Returning to Sector Seven HQ

--------------> (From "Sector 7 Arrives")

Lambda's teleportation device brought Noel back to the HQ, with the two field operatives. Hearing Kageo, she immediately suggested: "Perhaps we should hold him in the Professor's personal lab...? She knows better than us how he should be dealt with. But first, we have to get him rid of these gauntlets."

Iron Tager's huge red silhouette appeared before the three agents. "I agree with such a statement. For now, I will take care of this old cyborg. We have new orders from Kokonoe: our mission is to spy on the NOL and figure out anything new they should come with. But this mission has no priority about your life or your capture. If you ever feel like you're taking too much risk, go back to base. That's it for the orders. Now let me that cyborg's body, and proceed as soon as you're ready."

A chance to show his skills of the information hunt? He would not fail! Kageo gripped Nihongo tightly and drew his partner/project brother into hand. The spear had been crafted solely to serve as a means of a 'bio-link weapon', it surprised him more and more how this extension of himself felt at time. Resonating with his will and action, though now with a new mission given by order; he would leave immediately.

"Thank you Tager-san, I shall head off immediately! Though I would ask Noel-san or if Lambda-san would you like to accompany me?" the offer simply stood in point that numbers were to be safer in general than alone, the modified kaka knew that Noel had more to fear of capture and he more likely to his own destruction, still there were those twisted in N.O.L. who wouldn't mind torturing someone for information and so, he took the thought he figured best to avoid it: to leave with a partner if possible.

While Tager would be busy with their captive, this now left himself, Lambda, and Noel open to a mission option. Either they went separately, took a break, or whatever came ahead it would be of a good move either way.

Noel was a bit worried at their new mission. "Spying on the NOL? On Hazama? Seeing what happened last time I encountered him, I'd rather stay here at the moment." Looking really intimidated, she replied after a little moment: "Hum... Sorry Kageo, But I'm not going to get out of here now. I'm targeted for assassination by the NOL, and nobody knows what would happen if I bumped into... Hazama." Her shivering before the mention of her former superior obviously showed her bad feeling about this.

That name that he'd heard only a few times, giving her a light nod, he could easily understand the hesitation. That man and Relius Clover were two that Kageo had felt very uneasy about, just the mention of the alchemist made him quiver. He had seen that man...perhaps twice in his lifetime while he was growing up under controlled conditions in the early beginnings of his life. Having such a fear in mind was certainly something he could understand, but he would have to tough it out. He decided to wait and see if Lambda-11 was able to go, though he knew that she had been still recovering from the secondary battle with the other Murakumo unit on site.

"Understood Noel-san, take it easy while here. I shall see whether or not Lambda-san wishes to go, otherwise I shall head out to check on things and see what I can find." it was a pretty simple plan either way, with or without a partner he'd still go out to try and find some information; if but to prove himself.

Lambda turned to identify that this giant being was none other than her savior back in Ibukido, Iron Tager. If it wasn't for him she would probably be a decomposed mess back in the destroyed lab. "Target identified as TR-008 Unit Iron Tager...Ally Status identified...receiving new orders....Orders received....Accompanying Sector Seven operative Kageo-Kaka for mission." As Tager left her voice became emotional and not the auto tone voice.

"Damn that Kokonoe if she knew I would have a memory why did she make sure I still talked like a damn zombie?.....Anyway are we ready to go Kageo? I should be able to teleport to the NOL again but last time my coordinates were a bit off so we might end up in the Gates of the NOL if that's alright with you." Lambda's wings circled her like a curtain and surrounded Kageo as well, preparing for a spacial transportation as she looked at Noel.

"Mu- I mean Noel, since you won't be joining us why don't you follow Tager? You could possibly help him and Kokonoe interrogate that assailant instead of just ending up cleaning up the place."

Kageo nodded as he felt the presence of Lambda's wings around them, this leaving the kaka feeling safe with Lambda's presence, he gave her a solid nod as this action was quite fine with him. "This works well for me Lambda-san, let us be on our way! We shall claim something vital and return it to the Professor." it was his careful with, he would guard her just as much as she would look after him. He felt that kinship and the desire to see her doing well.

After what they'd come across up to this point in damage, even with downtime to repair, while Kageo stored more seithr in his reserves and had recovered from his efforts; he couldn't help but worry about things now. This would not end well if they faced certain kind of opposition, of course there was no fact that they would run into trouble, but he felt that it was best to consider, somehow in that light it was an undeniable thing; he could understand that almost entirely. "We shall succeed, that much I do know."

Noel decided she wouldn't go, so she just watched Lambda and Kageo leave the room. She wasn't completely at ease, she didn't go to attack the NOL, but she had broke the rules by leaving with no permission. And even if Tager and everybody else was fine with it, it didn't stop her feeling bad. And she got silently back to her boring activity of the moment: cleaning...

---> Litchi´s Clinic

Without her coat, tired and still sore from changeing Tron´s parts around, Makoto arrived back in the base, the dirty labcoat she took from Litchi was still in her arm, only to be thrown into the laundry as soon as possible.
Sighing and going through the hallways of the laboratory to go find Kokonoe, she almost stepped on something cute. Something she knew.

