt of sorts on Brakagi, and visual proof of his artifact usage.' General Kuviar explained, 'and all of that generated enough pressure to at least convince the government that you were trying to save prime.'

'Well, if you want to spare the incompetent in the office, then at least consider my mistakes part of incompetency out of the office, right?' Zero said with a polite grin on his face, though the artificial expression sends a chill throughout General Kuviar's body, 'what are the next steps?'

'A deadline given for Brakagi to appear before court, but you are authorized to gather the users and take him back before that.' General Kuviar replied, leading the way back towards the ship that he came here with, 'I am sure you want to keep him alive, right?'

'Yes. All of them alive.' Zero confirmed.

'You will be given as much freedom as you wish, though Officer Cellica Uleric will be supervising you in case you pull something stupid like moving a planet again.' General Kuviar warned, and Zero returned with a perplexing smile.

The ship then took Zero back to Olympus Prime to pick up Cellica before the two of them are then transported towards the headquarters of Infinity, where Lady Lily awaits. General Kuviar handed over the prisoner transport duty to Cellica, though none of them there really have the fire power to lock down Zero should he really try to escape.

However, he knew that this second chance given to him is not to be wasted. He needed to do it the right way, and do it as clean as he can for his chances in the galactic elections later on. In a sense, this is the only chance for him to bring the public to his side, riding on the rage and confusion of the people and taking down all of the users.

Lady Lily and Sir Deva were both there when the shuttle finally landed and Cellica and Zero exited it, and she rushed over to give Zero a massive hug. He gave her a loving pad on the head and said, 'how are you doing, Lily?'

'Master.' Sir Deva nodded his head towards Zero, and he replied with a smile.

'Have they treated you okay?' Lady Lily asked, still not willing to fully let go of Zero's slander body. He has lost weight.

'Don't worry about that.' Zero said, grabbing onto Lady Lily's shoulders tightly and slowly moving her away, 'let's get to working. Cellica's here too.'

Lady Lily turned her head and looked at Cellica, who returned the gesture with her jaded colored eyes.

'I am not sure how much you have helped...but thank you.' Finally, Lady Lily forced the words out.

'Just like Zero have said, let's get to work.' Cellica said, and Lady Lily lead all of them back towards the office. There was only small talk between the big three from Absolute Being with Cellica wondering when she will be back with the bearers.

'It was actually quite funny when Cellica and Kuviar came to visit me early on...' Zero reminisces the events occurring earlier in the timeline, 'Cellica can't help but zap me a few times when I tried to be cheeky.'

'You deserved it.' Cellica replied with a cold look on her face, and Zero lets out an earnest chuckle, not annoyed at it by the slightest. Lady Lily, on the other hand, isn't too happy because of either the fact that Zero gets zapped or that him doesn't seem to mind Cellica's behaviors and glared at Cellica with puffed cheeks.

Then, they went ahead towards the highest tower within the moon base of Infinity with the office looking onward towards the gas giant that it orbits around, and all three members took a seat. In the meanwhile, Sadie Allen is keeping himself occupied with a game in the corner of the room, and he looked up at Zero.

'Lady Lily, would you please update all that we know so far please, just so both me and Cellica here can catch up to pace.' Zero said, 'this is going to be a full on cooperation again after all.'

'As you wish.' Lady Lily said, as it is clearly not her own wish, then she pointed a finger towards Sadie Allen who looked back at her and began, 'I paid a visit to Poseidon 5, and checked out this Life Springer person...'

Cellica's body stiffened, as that's the exact same person that Rydel and Alrith went to for Cellica's treatments

'...She looks like she will be neutral from all this, so I just paid for a consultation fee and asked for a few things.' Lady Lily continued, and Cellica was finally able to relax, knowing nothing bad has come to her. However, she doesn't know of what Brakagi and co has done obviously.

'Now, Sadie Allen is with us a bit more willingly.' Lady Lily said, 'how was the game?'

'Passable.' Sadie Allen replied proudly, puffing his chest out and flaring his ribs, 'needs a few tweaks here and there.'

'Good, now, let's get the real meeting started.' Lady Lily seemed happy with the demonstration of Sadie Allen's new mind state and moved on to the real topic at hand, 'now, I am not happy to find out how Hong Fu was the spy after all, but I now understand why you made a choice to keep this from me.'

Cellica looked over surprised at Zero, and she wondered if he somehow managed to find a way to communicate with Lady Lily even from within the cell, but all he did was a cheeky wink back at her.

'It wasn't really Hong Fu that offered the GBI the video footage, but rather an assassin that was hired by the previous Rocky president.' Cellica said, 'The GBI are not going to hold it against him though, given the sensitivity of the file he provided.'

'Yes, that.' Lady Lily confirmed, 'Hong Fu haven't made a single noise since getting there, and our informants on Geb 4 haven't been able to track him down either. The security details in the One Rock is tight to outsiders.'

'That's...to be expected, I suppose.' Zero said, scratching his head, 'it was sort of a last minute deal, and there was never any guarantee that it will work out. However, the thing with the ex-president, I am glad it worked out.....'

'Master?' Sir Deva asked Zero to elaborate further, and he happily obliged.

'Well, after the previous president was thrown out so easily by Brakagi, I reached out and gave him some tips and pointers.' Zero said, 'I am surprised that they have found an assassin that has an artifact though.'

'Or maybe they just looked to hire the best one.' Lady Lily brings up another possibility, and Zero nodded at her, 'regardless, Hong Fu and Vindy are no longer with us anymore, since what happened on the orbital ring.'

'Yeah, that happened.' Cellica said, glaring towards Zero who bowed his head down apologetically.

'I am sorry.' Zero once again apologized, 'please help me to make this right.'

'What's the deal with the assassin now?' Cellica asked, ignoring Zero's apology.

'Captured.' Lady Lily said, 'and there is no way they would kill off an artifact user as strong as that, just based off what we saw on the footage of the battle. So that brings the total to five users, Brakagi and Jozzor who hit the GBI headquarters, Hong Fu and Vindy who joined, and the assassin.'

'Five?' Zero asked, 'But I saw six in my latest vision.'

'That then means there is one other user.' Lady Lily said, 'in getting the footage needed to release you, we have also handed them another artifact user. Even I question you methods some time, master.'

'Lady Lily!' Sir Deva interjected, but Zero shook his head and prevented him from speaking further.

'I supposed all of this are just payback for me. That's why I am asking for your help, Cellica.' Zero said, looking at Cellica, 'we will abide by your requests, but help us take down Brakagi and his group before anything like the Falling Sun happens again sooner or later.'

'There are no saying why the Falling Sun will happen again,' Cellica said, 'however, there is also no saying where Brakagi will stop. All that we can provide is a helping hand to take him in, and prevent whatever happens to Olympus from occurring again.'