Chapter CCCLXXIII: The Big Plan ~Lich

“Well, Richter's here, and he has a broken starship,” Vector reported. “He was rounding up Yoshies, and I dunno how many he has, but I'm sure he has them doing something.”

Lich folded his arms across his chest, one arm bent to his chin, his foot tapping in thought. “I'm sure it's gotta do with rebuilding it.”

“Given their level of advancement, i.e. none, I'm sure he doesn't have them welding or programming flight computers…”

“Mining?” Lich suggested.

“Takes a lot of metal to fix one of those things. And you gotta mine metal, so that's what I'm thinking too.”

“Well...he's not going to be going anywhere, and neither am I,” Vector sighed. “Merlin got nailed back at Yoshin, and I had to eject.”

“It’s no wonder Recugrian banished the tribes here,” Lich said. “This place is a trap.”

There was a moment’s silence as the two of them thought.

“I hate myself for even thinking of this, but…say we were to let Richter finish his ship,” Vector proposed. “We could hijack it, and get off the planet.”

Lich’s eyes brightened for a moment. It seemed to be an excellent plan on the surface, but as he pursued the thought further, problems emerged from the shadows. “That will take a while, if you say these things are as big as they are…you can only get and refine so much metal at one time.”

“All he’d have to do is make the front airtight,” Vector told him.

Lich sighed. “What makes it worse is that I have to present myself at my barracks on Fa'Diel within a few days, otherwise my credibility will be shredded and I will be branded a criminal. Pandora’s declared war on Kakkara, and, because I'm a conscript, I've got to be there, even if I am the Guardian of the Cyan Arc.”

“Oh…” Vector said, his eyes widening briefly. “I don’t want you accused of desertion. In the Navy, it’s punishable by death. We gotta get you to Fa'Diel.”

“I've got things to settle here first, though,” Lich replied. “Then, I'm going to warp there.”

“Warp?” Vector asked incredulously, knowing Lich’s sickness. “You'll turn inside out if you make a warp that big!”

“I think there's a way using the Shadow Dimension...or something. Kuroi knows all about it.”

Vector cocked his head. “Who’s Kuroi?”

“She was that Yoshette sitting next to Sapphire.”

“Oh,” Vector answered. Quickly, he added, “Is she single?”

Lich chuckled. “You could ask her, but I think she’s fierce.”

“I dunno what you mean by that, but I don't like how it sounds,” Vector frowned. “B'sides, I tried dating someone from this time…didn't work.”

Lich laughed, and then sighed once he had finished as Vector smirked and took a seat on the rock again. “I would love to come with you, but my place is here until I have to go to Fa'Diel. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want to rescue him, but, my trappings here are exactly that. Trappings. Besides, I don’t think it’s physically possible.” He would be close to killing me right now if he knew of this excuse, Lich thought, especially after what he said about the Cyan Arc…

“And why not?” Vector cut in as Lich groaned mentally.

“You can’t carry two people on your back, can you?”

“No. But I can pull two people on a rope.”

Lich swallowed, trying to come up with another reasonable excuse. “Besides, you know how I am about fast speeds.”

“Oh, yeah. Who else is here besides you, Saph, and Sixty’?”

“Kuroi, some flying human, Naaro, some weird professor dude, T-“ Lich faked a cough. “Pardon me.”

The more people who knew about Tehx’s presence, the more trouble that could be attracted his way, and onto the A’gul people. Vector could be relatively loose with his tongue. When he left G’lirer, Lich would have to take Multehx with him; Lich cursed mentally at the thought, but if he had to forsake his pride and carry Tehx on his back, he would.

“T–?” Vector sounded.

“I was just clearing my throat,” Lich lied.

“Well, why don’t you just take the Spectrum to rescue Ark? Looks like everyone’s here.”

Lich sighed. “No-one knows where it is. What did Markior say – oh yeah, he’s here too, somewhere…anyway, he said that the space-time continuum had some sort of hiccup where we were…Caelum, I think. So, there’s been no sign of the train or C.R. over the past few days since it happened…and no sign of Tehx, either.”

Lich cringed mentally. He hated a blatant lie like that, especially when it just came out seemingly of its own will. What was going to stop Vector from peering into his room?

