Editing City Series:Volume6a Chapter8 (section)

===Part 3===

An alarm sounded in the large cargo bay to indicate something was activating.

With his work complete, a soldier hopped down from the shoulder of the Grösse Panzer named Blau Löwe wearing an armored blue Panzer Kleid and sitting on a cargo platform in the center of the cargo bay.

He and the other workers ran over to the cargo platform’s controller and began operating the buttons.

A large tremor ran through the Grösse Panzer’s cargo platform.

An eyepatch-like device extended from the back of the platform to protect the sight devices, but that was removed, revealing Blau Löwe’s face. The compound eye devices already contained a light carrying a powerful will. Berger had Schreibened into it.

The voice device in Blau Löwe’s mouth produced Berger’s somewhat muffled voice.

“All systems go. Preparing to depart. Standing up.”

The workers repeated that all back as the cargo platform rose up.

The back of the platform was oddly shaped to surround the secondary cockpit and the Götter Kanone on the Panzer’s back and it attached to the bottom of the secondary cockpit to push up on the Panzer.

Blau Löwe stood up and planted its feet on the floor. It no longer required the support of the platform to remain standing.

“Standing up. Everything looks good. Removing restraints.”

The workers repeated that back again.

With the sound of crackling electricity, the restraints were removed from the Panzer’s parts: the shoulders, the thighs, the wrists, the feet, and the stomach.

With the restraints gone, the giant steel doll was free.

“Restraints removed. Beginning to move.”

It took a step forward. Its body tilted a bit to the left.

After correcting for that, it took another step forward and reached out its right hand. A Grösse Panzer sword was hanging on the wall. It grabbed that and attached it to the weapon latch on the Panzer Kleid’s hip.

“Equipment retrieved. Preparing for free-fall transportation.”

“Opening virtual barrier. Cargo bay crew, withdraw immediately.”

That announcement was followed by a solid panel of light covering everything from ceiling to floor behind Blau Löwe.

Two more of them appeared equidistant from each other in front of Blau Löwe.

The men who had been in front of the cargo platform’s controls were now waving from behind Blau Löwe. Blau Löwe must have seen it with its omnidirectional vision because it gave a thumbs up back at them.

The men cheered while falling back toward the barrier within the ship.

As soon as they were done, the cargo bay door opened vertically.

A 15-yard opening appeared, the dark sky came into view, and the entire ship shook.

But no wind blew inside the cargo bay. The three panels of light surrounding the Grösse Panzer kept it out. Those Ton barriers redirected the energy that passed through them, creating air barriers.

Blau Löwe’s Panzer Kleid fluttered from what little wind got through and the Panzer ducked down.

“Fully activating Ober Emblem Luft Fang. What’s the Sylphide doing?”

“The Sylphide is currently having some armor stripped away. Based on its rate of collapse, it will not last another hour. Once it loses inertial control, it will break apart in midair.”

“I see.”

Just then, a shipwide broadcast blasted into the cargo bay.

“We are receiving a radio transmission from the Sylphide!! The pilot wishes to speak with Dog Berger!”

“Dog Berger! What is the meaning of this!?”

Bermark’s voice entered the broadcast to ask that question and Blau Löwe explained.

“I ‘handed’ her the frequency and encryption code we’re using. And I added a simple message: say what you want to say.”

Ether light formed orbs below Blau Löwe’s Panzer Kleid and those orbs scattered into the air.

The ether burst and turned to a glowing mist that covered the armor and caused it to undergo a change.

The intricate emblem engraved into the Panzer’s armor glowed as it reacted to the ether. The Ton rhythm contained in that emblem transformed the Panzer into something other than a machine.

A girl’s voice arrived via the shipwide broadcast while the transformation occurred.

“Dog…can you hear me?”

It was Hazel.

“I can, Hazel. …Let me be blunt – that craft is dying. Can you tell?”

The Ton conversion caused by the emblem moved past the armor and altered the power system as well.

“Yes. It’s making some weird noises, so I had a feeling.”

The changes began at the limbs. Light sprayed from the joints for just an instant and that light dissipated to reveal an entirely different shape. The connections made with cylinders were now an actual metal body held together by giant white tendons.

This created a fusion that was not quite biological and not quite mechanical.

The Götter Kanone and secondary cockpit on the back began to transform with ether light, as did the extra armor for the wing expansion located between those other two components.

“Then I have one question, Hazel. Do you want to be the Messiah? We’re looking at a pretty literal fulfillment of the prophecy here, so if you choose to abandon the Sylphide and return home, the prophecy will be fulfilled.”

