It was quiet and peaceful inside the base where Eri and Garra were, as they were both standing and looking out of the windows overlooking the mountain peaks.
"It's been a while... shouldn't we go check if Commander is alright?" Yun asked softly, keeping her eyes on the landscape before her.
"He said stay here so that's what we're doing." Garra replied flatly.
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Yun asked after a moment of silence.
Garra only exhaled deeply and stayed silent, her eyes turning towards the night sky.
"Wasn't there a girl he was pretty close to, maybe he took the chance spend some quality time with her." Kuno suggested, butting in the conversation.
"Are those kinds of things all you ever think about? How the hell did you even pass the battle qualification?" Garra turned around and stared daggers at Kuno, who simply smiled at the remark.
"Well actually I didn't. I only excell in active battlezones, simulations just don't cut it for me. My scores were judged from an actual deployment instead." Kuno twirled her hair as she answered, Garra just sighed and turned back around.
"It has been quite a while though..." Lina mused.
The other two fell silent, each of them recalling how they met Commander, the first person they'd ever met that treated them like actual people instead of objects.
"Why the long faces? You tin cans lost your batteries?" A voice came from above as smoke suddenly appeared, startling everyone.
"Jytenreu." Eri called out.
"The hell do you want?" Garra growled.
The jaw on Jytenreu's tail snatched Garra's rifle, "I'm came to stop your worrying, you should be thankful, grateful even." She said as she tossed the gun away.
"The fuck you on about?" Garra asked in irritation, this Meteorn's arrogance was the last thing she needed to see at the moment.
"Master is fine, better than ever. He even put that faker in her place. If only you could have laid eyes of his elegant form." Jytenreu spoke with a strange level of reverence.
"Is this why you're here?" Yun asked with an exasperated sigh.
"Oh right, the master told me to tell you he's going to come back once he's done with... whatever it was, I don't really remember." Jytenreu waved her hand dismissively, she really didn't care about any of it.
"Jytenreu..." Lina spoke softly.
Jytenreu turned her attention towards the girl, "huh?"
"Can I ask you something?" Lina asked.
"What's this? What makes you bold enough to ask me anything? You think your worthy to speak to me?" Jytenreu sneered, taking a step towards the girl. "One question. You get one answer, so make it something you really want to know."
Lina stayed silent for a moment, then finally asked, "What's the meaning behind Yuren's power?"
The Meteorn laughed loudly, "Are you sure that's what you want to ask? That's something you could figure out if you payed attention to what he's done." She cackled loudly.
Garra trembled with anger and Eri put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't fight." She whispered.
"You want to know why he can do what he does, right? You want to know what he can really do? He can destroy the sun in this galaxy and none of you scraps could live without his resonance. The meaning of this power? It's not important, he can make that whatever he wants. All you need to remember is that he is the pillar of life for all Meteorn. If he ever perishes, all of our lives will fall. Master is our very existence, worth eradicating a civilization for." Jytenreu launched into the sky shortly afterwards.
The words were chilling and heavy for the other XMV androids. But their feelings didn't change in the slightest.
"Is what she said true?" Yun asked, the rest of the group was quiet.
"True." Eri answered softly, "No master. No life. All die."
"I see..." Yun looked down, not sure what to say next.
"Does it really matter if he's Meteorn or not? Do you all want to go back the being objects of war for the Empire? I for one was getting real tired hearing that we were made to die on the battlefield." Kuno spoke up, everyone turned to look at her.
"Kuno, please..." Lina pleaded.
"It's the truth! You all called me lazy but what was the point in trying if I'm just an expendable asset?" Kuno shouted. "I'm not an XMV or a HEXA, I have no special remarks. Just a run of the mill ADX android made to operate artillery! I just rolled off the line and got thrown into a unit without a second thought. After all the battles we've been through, hasn't the sight of replacement units march out of a container ever made you sick?!"
Kuno clenched her fists as her voice began to crack, "And we're just supposed to accept being a robot with a gun made to be destroyed."