“Might be why the Pentastar spent a week in hyperspace, going from Yoshin to here…hey! I just figured something out!”

Vector beamed as Lich asked, “What?”

“Ark is on the other side of the planet, within about, oh, I’d say twelve kilometres of the Pentastar.”

Lich flinched and cringed. “Elementals, that’s close…” What was going to stop Richter from kidnapping Ark? He had already tried it on Fa’Diel. Then again, if Ark was kidnapped from another kidnapper…being with Richter would definitely be worse than any robot.

“Well, the Pentastar has a lot of fighters, among other craft. Craft that might have survived the crash.”

Lich nodded as realisation dawned. “Ah. You’d fly him back, right?”

“Yeah, if we could find him.”

“You found him before.”

“Well,” Vector explained, shrugging his shoulders, “I’ve been gone a while, and he’s on a landmass bigger than the Archipelago and Y’oster’s Isle combined.”

“But you’re quick,” Lich reasoned. “I mean, you found me.”

“I found you on accident. I’m a lucky guy.”

“Well,” Lich smiled, clapping a hand on Vec’s shoulder, “if you’re a lucky guy, you’ll find him again, right?”

Vector shrugged, and Lich took his hand away. “Maybe. But there’s goons all over it looking for me.”

“You know, you are faster than them. But, still, I’d take someone with you…but who?”

Lich began to pace up and down the room, muttering beneath his breath as he worked things out. “Sixtyfourhundred, Sapphire, and Kuroi appear to be a travelling group, separating them would not be a good thing, especially my cousin and his girlfriend…”

“I wanna eat first,” Vector complained. “I haven’t eaten in two days.”

Lich was lost in thought. “I could ask Tehx, I’d trust him with my life, but Ark doesn’t know him, and, besides, I’d need to wake him up somehow…there’s Omega, but he’s bound to have taken a pretty nasty hit and be knocked out…the professor bloke doesn’t seem like a fighter…”

“Hey, Vector, catch,” Naaro’s voice came from the door.

Lich, his back to the door, lifted his head and turned around. “Ah hah!”

He saw Naaro holding his katana in one hand, and a half-eaten fruit in the other. It looked quite strange, having a pink flesh-like skin, and blue pulp the same colour as the paint – obviously where the pigment came from. Bits of it were around Naaro’s mouth where he hadn’t cleaned it. Lich’s eyes twinkled. There was the second person for this mission.

Vector was now holding one in his hands. He scrutinised it, before he raised it to his mouth.

“Make sure you–” Naaro started, but Vector had already bitten into it. He slumped and finished, “–take the skin off.”

Vector spat the half-chewed rind onto the floor, dropped the fruit into his lap and hastily ran his hands along his tongue. He gulped it back in, made a face of abject disgust and exclaimed, “This is nasty! What is it? A crapfruit?”

“No, just crap fruit skin,” Naaro answered. “I found that out the same way you did.”

Lich chuckled as he imagined Naaro doing the same.

“Next time, throw me a hamburger or some twinkies?” Vector groaned.

“In case you haven’t noticed, they’re in short supply here,” Naaro frowned at him. “The blue bit’s good. It’s sweet.”

Vector began to peel off the pink skin to form a bowl for the pulp. “I hadn’t noticed. I’ve been traipsing around looking for Lich.”

Naaro looked towards the technicoloured Yoshi.

“Naar, you’re just the person I needed to see,” Lich told him. “Vec’s just told me that Ark’s on the other side of the planet. Unfortunately, so’s an evil space fleet admiral and Yoshi slave master called Richter.”

“Richter,” Naaro said, running the name through his memory, “wasn’t he the guy who tried to destroy Yoshin?”

“Probably one of his sins,” Lich answered.

“Yeah,” Vector said, agreeing, his lips as blue as his topskin, half of the fruit already eaten ravenously. “Yoshin is his prize. Remember what all I told you of the Tairez Empire, a while back?”

“Yes…” Naaro replied, awaiting Vector’s answer.

Lich guessed they had a conversation while he was asleep, or while he was on Fa’Diel getting his briefing about the Jewels.

“For them, Yoshin is prime real estate.”

