Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Ranix Aurus]

Haru took a glance at the old man's limp body before pulling out her phone to check. She soon found the answer in the briefing note that Alfred had provided before their mission.

"Atlanta."

---

At an office somewhere in the city, a beep came from a manager's PC. He looked at the screen to make sure before rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

So, his client, Mr. Winters, had...

He quickly pulled out a certain number that his client had given to him at the beginning, and then made a call.

The call would have connected to Aisuke's phone.

The manager collected himself, attempting to sound as calm as possible, before explaining himself.

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Saitou? My name is Myers, from Huntington Bank. My client, Mr. and Mrs. Winters, had appointed you as the inheritor of their will..."

He proceeded to tell the content of that will. The Winters had rented a deposit box alongside their account, with instructions that the content could only be taken by themselves, or by a certain person that they would determine at the moment of their death.

For the bank to contact Aisuke, that would mean...

 

[Admiral19]

Getting Aries was decidedly easier than getting Capricorn; the person Aisuke gave the medallion to was a very close research partner of his, one of the people who was on the initial research team that was studying the medallions. The transaction was made without a fuss.

But as if anything was gonna go right for the team.

As they were making their way out of the scientist's apartment building, Aisuke got a call.

"Hello? Yes, this is him. ...Have they now. Hm." His face gradually became more and more dire. "...Yes, I understand. I'm currently out of the area, but I will be there to collect it soon. ... Yes, thank you."

Kanae, who was previously proud of their acquirement of Aries, turned to see Aisuke's serious expression. "Dad?"

Aisuke dropped his call. "We have a problem. I was just called concerning Mr. and Mrs. Winters' will. Mr. Winters died not too long ago, and now, with both him and his wife dead, I am the will's inheritor."

Kanae took a moment to think. "Mrs. Winters...the person you said you gave the medallion to?" Her eyes widened. "Was Pisces in that will?!"

"It was. And something tells me that this wasn't by coincidence."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The timing was too suspect to be a coincidence. Mrs. Winters might had had a bad health before, but her husband was still healthy, without a sign of dangerous illness aside of some small complications from aging. He shouldn't die so suddenly, and even if so, he would've at least made a contact beforehand to let Aisuke know.

"It's them," Shouji was the one who said their thoughts out loud. "That's how Aesir works. We- they wouldn't even bat an eye when killing civilians."

"What should we do? With their resources, it won't take long before they find out where Mr. Winters hide that medallion," Akira chimed in. "Should we go over to retrieve Pisces, or stick with our plan to go to Arizona?"

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae felt her stomach churn. The lows Aesir would stoop to were outrageous!

"We need to keep going." There was no hesitation in Aisuke's voice. "Even if they get Pisces, we're currently ahead of them. If we can hold that lead, we'll have the remaining medallions in our hands, and they would be none the wiser."

"But from there," Kanae said, "we'll have to figure out how to get the medallions they have off of them."

"We will get there when we get there, Kanae. For now I say we push ahead to Arizona."

---

Rui had waited outside. They knew that the old man wouldn't cooperate, knew by the jarring sound of a shotgun that his fate was sealed from the start. They didn't want to see him die at their comrades' hands.

Ugh, what are you saying, Rui? You sound like a coward! You're meant to be an enforcer of the Kaiserin's will, furthering her goals at whatever cost!

When the others exited the house, Aoi was in her ARMOR, and everyone looked rather disgruntled.

"Rui." Aina was the first to speak. "What did you say was in those packages?"

"Alfred asked me to deliver these monsters to you all. Said that you could command them however you wished."

Aina nodded. "Good. Would you mind helping us conduct a more...thorough search?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The Winters might have planned it all out, but they were still civilians. Their means were limited, and easily broke down in the face of Aesir's enormous influence, even overseas. It didn't take long before they would find the old man's account book amongst his belongings, and from there, it wasn't hard to track down a certain Mr. and Mrs. Winters who had left a curiously particular will. It took even less time to figure out the location of the branch that held their deposit box. It was just the next town over.