"Because that's extactly what we are," Garra said coldly. "It's the point of our existence. You wanna cry about it now? You're pathetic, a worthless heap of metal not even worth the ammunition that would be spent on you. If that's how you felt then you should've self destructed and let us have a replacement that'd be more useful."
Kuno raised her fist, ready to attack the other girl.
"That's enough." Bei's voice filled the air.
Kuno turned and stormed off, heading towards the ship to calm down.
"Garra. You know that we all have Meteorn cores, it's what made the 701st special. Telling her that she's just a robot with a gun is too much. We may have android bodies but we're Meteorn, that's why Yuren protected us." Bei's words were like daggers to the group, all of them had different feelings about Kuno's statement but Garra was too stubborn to admit she was right.
"What a big happy family you all are." Jytenreu's voice rang out from above.
"Didn't you leave? Why'd you come back?" Garra shouted.
"There was one of those pesky drones and I've been here since she started a shouting." She chuckled as she sat down on the roof. "I'm not going anywhere, the resonance density here is perfect for me to power up and wait. I'll be waiting here when the master returns."
"That's not even an excuse! Go bother someone else!" Garra growled as she grabbed her rifle and fired several shots at the Meteorn, who simply dodged each shot and quickly pinned Garra with a slam of her tail to the ground.
"What are you doing ha? If you wanna fight I'll have no problem turning you into ash. Master wants you alive but my patience has limits." The jaw tightened around Garra's torso, causing her to scream in agony.
"Jytenreu! Enough!" Yun shouted and ran over towards the other Meteorn, placing a hand on her tail.
The tail immediately switched from Garra to Yun, snapping onto the girl's chest as she cried out in agony, the jaw squeezing tightly around her body as it lifted into the air.
"You should know your place. You weaker, lesser Meteorn." Jytenreu hissed.
"Let her go!" Lina shouted as she stepped forward and grabbed the Meteorn's tail, yanking on it fruitlessly.
Eri stepped forward, releasing her energy into her arms and grabbing Jytenreu's jaw. "Release." She ordered with a strong tone.
"Stop!" Yuren's voice filled the air, Jytenreu immediately dropped Yun and then turned to look at the new arrival.
The XMV's looked over to see Yuren standing behind them.
"Do I have to babysit all of you?" Yuren sighed in exasperation. "Come on, can't I do anything alone without you all having a battle royale in the middle of nowhere?"
"Commander..." Lina quickly ran over to the boy.
He raised a hand up, signaling her to stop as he then turned his attention towards the Meteorn. "What's going on here?"
She lowered herself to her knees and held her head down, "Master..." She whispered softly.
Yuren walked up to her, his eyes glowing. "What were you doing? Explain."
Jytenreu looked up at him, "My temper got the best of me."
Yuren stood before her, then lifted her chin with his fingers and stared at her. "Jytenreu... I brought them with me for a reason. I know you have no reason to get along with these androids. But please, control yourself."
"I'm sorry master." The Meteorn lowered her head, "I'm sorry..." She repeated again.
"Stand up." Yuren ordered, the Meteorn standing back up.
He pat her head lightly, "It's alright now. Just remember they're still Meteorn at their core."
"But master..."
"Yes I know, their bodies are android but their cores are Meteorn." Yuren spoke, silencing her.
She stood back and bowed deeply to him, "Yes master."
He the turned to the androids, "There's something you all need to know. Jytenreu and her tail have separate thoughts and cooperate on a lot of things. You shouldn't approach her tail because she may not be able to control it. So don't go touching it unless she lets you. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." The group replied in unison.
"Now come on, I'll fill you all in on everything." Yuren motioned them to follow him, the group quickly following behind.
Once in the command center aboard the Eisendrache, Yuren began to tell them about the recent developments in the Empire. The war declaration and execution of the Grand Council, and finally the speech made by Yu in the Central District.