“Mmhm,” Naaro said as he understood. “And coming back in time to take it over…”

Lich nodded.

“Anyway, the Pentastar, his ship, is broken,” Vector continued, taking another bite of the soft fruit. “Actually,” he slurped, “more than broken; about half a kilometre of its length is buried.”

“And Ark’s about twelve kilometres from it,” Naaro added. “I heard a little of your conversation. There’s little to do here aside from worry about Rynn and Kai. My apologies.”

Lich looked to Vector nervously, then back to Naaro. The Karmali did not seem to make any signs of hearing Vector’s confession. “So you know I have to get back to Fa’Diel?”

“Yes,” Naaro answered. “Else you’re dishonoured, disgraced, and depending on Fa'Dieli desertion punishments, possibly disemboweled.”

“Not by the military, unfortunately,” Lich sighed quietly, rolling his eyes. He returned his gaze to his maroon friend. “Would you go in my stead, Naaro?”

The Karmali gave it a moment’s thought, and then nodded. “Yes. It would help to get my mind off things, I suppose.”

“What, go to Fa’Diel for you?” Vector asked.

“No, the Pentastar,” Lich answered.

“Oh.”

“I thought were stealing a shuttle,” Naaro added.

Vector turned to Naaro and smiled. “You’re my kind of guy.”

Naaro nodded to Vector.

“So,” Lich spoke, closing his eyes momentarily and retrieving a large, yet thin book from his Storage with Pandoran writing on the cover, “this is the plan I…well, I’m sort of concocting as I go along here.”

He walked over to the table, thumbed through the pages of the book and opened it at a double page, showing a physical map of Fa’Diel. He put the book down on it with a thunk and stepped back to allow the others to see.

“You two go and find Ark,” Lich explained. “Then, take him to the Pentastar and steal some sort of craft. Vec, fly it to Fa’Diel. When you get there, do not – I repeat, do not – take it anywhere near a town or city, or the desert.”

“Aww…” Vector spoke, disappointed.

“What about you?” Naaro asked. “That doesn’t exactly solve your conscription problems.”

“He’s going to warp there,” Vector explained before Lich could. “I don’t want him to.”

Lich nodded to Vector. “It’s the only way I’m going to definitely make it on time. I don’t know how long we’d take to find my brother, otherwise. ‘Sacrifices must be taken for the sake of the Pandoran Army’ – how right they are. Now, take a look at this, especially you, Vec, since you’re flying the machine. The best place to land would be here,” Lich pointed and tapped his forefinger on the page. “The Enchanted Forest. Kippo’s nearby, here.” Lich pointed again.

“Kippo’s a town, right? So we can’t fly in there?” Vector asked.

“That’s right. But not many people go in the Enchanted Forest, you see. Now, do not go here,” Lich pointed at the desert, “or else the Kakkarans will think you’re a secret Pandoran or Tasnican weapon; do not go near this island and cape,” Lich pointed at Tasnica, “or else the Tasnicans will think you’re a secret Kakkaran weapon, and do not go in this region here,” Lich moved his finger around Pandora, “or the Pandorans will think the same – especially the Pandorans.”

“Does everyone on this mad planet suspect everyone else?” Naaro groaned.

“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” Lich answered. “Vec, I think it might be a good idea actually that you don’t go anywhere but this route here,” Lich said, drawing a line with his finger. “Enter the atmosphere over the ocean around here, and come in to land over these mountains.”

Vector nodded in understanding.

“If we're going to be trekking cross-country and avoiding civilization as a general rule...where are we supposed to go?” Naaro asked. “I am definitely not familiar with the Fa'Dieli landscape, and I wouldn't say that Vector is either. Does Ark have one of these maps?”

“I don’t know,” Lich replied. “He may. But just in case, take the atlas with you.”

“You guys got radar, and junk there?” Vector asked.

“Sort of. Most of it’s attuned by Mana to Cannon Travel. Otherwise, not really, since everything’s done through Presence detection on the Mana Field.”

Vector nodded. “Well, we’re flying into a warzone…Fa’Diel got any aircraft?”

Lich shook his head.

“So, if they can’t see us, maybe we should gank one of Richie’s Auroras. Three people can wedge into one; not too comfortable, but they can cloak.”