Naturally, they wouldn't be able to get it off the bank if they weren't addressed by the will. That was if they went it the legal way, of course...

---

"Agreed, time is of the essence. It won't take long before they retrieve the medallion, and they'll come here right after that," Shouji said, being particularly talkative tonight. The fight from before had slightly scared him, and in his mind, the less they had to fight, the better.

Akira glanced at Kanae, silently saying that he would follow whatever she decided.

 

[Admiral19]

"Then on our way we go!" Kanae looked toward her dad. "When's the closest flight to Arizona?"

"Three hours from now," Aisuke said, "so we'd best get to stepping."

---

Huntington Bank has rarely been robbed. The last incident was a handful of years ago, and even then, it was the fault of a cocky boy who got far too big for his britches. Since then, security measures had been taken, and no one had robbed the bank since.

Security measures don't account for monsters.

The head of a massive eagle burst through the bank's front door, followed by a gigantic, hairy tarantula's leg. Immediately the people inside the bank scattered, finding whatever exits they could. An unfortunate few were crushed by the great legs.

And through the hole that the beast made, Aina stepped into the bank and up to the counter, where an employee stood trembling.

"Hello." Her voice was calm and cold. "I'd like to make a withdrawal."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Ah... ah... ah..."

The employee had been trained for the time when he would be held at gunpoint. He was prepared for it. But nothing in his training had ever covered about getting eaten by a massive eagle... spider... whatever this creature was! Hell no!

"Y-Y-Yes, please- spare me! I'll do anything! Please spare me!"

His pants were already wet after peeing himself. Even with his legs turned into jelly, he still crawled over to the rows of deposit box and opened the one at the left side of the drawer. Inside was an ornate wooden box. With trembling hands, he offered the box to Aina.

Inside was a medallion emblazoned with the imagery of two fishes swimming around each other: the symbol of Pisces. This time, it was the real thing.

"D-don't kill me, please...!" The employee prostrated on the ground, his face planted on the cold tiles.

---

Akira didn't feel like packing up for the next flight. Shouji was the same. Both of them were anxious for the same thing: the prospect of clashing with Aoi and Aina once again. They had a narrow victory before, but this time, their enemies would be ready. Worst case, Rui would be with them as well. Three against two, whatever the result would be, it wouldn't be pretty.

"Uncle Saitou, what's the situation with the person that has Sagittarius?" Akira prodded, unable to keep his calm. It would be best if they could come over and swoop the medallion right away, unlike that time with Lucas Spitz.

 

[Admiral19]

Ah, just what they needed. "Your death would be a waste of precious seconds. We have other places to be."

With that, Aina climbed onto the spider-bird as it withdrew its head, giving a last horrific screech before it marched away.

The employee was left with a mess, both in the bank itself and in his pants.

---

"The person I handed Sagittarius to was a rock climber," Aisuke said, reading back through a conversation he had with the person in question on his phone. "although I don't know what exactly he did with the medallion just yet. I sent him a message earlier tonight asking about its whereabouts, actually."

His phone went off. "Ah, wonderful timing! That's him! Let's see—"

Aisuke read the message he was sent two, then three, then four times, before dragging a hand down his face in exasperation. "Oh, you have to be shitting me. Apparently, he saw it fit to...hide the medallion in the Grand Canyon's national park. He marked the location on a map, thank god, but that's still a severe inconvenience."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"He did what?"

Akira had never been to the Grand Canyon before, but just that name alone was enough to give him the mental image. So they had to do a treasure hunt just to find that medallion? Great, that would significantly delay them from securing it. What if...

No, being pessimistic wouldn't solve anything. It was better to go into action.

"It'll be fine, we should be able to scale the canyon easily with our ARMOR," he assured them, but mostly himself.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae was nothing short of pissed(the Grand Canyon? Seriously?), but it wouldn't matter once they actually found the medallion. "Look, the two of us will search the canyon up and down all day if we have to. We just need to keep it out of Aesir's hands, right?"