"You can't be serious." Garra spoke up, "What would she gain from killing off the Grand Council? I don't understand how that benefits her. The throne was already the most influential position in the Empire."
Lina cupped her hands together and rested her chin on top of it. "They were appointed by her father, there may have been some friction between them. She may be feeling some sort of anger towards them."
"Why would she kill all of them then? If she just wanted to get rid of them, she could've done it secretly without any of this." Yun spoke. "The fact that it was the whole council at the same time was... odd."
"Maybe your thinking too deeply." Estriv suggested, "There were two major parties vying for the power of the Grand Council which decided on everything in the Empire. Before they were appointed, the crown held absolute power and in a single move, Empress Yu reestablished the throne's supreme authority and crushed both parties, ending any political movement that could challenge her reign. And at the same time, turning the people's anger and fury towards supporters of those two parties, painting them as traitors."
"You seem to know quite a bit about it..." Yun remarked.
"I do. Before I was remodeled, I worked in the Administration Bureau for the Empire's Royal Court." Estriv explained.
"Whoa, so you're like a lawyer?" Kuno asked.
"No, not quite. Androids can't practice or represent anyone, they just manage and provide the required resources or carry out court orders and perform law enforcement. There's an entire department for that." Estriv answered flatly.
"Legal expert but not a lawyer? That's interesting..." Yun mused.
"We're getting sidetracked." Bei spoke, bringing the conversation back on track. "I have a question."
"What is it?" Yuren asked.
"Is there really nothing more we can do? We can't sit and do nothing, not after what just happened. Shouldn't we inform someone or try to get a message out?" Bei asked.
"That won't do anything. The Empire isn't the same place anymore. Yu has consolidated all of the military's power into her own hands, and turned attention away from Meteorn and back fully onto the Republic. All we can do is wait and see what her next moves are. Maybe if we're lucky, we won't need to fight back." Yuren answered, everyone's eyes falling on him as they listened.
"We can't just let this happen." Lina said.
Yuren turned to face her, "Let what happen? I know executing the Grand Council may not sit well with you but she is acting in line with the Empire's past leaders. If she wants to fully focus on the war with the Republic then she has every right to make that call."
"But they didn't do anything wrong!" Lina's voice rose. "Why does she hate them so much?"
"Think about this way," Estriv spoke up, "When the Grand Council was enstated, the authority of the crown was diminished. Thus individuals with opposing views took hold of the Empire's governance. With the authority granted to them by the former Emperor, they would make decisions in a manner that suited their goals. However overstepping her entirely was their critical mistake that allowed her to utilize all the military and police power at her disposal to remove them all. The Empress was able to claim she did so because it was to protect the citizens of the Empire from their ambitions."
"So basically they're to blame for their own execution? I still don't understand." Kuno frowned, her arms crossed as she listened.
Estriv's eyes narrowed, "To put it another way... the Empress was able to carry out the executions on the charge of treason is because of the long standing statutory law against subverting the crown which allows for capital punishment. They very thing that allowed it to happen was that the Grand Council made several decisions without the Empress knowing or approving anything."
"In other words, it was their own fault that they were executed. Yu acted in accordance to her position and the law of the land." Bei spoke, understanding the situation perfectly.
"You'd think they'd be careful about something like that..." Yun remarked.
"Maybe they thought she couldn't and would have to gain support from the other members of the council." Lina suggested.
"It may have just been their arrogance at work," Yuren commented. "There's no reason the crown would have to stand before a lesser authority and take orders from someone else. Even if the council was chosen by the former Emperor, it was her authority that'd ultimately determine its success or failure."
"Still... we shouldn't just stand by and let this happen. The 701st are Meteorn too, and we all have the right to a say in this." Lina said, her tone more determined than ever.
"We won't interfere with what has happened in the Empire." Yuren held up his hand as he spoke. "I want to focus on finding Jia's core."
"We can't just sit here." Lina said with a low growl.
"Yes we can. We don't have any obligation or duty to the Empire." Yuren's voice was stern and cold as he spoke.