"Noel?" She asked, retracting her leg from where it was about to step down. "What on earth are you doing on the ground like that?"
It slipped Makoto´s mind that if someone was scrubbing the floors, they were rarely standing whilest doing so. But that was something so easily overlooked...

Noel heard some noise in the corridors, but she didn't pay attention, until she felt a presence which quickly became close. Like a mere centimeter away from her. It was Makoto, once again not paying attention at what could be in her way. Noel's eyes were instantly filled with happiness as she looked at Makoto: it was the first time she actually saw her best friend since she was brought up at the HQ. "Makoto!!" She then regained some seriousness, and sadness too. "Well, as you can see. I am cleaning up the HQ. I just saw some tenacious stains there..." Then she switched subjects, because Makoto coming back meant obviously to her that she wanted to see Kokonoe: "You're looking for the Professor? Hum, she said she doesn't want to be disturbed by any mean, and lets Mr Tager do the administrative work. You'll have to talk to him instead. He's currently interrogating a cyborg vandal." She wanted to have some friendly talk, but she thought work had to go before that, so she just guided Makoto to the interrogatory room...

"Woaah, wait, wait, Hotshot. Tager and Kokonoe are different, you know? Tager would just give me new mission parameters and all that."
As if on command, Makoto yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.
"I`m pretty tired from that whole walking and talking. And thats saying something, squrriels are lively critters, you know?"

Grinning, Makoto wrapped her arm around Noel`s shoulders. "Now you tell me why you were doing a maid´s job, then i´ll tell you what we could rather do instead." She didn´t see her friend all that much either, which gave her more than a reason to let her quit scrubbing the floors and do something fun instead. From what she heard, Noel was in dire need of good old entertainment.. mind breaking sadness wasn´t her specialty, but Makoto managed to cheer up most people, so she was up to the challange either way.

Noel stopped when hearing Makoto: anyway, she didn't have the physical potential of her friend to force her into reporting, nor did she want it. "Well, Makoto, I am doing this because I'm just being protected here, and the Professor wants me to be useful somehow." She was a bit embarrassed, but finally led her friend somewhere else: some kind of living room. Tranquility awaited her there, or so she thought: a screen normally displaying what Lambda sees had gone all blue. This strange fact alarmed Noel greatly, making her rush to a phone and call Tager immediately, saying in her very quick and high-pitched voice. "Mr Tager, we have a big problem, Lambda is... Lambda is..." She didn't manage to finish her phrase, as she was already starting to burst into tears. "LAMBDA IS DEAD!!!" Struck down by the fact itself, she knelt on the floor crying for the loss of her soon-made friend and ally, praying for her soul.

Makoto´s tail spiked up and all hairs stood freaked when Noel suddenly shouted, then bursted into tears. Her arms quickly wrapped around the small girl and hugged her tightly, not too tight though, as she had to remember not to hurt her.
Quietly, she whispered some encourageing words into her ear, cuddleing against her and trying to cheer her up, then picked up the phone from her hands.

"Tager? Makoto here. Listen, i know its important, but Noel is shook up as all hell. You´re gonna have to give her a few minutes before she can make it. I`ll try to bring her back her spirits. Over and out!"

Sighing a bit, she gave the phone back and cuddled Noel some more.

"That should buy us some time."

Noel was deeply shocked by Lambda's death. Even Makoto trying her best to cheer her up barely calmed her, and she still zigzagged between crying helpless and quieter wails. Feeling Makoto's hug after quite a long time, she told her: "Buy us some time? Why do we need time? We have to... We have to..." She was once again unable to finish her phrase as tears filled her eyes. As she shook her head, she took a tone depressed, but determinated, and closed her eyes: "We have to bring justice to her murderer. As soon as possible." Noel was starting to get workaholic again.

Makoto was suprised how fast Noel recovered, and how eager she was to fight the murderer of her friend. The beastkin was tired, but she knew that if she went on a conquest, she had to accompany her...

"Noel, are you sure? This could be really, really, really dangerous. And do you even know who it was? She asked, trying to bring her off the idea. Tager would kill her regardless, but maybe it was avoidable.. maybe Noel would listen to reason once she saw that it was pointless.

Her eyes still closed in both sadness and anger, Noel just took the remote to see the murderer. It was that Siegrain who tried to bring Lambda, Kageo and herself to his side. She already didn't trust him at all, now everything she felt about him was deep hatred. She took her breath and answered: "It's our mission. I don't care about the danger, and I will bring this moron down and have him beg for the mercy he won't have!" She was started to go quite mad: now she didn't have Bolverk to refrain her emotions, she could go really insane in a matter of seconds.

Makoto blinked, then shrugged, cracked her knuckles and grinned.

"Ookay then. Whatever you say. Lets go out there and waste him!"