"Easier said than done," Aisuke said, "but I like the optimism."

---

Kanae had heard of the Grand Canyon. She had expected it to be...well, grand. But sometimes, when you see something from at a distance, it warps your perception of how big something is...until you see it up close.

Night was falling on the expanse of rock that, according to a plaque the team saw at the national park, stretched 277 miles. From where Kanae stood, armored up and looking down at it, it seemed to go on forever. The mark on the map they were given said the medallion was hidden in an area a ways outside the territory of the national park, but that still wasn't helpful when the landmark is this long.

This was gonna take a while. At least it looked pretty out.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The Grand Canyon was a spectacle worth to look forward to. The colorful rock layers, carved by centuries of water current, could never fail to draw amazement from visitors. It would be nice if they could come to this place to sightsee. Sadly, they were there for business. No matter how beautiful the place was, Akira could only see it as a nuisance now, especially considering how much ground they had to cover.

"Do we have to dig the ground, or did he leave any signs pointing to the medallion?" The eyepiece on the black side of the Gemini ARMOR lit up as Akira voiced his grievance. It couldn't be that Aisuke's friend wanted them to facelift the entire canyon, right?

 

[Admiral19]

"Fortunately, no," Aisuke said, looking over the map again, "it's hidden near a branch that he wedged into the wall. Apparently, it has a red bandana tied to it? Regardless, it shouldn't be any farther than 5 miles away from the border of the national park, so at least it won't be a completely hellish search."

Kanae had already jumped into the canyon proper to search for the branch. She wanted to get this over with fast.

---

It was just as they all feared. When the Holders came to the apartment that the Aries owner would be in, they weren't even let into the room. None of them could afford to make a scene, so they left swiftly, but it was clear that someone had gotten to Aries first, and they all knew just who. It didn't help that Calico didn't know the exact whereabouts of Sagittarius, only that it was in Arizona. They'd have to look up and down for this thing!

On slightly brighter news, their construction project was chugging along nicely, but what did it matter if by the time this stage was finished, they didn't have the medallions accounted for?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira and Hotaru had also set off the moment they got the clue from Aisuke. Red bandana, red bandana... alright, that clue wasn't useful at all. Not to mention the size of the place, the a small bandana would blend quite easily among the colorful rocks and the thick bushes scattered all over the place. All they could do was to inspect each bushes one by one, hoping that their luck would allow them to find that accursed branch in the next try.

Unfortunately, lady luck didn't want to smile on them just yet.

---

After failing to retrieve Aries, their next destination would be Arizona. However, they were lagging several hours behind Leo's crew already, and who knows where that medallion could be hidden? In their dilemma, an useful tip arrived through the support network.

It seemed that a certain group with people fitting the description of Kanae and friends had been seen heading north, toward Grand Canyon.

Haru turned off the display on her phone as she turned to Aoi and Aina. "That's what they said. What will you do?" The support group wasn't a hundred percent sure, but having a lead was better than nothing.

 

[Admiral19]

"We meet Leo and Gemini at the canyon, of course." Aina was the first to respond. "They're gonna spend ages combing that thing. As far as I'm concerned, our chances of finding Sagittarius are as good as theirs."

Rui raised a brow. "And if we happen to meet Leo and gang on the way?"

"It would be a three-on-two. We have Overdrive and two Eldrians. Giving Sagittarius up will be the only way they can hope to leave that canyon alive."

---

Kanae looked over boulder, ledge, and wall, trying to find the infernal crack that this infernal branch was jammed into. Red was truly a horrid choice of color; with the orange and red of the canyon walls, it was gonna be impossible to spot unless it stuck right out.

"Any luck?" She shouted up at Aisuke and the others, who were all keeping an eye out overhead in case the branch was further up the wall.