“Even with a cloak, you still should not go near any towns,” Lich said. “They will detect your Presence on the Mana Field, Naaro, and they will detect Ark’s, and the Spear’s. I know it’s complicated magic stuff, Vec, but just trust me on this one. Anyway…do we have the arrival sorted out?”

Vector and Naaro nodded.

“Okay. Once you arrive, get Ark to take you to Kippo, to the inn. He knows the way, as long as you can get to some path in the forest. I suggest you travel by night, because not many people do. He should still have the inn key, unless he’s lost it. When you’re out of the woods and in the open, Ark should be able to help you – mention the word ‘Veil’ to him. If you travel by day, you’ll probably run into trouble.”

“Trouble?” Naaro asked.

“The Pandoran media: the most voracious group of creatures you can think of,” Lich cringed.

Vector traced his finger around the map.

Naaro cocked his head. “What should we do if we run into these media demons?”

“Run,” Lich answered. “The other way. Very fast.”

“Running tends to make it rather obvious that one doesn’t want to be found,” Naaro said.

“Haha,” Vector chimed, standing upright. “Running…that’d give them a story.”

“Hmm…yes, I see your point,” Lich replied.

“Yes, there’s that too,” Naaro nodded. “What about eliminating them?”

“No killing of innocents,” Vector snapped quietly.

Lich gave Vector a knowing nod.

“Despicable creatures that would disembowel a great leader of their planet are innocents?” Naaro asked, incredulously.

“Er, Naar, this is the media,” Lich explained. “Their weapons are the bulletin and the newspaper, their techniques are gossip and accusation, and their battlefield is the airwaves and the printing press.”

“This is no media I’ve heard of, friend,” Naaro replied. “On Yoshin, they’re very quiet and calm.”

“It’s like the Paparazzi, except more story-starved, it seems,” Vector concluded.

“Papa-razzi?” Naaro and Lich toned together.

“A media group on Earth.”

Lich nodded as he understood. “What the Pandoran media do is ask you lots of probing questions, then display their thoughts and conclusions to the entire planet.”

“Well, if we get discovered, my blaster has a stun setting,” Vector said.

“But can it shoot twenty people at once?” Lich replied.

“I’m one hell of a fast shot, though.”

“It’s not a good idea at all. Don’t try it.”

“There is a phrase I've used when dealing with some of the Yoshinian media: ‘No comment’,” Naaro told them.

“Ah, yes,” Lich answered, “but what they will do is jump to conclusions and say ‘Ah, he's hiding something; therefore, he is likely to be guilty of it’.”

“Gah,” Naaro groaned. “What do you suppose they would say if I assumed my Beast Form and scared them off with threatening roars? Could it not be written off as some new kind of monster roaming the countryside?”

“It'd be written off as a Kakkaran weapon,” Lich said, sourly.

Naaro groaned again.

“If we get discovered by the media, I'll just be myself,” Vector spoke. “They'll get bored of me saying over and over how great I am.”

Lich rolled his eyes. “They’ll introduce you as incredibly egotistical, and everyone will know its size – they’ll inflate it, of course.”

“Gah! Isn’t there some way around these bastards?!” Naaro exclaimed.

“Yes, avoid them,” Lich replied. “Because, once they’ve seen you, well, you’re gone. Ark does not have the ability to deal with the media – you must protect him from them. So, this has to be a covert operation. You’ll be safe once you’re in the inn, because the only thing they do respect is that they’re not allowed to be caught trespassing by the authorities, and with many eyes in an inn, that’s an impossibility. So, remember, over the mountains, into the forest, and travel by night to avoid the media.”

“Okay,” Vector nodded. “Say…Lich, would you mind if we returned a day late?”

“Er, how come?” Lich asked.

“I wanna get a couple of things on Yoshin, on the way,” he grinned. “A cold drink, a hot Yoshette…”

Naaro frowned.

“What?”

“Just the mention of a female, that’s all,” Naaro stated.

Lich smiled. “I’ll give you a day, provided that the search for Ark takes no more than a week.”

Vector glared at Lich. “Dyluck Yoshi, who am I?”