“…!?”

Ether light swelled out from the back of the shoulders and branched off into a top, middle, and bottom sections on either side. The six lights jutted out as giant fang-like wings.

These were the six wings of a Seraph, a powerful type of Nein Engel.

“Also, it’s looking like the Sylphide was made for this purpose. To create the Messiah, I mean. So how about it, Hazel. It might feel nice to be a Messiah.”

“That would mean abandoning the Sylphide though, wouldn’t it? And it would mean this prosthetic eye is being used by the state for that prophecy, right? Also…” She took a breath. “What do you mean the Sylphide was made to create the Messiah!? This thing has worked so hard to search out the Messiah and take her to outer space. Are you saying it was actually made to do something else entirely?”

“It looks that way, yes. The Sylphide might want to go to space and protect the Messiah, but it was made and activated to fulfill the prophecy.”

“Are you serious!?”

The light intricately weaved the metal together to create the impressive wings.

The base of the wings was blue and the wings themselves were yellow. They looked like enormous fangs standing up toward the sky.

“Then are you willing to die along with the Sylphide when it breaks apart? Since it was built to be used by the state, you sympathize with it so much you want to die with it?”

“Well…”

Berger smiled bitterly at that.

“You’re still a child, Hazel. I said I only have one question, so you don’t have to answer or even think about that one.”

Blau Löwe’s facial devices were bathed in light as a mask-like face was created.

The conduits extending from the back of the head became tendons and the radiator tubes became long hair that danced in the wind.

“Dog.” Her sigh reached him as static. “Why are you doing this? Who even are you?”

Blau Löwe…no, Luft Fang raised its head to look outside.

“I’m…well, a god.”

“A god!? I’d heard you from Aerial City.”

“That’s right. My mom was a human prostitute and pure humans are pretty rare in London, a city of Heidengeists and gods.”

Its left arm had finished transforming, but it did not move.

Instead, Luft Fang clenched its right hand once, twice, thrice.

“Then your father was a god?”

“Yeah. Which may explain why my mom was fond of saying her customers were all-knowing.” Berger sighed, paused for a moment, and then continued. “Wait, no. She said ‘the customer is always right’. That’s not quite the same thing, is it?”

His joke earned only silence until that was broken by Bermark.

“Someone throw that man off my ship.”

Berger ignored him and took another step forward.

The 8-yard metal giant was truly walking now.

One step.

“Hazel, keep in mind that the Sylphide will die eventually.”

Two steps.

“And it is unsure if it should obey its machine instincts and fly into space with you or if it should obey the duty given by its creator and protect the Messiah. None of that has to do with what the state wants.”

Three steps.

“Hazel Mirildorf, what will you do? You are not the Messiah yet, so will you continue deceiving the Sylphide?”

On the fourth step, it fully passed through the virtual barrier.

Luft Fang stood on the edge of the opened cargo bay door and it spread its wings while its Panzer Kleid flapped in the blowing wind. The 6 wings spread out wide and air gathered in the gaps between their metal feathers.

It prepared to take flight.

The wings’ air intake produced a whistling loud enough to be heard over the general roar surrounding everything. Luft Fang’s body began to shake, but it did not take flight yet. More air pushed in behind it to create a vortex.

The shipwide broadcast could barely be heard over the wind in the cargo bay.

“The V-0 is approaching! We have visual confirmation!!”

The open cargo bay door gave a view of a boxy black shape positioned at the center point between the dark sky and the sea.

Luft Fang’s eyes stared straight at its opponent.

A black craft rose from below as if to fly right into the center of the Luft Fang’s vision. It was a König Pseudo-Drach. Its Luftram was active and its canopy was missing, giving a view of Schweitzer piloting it.

They were ready to go and the girl’s voice spoke on the communicator.

“Dog!! I don’t know. I don’t know what I should do! That’s the only answer I have right now! This craft is trying to protect me, but it’s also trying to fly into outer space with me onboard.”

“Remember, Hazel. You said you didn’t want to run away.”

“But you said any country I went to would only try to use me. And the Sylphide is the same, so I…”

“Shut up.” Berger cut off the girl’s doubts. “Be destroyed or be the Messiah? There must be an answer beyond those boring paths of death or subjugation. You need to seek that out, Hazel!!”

He said nothing more. Luft Fang remained silent as well.

The giant fusion of metal and man silently jumped out into empty air.

The six wings on its back closed as if beating at the air and Luft Fang began to fly.