Over the next couple of days, the others had undergone the Animus surgery. Considering the changes to their bodies, they took a shorter time recovering than most. We'd been taking the downtime to prepare for our siege of Necron Arcadia. Soldiers would be hurrying down the halls of the Asterism to their stations and non-combatants would begin preparing for eventual combat.

Every time I'd pass by someone I'd been saluted, whether it was an old classmate or a new face. The only reason I'd been roaming the halls so early in the morning was so I could calm my nerves. Over the last few days, I did nothing but plan for our assault and met with different officers over logistics and supplies. I made sure to go over everything, even if it meant looking over certain supply manifests a dozen times or checking on the crew. My friends were no different.

Andrew and Clarke spent their time in their Eidolons running simulations on combat. From what I heard Andrew was the better of the two. His craft, Avalon was specifically designed for aerial and spacial combat. Clarke wasn't a pushover in his Doss, a heavily armored defensive unit focused more on support rather than offense.

The hardest at work of all of us had been Talia. Passing by some of the engineering crew I heard them complaining about the serious workload that the Chief had been putting them through. Poor guys, if only she knew what the pilots would be in for.

Today was the third day, the day we'd all be laying siege to Necron Arcadia. There was a strong possibility that I'd be face-to-face again with Lucian. My thoughts were scattered about trying to find something to feel about the situation. Lucian's attack nearly crippled me and the Arcadians under his command tossed me about like a cat with its toy. I tried to be optimistic, repeating to myself, "not this time..." "I'll be ready this time..." Like one of the mantras Clarke talked about.

Then there was the fact that I'd be endangering another friend in the line of fire. Though Talia hadn't been hurt in the Albion attack so my worries were just that. But this time would be different. The only thing I had with me was optimism at this point. Lucian could've had a whole army behind those gates. I honestly wished I could be at two places at once. But the clock was ticking and the time for regrets had long passed.

The Asterism was set on the course to Neo Arcadia's second moon Nyx. Once we reached the first drop point, the infiltration team would be sent out first. I'd already changed into a red pilot's suit which was somewhat different than one for a Revenant. There was padded armor protecting my knees, elbows, and chest. Plus I had a pistol holstered in case of direct combat. As much as I liked my new clothes, they couldn't stop bullets.

I'd been on my way to the Bridge to meet up with Alice and Minerva who would be leading the siege. As the door opened I found that the sense of urgency was worse here than everywhere else I'd been on the ship today.

I found Minerva seated in the Commander's chair while Alice stood next to her with a datapad in her hand. Alice turned to see that I'd entered the bridge and she smiled.

"Commander on Deck!"

The other personnel and Minerva rose from their seats and saluted me. As I returned their salute they'd all return to their duties.

"It's a good thing you're here Soran. Minerva and I have some things to go over with you. That is if you have the time."

"I've got time. Go ahead."

Showing me the datapad it showed a map of the field outside of the prison. There were several hills overlooking the entrance along with several red triangles just outside.

"It appears the enemy has control of the Prison's outward defenses. Several sentry turrets are along the walls with some Ghosts also protecting the gate. Our forces have superior numbers but that's negated by how boxed in the field is. Worse, we'll take some losses if we go in with ground forces."

Some of the turrets had anti-air capabilities as well which complicated the situation even further. But then an idea came to me.

"Why not use some of the ship's artillery? Disorienting them first with a bombardment then launching an aerial assault."

"That'd be since if we weren't trying to cripple the prison too much," said Minerva. "We don't know the situation inside enough to just go in guns blazing."

That was true. If we did that then we'd just be breaking hundreds of prisoners out. Even if they weren't already free. Giving them more freedom would create more problems.

"The ship is equipped with EMP mines," said Alice. "The electronics of the defense systems can be disabled temporarily and easily repaired."

"Yeah but then there's the fact there's probably an Ether barrier protecting the outside. It would protect them from an attack like that."

It was a frustrating situation to deal with. The Prison's defenses had been our enemy's biggest advantage and even though there was an infiltration team we couldn't risk being detected too early.

"What about attacking directly from above?"

We all turned to the left where the voice came from. It's been Satomi, she hadn't made a noise when she came in. Plus there was her suggestion. It was peculiar yet something none of us has considered. Alice looked at the datapad examining the strength of the barrier of the Prison. Turning the pad to all of us it showed the dome shield's energy values. The value above the prison was the lowest of them all.

"Vita Mali! That might work," Minerva exclaimed. "Dropping some ordinance on top of their arrogant heads will allow us to surprise them effectively."

'That way we can send our forces in while protecting them from fire from the ground," said Alice.

"I'll allow it. Just ensure aerial forces and dropships know to stay shielded as they descend."

This way the Asterism wouldn't take too much fire, nor would the Prison's defense systems be compromised.

"Good work Satomi. I think you may have saved our skin."

Satomi pushed her glasses up to her face before letting out a sheepish "No problem."

She hurried over to her station as fast as she could. She'd been trying to walk now rather than use her chair.

Since we'd formulated our plan of attack there was no reason to stay on the bridge. Letting Alice and Minerva work out the details I left the bridge and headed straight for the hangar where my machine had been kept. Before I'd gotten there I passed by two engineers who'd seemingly come from the hangar themselves. One was a Fafnar who'd been about Andrew's height while the other was an Optima. They hadn't noticed me approaching.

"Geez, Chief Vitalis is such a slave driver. I can't believe she's having us overhaul that monster," said the Fafnar.

"Agreed. However, Xenthos Commander's machine must be combat-ready. This is the first time such a requisition has been attempted."

"What requisition?" I interrupted

The two froze as they heard my voice then turned and saluted me.