"None so far. Hah, if I had known that this was gonna be the way Sagittarius was hidden, I would have given it to someone else..."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The Gemini armor was jumping up and down the ledge, acting like gravity had no hold over them. While Hotaru was the one taking control in hand-to-hand combat, this kind of movement was Akira's specialty. He covered a huge distance with one leap, their eyes scanning through every bushes that they had passed, to no avail.

They leaped back to Kanae after another fruitless search at one direction. It seemed that she had came empty-handed as well.

"Maybe it's blown by the wind...?" Hotaru muttered. The bandana wouldn't last long in the harsh gale that blew through the canyon all year long. If that was true, then their search would be infinitely harder.

 

[Admiral19]

Ah, this was gonna take fucking forever if it got blown away. Kanae lifted a rock onto its side, only to see a bunch of little insects. Just wonderful.

She looked up and stared down the length of the canyon. This thing was huge...if the one landmark that made the hiding spot recognizable was missing, they'd have to trail up and down to find the stupid medallion.

But...so would Aesir, maybe, so that's something...

A rumbling sound suddenly shook the air, followed by a chunk of stone falling from the canyon wall further down. That...that wasn't coincidence.

"Akira, Hotaru—"

Kanae was cut off by a tentacle lashing out and just barely missing, creating a gash in the rock wall behind her.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

""Kanae!!"" Two voices rang at the same time as the Gemini ARMOR rushed toward Kanae. Akira took control and abruptly threw himself in front of her, right when another tentacle was swung right at them. He knocked it off with an angry kick.

"They've come," Shouji gritted his teeth. They've taken too long to find the medallion. The worst possible scenario in his mind had come true.

The huge monster growled as it retracted its tentacle. It stood docilely before Aoi unlike its usual raging state, seeming entranced by the woman's presence. The pheromone controller was working its magic. Haru and Youmo was watching a bit farther at the back, with the former showing a disgusted look at the whole scene.

Foolish Eldriari. She had an instinctual urge to rip that abomination into pieces, but she reined it back.

 

[Admiral19]

"Good evening!" Aoi announced the presence of her and the rest of Aesir's Holders, holding the pheromone controller in her hand. "Now, chances are, we've probably been searching for as long as you all have, so if you have even the slightest clue where Sagittarius is, we would like you all to help us search for it. Otherwise, we'd be more than willing to have our pets here tear this canyon apart to find it—alongside all of you."

"Even if we knew where it was," Kanae shouted, "we're not gonna help you get your hands on it!"

"But you don't really have a choice in the matter. I don't care how powerful you or Gemini are now, you can't take on all three of us and this." The monster Aoi controlled growled low, a long tongue slithering over its snakelike face. "Last chance, dear Leo!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Gemini's movement halted for a brief second upon noticing the Holders and their monsters. A monstrous snake chimera and a spider-bird hybrid. They were revolting even to just look at. But the monsters themselves were fine. Akira was more worried about Aoi and her friends.

It seemed that he had developed a grudge toward that woman ever since their first encounter.

"Kanae, go to your father. They might take him hostage if we can't protect him," Akira said in a low voice so the Aesir Holders wouldn't hear him. On his part, he didn't wait for the others to make their moves. It would be best to make their own first.

"Snap out of it," Akira hissed mentally to Hotaru. And then, he raised his hand before the others could react.

"Charge up."

Satellizer ready.

The energy bow materialized once again in his hand. Drawing the searing arrow as hard as he could, he finally let go, blasting the arrow straight at the snake monster, the bigger target.

 

[Admiral19]

Ah, that was a good point. As Aoi made her monster lunge forward at Gemini, Kanae jumped onto its head, springboarded off of it, and landed on the ledge above, keeping a close eye on Aisuke.

Rui didn't let that go unnoticed. They followed Kanae up to the ledge, where she was standing staunchly in front of her dad, her mom, and...

"Shouji." Behind their mask was a furious gaze. "What the hell happened? Why are you with these people?"