"Yuren! We were one the Empire's best battalions!" Yun shouted.
"That's why I said we won't interfere." He repeated. "Why should we side with what the Grand Council has done? I for one think Yu was in the right."
"What?" Garra was taken aback by what Yuren had said. "We've been fighting to protect the Empire and now you think the Empress was in the right?"
"Yes, degrading Meteorn to just a resource and a material for war is the reason I took you all away from them. You aren't just weapons of war, you're sentient beings with lives and freedom of thought and action."
"You mean slaves, they were just machines used to fight and kill their own kind." Jytenreu scoffed. "Honorable unit my ass, damn tin cans. You were made to have a favorable opinion of the Empire."
Lina remained silent after those words were spoken, her eyes narrowing and looking down.
"Don't you dare talk about us like that. You're a Meteorn too. All your arrogance and conceit about being better than us doesn't change that fact." Yun shot back angrily, clenching her fists as she glared at the Meteorn.
"I'm a true Meteorn, that's the difference. You are effectively a fake until you get rid of that android body." Jytenreu sneered.
Yuren walked over to Jytenreu and placed his hand on her head, the Meteorn looked at him as he spoke. "Enough. Don't fight each other." He let out a sigh and walked back towards a log and sat down.
"Commander! How can you-" Yun began to speak, but was interrupted by Jytenreu who stepped between her and Yuren, tail swaying behind her.
"He's doing it this way to protect you. If you want to be disobedient, I will crush you." Her words were chilling and threatening.
The group stared at her for a moment, before Bei stepped forward.
"We all understand what he's doing." She said with a low tone, "And we're grateful, but we also know the difference between right and wrong."
"Right and wrong is subjective to which side the dice falls," Yuren started, "Meteorn or humanity. Which is right? Which is wrong? Neither are, the rules of nature dictates that te strongest rules over the weak. And If I did nothing... humanity would have been completely eradicated by Esotonia. Yun , Lina, please remember that these Meteorn such as Jytenreu, Avenonia, Esotonia and the other ones that are just Idling could destroy everything at will."
"Yes... sir..." Lina responded softly.
Yuren let out a sigh, he knew this wasn't going to be easy for them to suddenly accept.
"What are you all standing around for? At least go inside." Ester said from atop her drone. "You're all in the way of the pathway construction, move it!"
The androids all made their way back inside, while Jytenreu and Yuren remained outside for a bit.
"Master..."
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you immediately tell them that you were Meteorn? Wouldn't it have been easier for them to understand what you were doing? You didn't need to say the words." Jytenreu asked with a slight tilt of her head.
"Because I have a feeling that now wouldn't have been a good time to bring that up." Yuren replied.
"Why do you say that?"
Yuren's eyes turned to look at the stars overhead, "I know the feelings of the androids and how they feel about humanity. They want to do what's best for humanity, but the path that I've taken them down isn't going to be a pleasant one for them. There's no telling how far things will go, and it could lead us to a point where I'll have no choice but to reveal my true identity. And when the time comes, I'll tell them... but right now, while they are still trying to come to terms with their own identities, it would only add confusion and complicate things."
"I see." Jytenreu said with a nod.
Yuren looked back at her, "Even for me, this all still feels very unreal. It's hard to believe that everything I've ever known about myself is a lie. The fact that I'm not human... the fact that I'm apparently the master of all Meteorn... it's a lot to take in. There's still so much about me and the Meteorn that I don't understand. And the idea that there is so much power at my fingertips... it scary to think that I could easily end the world."
"But you wouldn't do it, you're not like that. You care too much about life to do something like that." Jytenreu spoke quietly.
"I don't know about that..." Yuren let out a soft sigh. "There are moments where I can't even control my own body, as if I'm a mere observer watching things happen from inside a dream. When I encountered Amalia... that... wasn't me..."
"I'm not sure what you mean." Jytenreu looked confused.
"Neither do I..." Yuren answered quietly.