Patting Noel on the back, she took her friend by the hand and walked towards the exit of the lab with quick steps. Maybe she would feel better after this fight.. and if it got too dangerous for her, she could always call for backup...

~~~~~~~~~~>(Returning from 'Invasion of NOL HQ')

The faint sound of panting would echo throughout the nearby region as Kageo's body finally reacted to the sudden acceptance of the Idea Engine. While normally the Artifice Core System had no problem with adjusting to some kind of new component, the addition of it was very sudden, and that source's immediate use due to the kaka's own uncontrolled outburst. This was complicated if only slightly by the use of the Seithr resonance so suddenly, but he found himself dealing with the problems while en route back to Sector 7, He was exhausted since the Idea Engine's energy charge wore off part of the way back, but he was in one piece and only singed.

"N-Nyai...finally made it back.." the modified kaka made his way using the now sealed Nihongo as a walking stick, his mind still grieving over the loss of Lambda-11, only just caught up with him. Not that the tears would be seen as they trailed over his dark hooded face, his red eyes burning with a soft wish for revenge, but equally wishing that Lambda had been saved by him. He would not blame himself over it...she would not want that. He wanted her to rest peacefully, even though it was not fair that she was wrongfully taken from the world a second time. As he passed into the destroyed main gate, he slumped down to his knees, gripping the spear as he fell onto his stomach; his energy spent fixing the internal system chaos that he'd created on himself. 'Internal reserves drained, seeking out proper replacements; plasma remnants and seithr variant found within surrounding environment. Now absorbing for storage.', the sealed spear began absorbing the nearby seithr outside the entrance, eating up any bits of remnant plasma that it found. The energy would be refined by his artifice cores and stored, but as for now he was entirely done. Physical body unyielding, he remained on his stomach with Nihongo in grip just awaiting discovery.

Noel was running out to help Kageo when she crossed him. She was so hasty and angry that she didn't even notice at first that the one she crossed was actually the one she was going to rescue: "Hey Kageo, quick, come wi- wait, Kageo?"The surprise made her fall head first into the floor. She jumped up to her cat-like ally, looking all sad but actually wanting to be reassuring: "Hasn't it been too hard?" She took a look at both of her friends before starting to walk to the room she was in with Makoto before she decided to leave, helping Kageo as she could.

------(From Sector 7 Reunion Room)------->
Majamu runned through all corridors required, at the entrance stood some people. As she heard the name 'Kageo', she stopped her momentum in an instant because running was no longer necessary. She understood Kageo was the cat-like being nearly crawling on the floor from exhaustion.
"Oh, the rescuing is done already?" She looked at the group standing here: there was said Kageo-kaka, Noel Vermillion carrying him. "You taking care of him? I'll leave then to spy on those NOL freaks. Do as if you never met me, little girl..." She left running as fast as she came in, leaving for parts unknown.
----------(Exit, dunno where)------->

Makoto watched Noel, followed her, and was just as confused as she was. One person died and the entire compound was falling deep into chaos and erratic behavior... She had no idea what the hell they were doing, wasn´t Tager going to send them to rescue Kageo? Now he was back here already... was the message of Lambda´s death late?

"Noellll.... hold on now, what the hell are we doing? Don´t just run off without a word, tell me!"

Noel didn't exactly put any attention at what Makoto said as Majamu's behaviour totally annoyed her: she was bearing Kageo's body, and the woman didn't even pay attention neither to the injured, nor to her own allies: "There are ways for addressing people!" She started walking towards the living room when she noticed Makoto didn't move. "What are you waiting for, Makoto? We must bring him somewhere he will be able to recover." She then kept on bearing Kageo's body, walking to the living room.

Makoto blinked, seeing no change in Noel`s behavior whatsoever. She totally ignored her!
The squrriel huffed a bit, then crossed her arms and followed Noel again, seeing the need to tend to the catboy as soon as possible more important than getting to know what in the world was going on just now...

"Fine.. will you tell me THEN what you´re planning to do? ...And for heavens sake, Noel, don´t be walking so fast when you have no panties on!"

She had seen a lot today, a musclebound man punching Captain Hazama in the face, an injuried Cyborg (both the outside and the inside) and the medicine cabinet of Doctor Litchi.... fine and dandy, but Noel`s naked ass, as pretty and curvy as it was, that was not needed.... Yet, she couldn´t take her eyes off it, being reminded of former times.

Kageo was unsure of where he was, just feeling some arms were holding him, by this point Nihongo had fallen completely to its sealed form of silence, simply in hand now, as he heard Noel's voice and those soft eyes opened, he found that he was being carried. Though he wanted to speak, a sharp shot of pain reminded him that his internal systems were still trying to hook up properly to a system far being their own mechanics. "Me-ow...b-bad timing...Core...system..." he murmured this softly as he felt the Artifice Core System's links attempting to adjust the Idea Engine's place at the top of the system's place itself, he hoped that the Core System could in fact handle this new power in tow; he wasn't sure how it would be dealt with.

Entering the living room she left a moment ago, Noel lifted Kageo's body and gently made him lay on the table, definitely not understanding anything the modified Kaka said. "Don't talk too much Kageo. Just rest, there's no danger here, Makoto and I are looking after you." She sighed as she didn't know what to do, turning to Makoto: "Hey Makoto... What are we gonna do now? I'm not a doctor, and the Professor is busy..."