Lich opened his mouth, closed it, and raised a finger. “Point taken.” He closed the atlas and gave it to Vector. “Now, are you two sorted and ready to go?”

“No. All I’ve eaten is this fruit,” Vector said, raising the remains of it, a blue smear from cheek to cheek. “I’m still starving.”

“Right, I’ll sort something out. You got anything to sort out, Naar?”

“Hmm…” Naaro answered, looking down at the katana. “Lich, where is Kuza? Is he back in the village?”

“I haven’t seen him…” Lich replied.

“Is there any kind of infirmary around here?”

“Uh…yes. Ung’grl told me of a hut up the other end of the village.”

“Alright. I left him alone when I heard the fight here in the village. I'm gonna go see if he's alright.”

“I’m gonna crash, take a couple hour nap,” Vector stated. “Care to get me a few things?”

“Sure,” Lich nodded.

“Okay. A backpack, or some other kind of rucksack, to hold the atlas, and a few day's rations of food. Maybe a tent, ‘cos if we have to camp out in this forest, I’d like some shelter.”

“Alright. I'll see to it. Should be easy to rummage up. You get some rest. There’s some beds around the corner there. Before I see you two off, I have to go and find Hl’garng, my chief warrior. He’s coming with me to Fa’Diel. So, I’ll see you when I get back, shouldn’t take too long.”

“Okay,” Vector said as sat down on the rock and leant back, closing his eyes.

Lich and Naaro left the hut. The Karmali headed towards the hut at the other end of the village while Lich stayed and called for Ung’grl.

“I am glad to see that thou hath comest out, my lord,” he told him as he approached. “The A'gul's spirits shall be lifted.”

“My business is not yet finished, Ung’grl,” Lich told him. “I must leave here when it is.”

“My lord?”

“The Prophecy must be fulfilled as soon as possible. I will leave G'lirer with Hl'garng, to go to the other world as spoken by Aggli. Consider this to be a call from greater powers than me.”

“But, my lord, thy people do not know thee well enough as of yet.”

“They know you, though,” Lich replied. “Take care of the village while I am gone.”

Ung’grl sighed forlornly. “When thou must go, thou must proclaim it to the A’gul.”

“I will. First, I must find Hl’garng.”

“Ul’gah told me that he hath headed north, towards the hills. Follow the stream until thou approachest the grove of trees, then thou shouldst walk towards the hills from there.”

“Thank you. I shall go and find him. Make sure you go and see the Guest, as he needs to retrieve some things from the storehouse.”

With a nod from Ung’grl, Lich turned and left the village, taking Ung’grl’s path.

Naaro entered the hut. Most of the crude beds were taken by Yoshies caught in the crossfire of the battles with the demons. Kuza was easy to find, with his sheared-off wing slung across a rafter above his bed. Naaro walked over to him and nudged him, seeing the other katana lying nearby.

“Nnh…what…?” Kuza groaned as he woke up.

“Kuza, it’s me. Naaro.”

“Oh…hey,” Kuza yawned, keeping his voice quiet.

Naaro took a moment to study Kuza – what appeared to be fronds from a palm-like tree wrapped around his wounds like bandages. “Looks like you survived, even if it was barely. What about Dimentia?”

“Got him,” Kuza replied, wincing as he got himself into a more alert position on the bed.

Naaro looked at his katana, then the one beside Kuza. “I’ve got something to ask of you.”

“What’s that…?”

“I need you to stay with Lich...I feel that if the Dark Lich kills Rynn and Kai, it'll be Lich he goes after.”

Kuza blinked. “Okay…”

Naaro withdrew a small reed flute from his satchel at his waist and placed it in Kuza’s hand. “If Rynn, Kai, or the Dark Lich show up, play that.” He held up his amulet. “My amulet here will glow if that flute is played. Think you can handle that?”

Kuza nodded very slightly in his pained state, but it was enough for Naaro to see it.

“Alright, thanks.” Naaro smiled.

“Guest,” Ung’grl spoke quietly from the door.

Naaro turned to see Ung’grl.

“The Lord of the A’gul hath instructed me to take thee to the storehouse. If thou wouldst come with me, please.”

Naaro nodded to Kuza and left with Ung’grl.