"Wouldn't you like to know—"

"I wasn't asking you!" Rui pointed one of their swords at Kanae. "Although, now that you mention it, what have you done to Shouji since I last saw him, huh?"

Aisuke stood a ways in front of Shouji. "We haven't done anything to him! Besides, why do you care about him? You said Shouji was a traitor!"

"I didn't want to!" Rui's sword swung down at Kanae, who barely managed to catch it on her arm guard. "I had to make us look good. Shouji was the weak link, the one trying to flaunt our monsters before they were even perfected."

"He was your fall guy?!" Kanae swung a fist at their helmet, then swept them off balance by kicking at their legs. "You think he's gonna want anything to do with you after you painted a target on his back?!"

Rui staggered to their feet, their chest heaving, their stance shaky. "If it means that I pay the Kaiserin what I owe to her, I'll paint a thousand targets on anyone's back! I'll kill every shred of sympathy I have, I'll put every one of my selfish needs six feet below me if it means I remain at her side!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Rui," Shouji stared at them with conflicting emotions roiling in his chest. Were they friends? They might be friends. The only one he could call a "friend" in their little dysfunctional group. But even he realized that the most important thing for Rui wasn't their friends.

It was the Kaiserin.

If it was for that bastard, Rui would be willing to turn the world into a bloodbath. That was something that Shouji, who fight for himself and only himself, couldn't and would never understand.

"...I'm done with the Kaiserin. That bitch only cares for herself. She doesn't care for you... for any of us!" Shouji shouted at his former "friend". His eyes bloodshot.

"Don't let the Kaiserin fools you! Rui, you have power. Unlike me, you can make your own path! Break free from her clutch! You owe her nothing!"

 

[Admiral19]

"I owe her my life!" Rui spat back at Shouji. "For years, and years, I was complementing people for shit that I didn't care about, doing things for them that I didn't want to do, trying so hard not to tread on eggshells that I had to forget everything I actually was. The day I decided to be free, to "make my own path", I was cast aside. The Kaiserin saved me from my personal Hell...I would be dead in a ditch without her! There isn't enough that I could do for her!"

The swords they held at their side began to glow purple. Satellizer ready.

Wanting to stop them, Kanae swiped her claws to try and knock their swords away, only to be blocked by the swords coming together to form a shield, reminiscent of a crab's shell. From there, Rui pushed forward, pushing Kanae's body onto the shield and then throwing her aside.

This...wasn't good. If Rui used their Satellizer again(they absolutely would), there was no way Kanae was gonna take it.

It was then that she remembered that she had an ace. But she'd need to purposefully wear herself out to do it, and even then...fuck, would it be worth it?

---

Rocks tumbled down the canyon walls as the monster Aoi was controlling swiped again and again at Gemini.

"You know, whichever one of you two threw that vase at me the first time we met...I hope you know that you got lucky!" A tendril swung hard at Gemini, aiming to pin them against the rocks around them. "Had Leo not have somebody giving her an out, I would have taken her medallion then and there!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Seiichiro had been lounging in the van reading scientific papers when the ground shook. "Oh crap, earthquake?!?" He quickly regained himself. Oh right, this was America, not Japan, how would there be an earthquake happening so randomly? That was when he glanced outside and saw the cloud of dust from the fight in the distance.

"...Well, shit," he cursed before starting the van.

---

Shouji didn't know what to say. He could understand Rui-- no, he understood them too well. They had similar pain, albeit different circumstances, and that was what drawn them to power. Shouji was using it for himself, Rui was using it for the person they looked up to. But in essence, they were the same.

It was a cry of help as they drowned in despair.

He glanced at Aisuke. Without even him knowing, there was a pleading in his eyes. Aisuke was the one who had saved him. Perhaps for Rui...

---

Gemini had been jumping up and down, left and right, trying their best to avoid the monster's hard-hitting tentacles. Getting hit by one would be catasthropic; the piles of debris and carved canyons wrecked by them could attest to it.