"Sorry Commander Xenthos," the Fafnar nearly yelped. "We didn't see you there."

"It's alright... Just tell me what's up."

"Sorry Xenthos Commander, we've been ordered to remain silent on the matter," said the Optima. "Would you like to inquire about another subject?"

They did know I could've just ordered them to tell me. But considering how scared the Fafnar looked, I bet Talia threatened them with something concerning

"No, that'll be all. You might wanna catch your break as soon as you can. That Talia can be a bit devious when she feels slighted."

I think I frightened the Fafnar a little too much as he took his friend by his shoulders and pushed him along.

"Thank you, sir. Sorry, but we have to go."

I seriously need to talk to Talia about how intense she could be when she's working. Something for another time. Moving along to the hangar the people in it had the same sense of energy as everyone on the bridge. Pilots were boarding their craft along with mechanics with datapads and terminals everywhere. I'd nearly slipped not paying attention to the fact I'd entered a zero-g zone. It was a little easier to work on Ghosts in zero-g and easier to board them when the time came, though I could easily do without the spinning.

Using the walls to push myself toward the Eidolon bay I'd float through the doors as they opened. Inside I found Talia sitting on the head of my machine with Seraph leisurely floating beside her.

"Yo! Are we ready to go?" I called out to them.

Seraph waved though she shook her head. She pointed to Talia who'd been vigorously working on her terminal. "You might want to snap her out of it my Lord. She's been possessed by some sort of demon trying to tune your machine."

Ah, the "workaholic mode," something easy to fix. Landing on the platform above the hangar I planted both feet on the surface and pushed off, springing myself until I was barreling toward Talia with a kick.

"Go, Raiser Falcon Kick!"

Talia's head shot up and as she saw me coming toward her she let go of her terminal for a moment and held up her hands. Moving slightly to the left she caught my ankle, spinning me around until she let go flinging me back in the direction I came from. Using my prosthetic hand I managed to stop myself from colliding with the metal.

"The Falcon Kick? You've been watching Go Raiser?" she asked, seeming to snap from her stupor.

"In my breaks from work, but yeah. But nice counter."

"Only the Banisher Toss can counter the Falcon kick. I guess ya haven't caught up on everything."

"Nah, just season 3. Don't even know who banisher is. Thanks, ya spoiler."

She shrugged and then closed her terminal. "Your chariot awaits. I'm finished with the salvage and resetting of Bahamut's old data. It's a fresh Eidolon now with no name."

Floating down to the platform that rested in front of the machine the armor began to open up revealing the entrance to the cockpit. The door raised open and beyond it, there was a single seat. There was certainly more space inside but there wasn't too much difference aside from the missing control yokes.

"Go on, take a seat. Once you get hooked in I wouldn't move that prosthetic of yours."

Mountain concerns aside, I sat down on the seat and put on my helmet. Slotting my boots into the pedals, I sat back while the Animus system did its thing. Once I felt the connection start, the sea of data rushed into my mind. No headaches but I didn't expect to feel a tickle in my brain. The console rose from the floor with one control yoke for my right hand and a slot on the left.

"Eidolon Animus connection established," stated my A.I. "Eidolon NAE-000 now registering U.A.D. ID to Pilot registry... Registering Pilot complete... "Eidolon NAE-000 now requires designation to continue start-up."

I'd been thinking of a name for this suit. Everyone else thought of impressive names for theirs. Meanwhile, I was the one who couldn't think of anything. I looked at my hand seeing the Marker of The Fool. Aside from the two flames, there was no telling what I could do with my power. It had the potential of great destruction and it could make whatever I wanted. So this eidolon which was meant to be my outer shell needed a name that matched that sentiment. Then it hit me like a lightning bolt.

"Attention crew of the Asterism," Minerva's voice played over the intercom. "We will be reaching the first target point in ten minutes. Infiltration team, please make your preparations post-haste."

"Tet Bara...," Talia swore. "I wished we had a little more time to prepare. This old girl isn't at a hundred percent yet.

"Well, this mission was dropped on us. We just need to work with what we can."

Grabbing my prosthetic hand, Talia held it to the slot. My metallic fingers moved beyond my control slotting into the apparatus completely. I lost total control over my prosthetic and nearly panicked until I saw Talia shake her head.

"If you don't want to tear a hole in the ship's hull, I suggest you don't think about moving that arm." She climbed down and out of the cockpit before the doors began to shut completely. The inner lights turned on as the machine came to life.

"Begin retinal projection."

The monitors all around the cockpit flickered and now created a view of everything the machine could see.

"Yo Andrew... Clarke... It's time for the first team to deploy!"

The armor of the Eidolon to the left of mine popped open and Andrew crawled out of it. "Ugh finally, the big lug wouldn't let up. He's worse than the rabbit."

"My apologies," Clarke said over the com. "I just wanted to get in the most training possible."

"Well, time to put it to use big guy. Godspeed to you both."

The platform in front of my eidolon began to swing away from its chest no longer blocking the way. The hangar doors opened and Alice's small figure emerged from them, she wearing a pilot suit like mine. As she floated on toward Jeanne, the platform my eidolon stood on began to move forward. Moving through the doors I'd turn 90 degrees to the right and continue forward passing by the other Ghosts in the area.

Finally reaching the Asterism's catapult deck I'd been prepping my machine's thrusters for launch. This was going to be the first sortie of Nova Astra, our first real mission. I couldn't tell whether my heart or whatever I had was pounding so hard from fear or excitement. So in a weird way to calm myself, I decided to steal a bit from Mobile Weapon Chungdai.

"Commander Xenthos, you are clear to launch when ready." said a member of flight control.

"Right... Soran Xenthos... Launching in... Eidolon NAE-000... Ragnarok...