"You bitch! I haven't forgiven you yet for attacking my best friend!" Akira threw expletives in response to Aoi's ramblings. He had used up one Finisher, and although it had slowed the beast a bit, it was still a menace to fight against. Not to mention Aina and her monster was still on standby at the side.

"Tch!" He controlled the body toward a cliffside and, the moment the monster rushed at him, he leaped up, letting the monster crash into the cliff face. With that split second bought, he aimed in mid-air at Aoi.

"Charge up!"

Satellizer ready.

The energy bow was strung taut, and then he let go. The resulting shockwave blasted the air around them, while the arrow flew straight at Aoi in breakneck speed.

 

[Admiral19]

Aoi didn't have time to react before the arrow crashed dead on into her ARMOR. The impact knocked her back into the canyon wall, creating a sizable crater.

Okay. This was fine. Aoi staggered to her feet, shaking herself off—

Crack.

A part of her ARMOR clattered to the ground, specifically one of the horns that made up her crown. No. Oh, no, no, no, no no no! This couldn't be happening!

Warning: excessive damage detected. 5 seconds until forceful—

"Override, override!" In a panic, Aoi cried out, gripping her spear tight.

Override confirmed. Dosing.

This had to be a fluke. She wouldn't be this careless in combat, no no no, she's never this careless in combat! Another lucky shot, that's what it was! A lucky shot that was far too powerful for its own damn good! It's fine! The Jotunn serum was running through her now, and all she has to do now is take Gemini out!

She screamed a warcry at Gemini before charging forward, spear level with the ARMOR's chest. "How fucking dare you!"

---

Aisuke noticed the look in Shouji's eyes, and nodded in understanding. If you think you can, then you should.

Satellizer ready.

Kanae grabbed the sword-shield in Rui's hands, using it to pull them down to where she was. With her fist still burning red, she made a jab towards Rui's abdomen, the strike connecting and causing shards of ARMOR to fly out in all directions.

A strangled noise forced its way out of Rui's throat. That...hurt like hell.

"But what's the point in saying that you wanna be free," Kanae said, trying to stand before Rui could, "if you're just gonna throw your own self away to someone else all over again?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira had seen this before with Rui. Override. The sudden burst of strength. Taurus's speed was even faster than before, so much that he could barely see her spear closing into his chest. He used his hand to grab it, but it couldn't be stopped that easily.

The tip of the spear crashed on Gemini's chest plate, piercing through the thick armor, and would had skewered through if he didn't exert his entire strength to slow it down.

And yet, the resulting impact was enough to send painful shockwaves throughout his body. Good thing the ARMOR came with full helmet; his grimace looked so ugly right now as he tried his best not to scream. His legs were starting to lose strength just from that alone. Worse, the spear was still bullishly pushing forward, waiting for the moment that he finally lost his grip.

Not yet, he couldn't buckle down like this!

"...Fools."

It was at this moment when Hotaru's whisper came out from the white side of the ARMOR. It was laced with anger.

"You suicidal fools, you have no idea what you're dealing with."

The arm on the white side was pulled back. Dots of light began to form, from the shoulder, to the elbow, to the wrist, and ended in her fist. Lines of light zig-zagged across the dots, connecting them to one another.

Warning:Exc-exc-excessi-brrrrrt

The synthetic voice buzzed before promptly dying out.

The punch flew toward Aoi's face, or it didn't, or it did. Space itself was folded into pieces, as the fist curved in an impossible way, leaving a trail of light, from its starting point right to its destination in an instant, unleashing an explosion of energy the moment it landed.

---

Seeing Aisuke's nod, Shouji made up his mind. The moment Kanae struck Rui down, he ran at them, embracing the ARMORed person with all his might.

"Rui! Enough!" He shouted. "You've done enough! Don't force yourself to suffer anymore! You..."

He gritted his teeth, remembering what Kanae had told him before.

"You deserved to be loved, so..."

Don't sacrifice yourself anymore.