31 Rescue (1/2)
The captain and his men began to run across the rubble. Their wheels and cables were of little use in the large amount of rubble, so they were moving rather slowly.
'Shit… Should I just kill all of them? No, I'd probably get blasted apart by their mana-ammunition. Hell, I'll just tell them the truth.' He climbed down the back of the mech slowly. 'They couldn't add a freaken rope ladder or something?' He put his hands behind his head and slowly began to walk towards the HQ men.
After several minutes, they met atop a pile of rubble. He spoke, ”Captain! This isn't what it looks like!”
”Like hell it isn't!” Fang responded. ”I saw the fire. To think you were a fire esper this entire time. We almost made a huge mistake by trusting you.”
”You're wrong!” He shook his head. ”I was experimented on by the espers I mentioned previously. The king has a crazy esper named Luny who tried awakening humans into espers through torture.”
”So, you got your powers by awakening through her experiments?” The captain sneered. ”Doesn't matter! You're still an esper!” He lifted up his rifle and aimed at Ed's head.
”No! I didn't awaken! She cut off all four of my limbs and replaced them with metal ones that use mana-powder to create fire! I managed to escape and join Sinless after!” He explained.
”That's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard! Men!” The captain yelled while lifting an arm. ”Take aim!” The 100 men all aimed their various steam weapons.
”WAIT!” Cold sweat dripped down his neck. 'This bastard is really impatient. He shot me last time without a 2nd thought as well…'
”Speak your last words esper!” Fang commanded.
”I can prove I'm not an esper! I won't resist. Send one of your men forward to cut throw any of my arms or limbs. You'll see their made of metal underneath!”
The captain stared at him silently for a moment. 'Last time, I was mistaken and shot him anyways. Could I really be repeating the same mistake again? Espers experimenting on ordinary humans is extremely rare in the east, but in the west it seems rather plausible…' He looked up and spoke, ”Fine. I'll do it. Men, shoot us both if he tries anything!”
He walked forward and pulled out his vibro-knife. It hummed as it vibrated and released a dark aura. He grabbed Ed's left arm and began to make a long cut down the bicep. Flesh split open and blood poured out, causing Ed to grit his teeth in pain.
”Looks normal to me?” The captain questioned.
”Keep going. It's fine even if you remove more flesh.” Ed responded.
”Mm.” He continued to dig deeper until he felt bone. Then he widened the wound until he saw a shiny metallic bone. ”This?!” He responded in shock.
”These are the limbs she gave me after the experiment. Each one contains mana-powder used for creating the flames you saw. I kept it secret in fear of people thinking I'm an esper.” Ed explained.
Fang frowned, ”How do you control the metal arms then? And what is all this flesh?”
”She used mutant flesh to cover the arms and create muscles. She told me she attached the mutant nerves to my own nerves to allow for movement. I don't really understand all the technical details, since I'm just an engineer.” He sighed, ”You have no idea how hellish that torment was. I'm lucky to even be alive.”
”Hmm…” The captain crossed his arms and tapped one of his fingers repeatedly in thought. ”This is too serious an issue to just ignore. I'll believe you for now, but you're coming back to Europe with us to get tested. The local base will be fine in your subordinate's hands for a few months. Do you agree? Or should I just cut you down here and now?”
”Sure!” He nodded while smiling. He put his arms back down and followed behind the captain as he returned to his men. 'That bought me some time… Am I really going to have to go to Europe with him? There'd be a lot I could gain there, but my base is in its most important stage… Damn! Maybe I should just send Dupe in my place. I'll figure it out when the time comes.'
They continued killing mutants throughout the west side of the city. Ed bandaged his wounded left arm and shot flames from his limbs to kill the mutants. He had no reason to hide it anymore as he had already been caught. The soldiers could no longer keep up with his kill count. Ashes flew in the wind as large carcasses were repeatedly burnt to nothingness.
”That's enough for the day.” The captain ordered. ”Let's return.” He seemed to be in a bad mood as they made their way back to the railroad tracks they used to get here.
”Captain. What should I do about the mech?” Ed questioned.
”I'll send my men to retrieve it later. You must have really done a number on it to use up all the power so quickly.”
”Mm.” He nodded. ”I used the full vibration mode for defense against those worms. What's the power source anyways? Doesn't seem to be steam.”
”I originally planned on giving you some extra batteries for it before leaving. You'd need to purchase additional ones from HQ. We can't pass out the way that technology is made to outsiders. I'll leave the batteries and mech with your subordinates when we leave in a week.”
”Alright. Sounds good to me.”
Ed returned to his office and collapsed in his chair. He sighed, ”What a fucking mess. To think a mech test-run would turn out this way.” He opened a drawer and pulled out a small book. 'Whatever, focus on one thing at a time. Let's read up on the slavery method they use. It might save my neck later and I'll also need to understand it to save Terra.'
As he read the book his shock continuously grew. 'To think the method they use is so simple but effective. How barbaric.'
The slavery method used a metal collar around the neck of the esper. A small cable on the collar is forcefully wired through the back of the neck of the esper and pierces directly through the skull and brain. The cable is wound around the mana-core in the center of the brain. Should the slave ever disobey orders, then the owner can simply press a remote switch and an electric shock will travel through the cable. This will shatter the mana-core and instantly kill the esper.
'However, what's truly shocking is the material used in the collar and cable construction.' The collar made use of a lightning mana-battery. This means that Europe had already started to find ways to utilize the most unstable mana-powder. Additionally, the collar and cable were constructed with a special metal called manullium. This metal is extremely strong and is completely immune to mana!
'I need to find out where they find manullium or how they make it. However, it's good to know the collar has a weakness. The remote switch uses mana-waves to activate the electric shock. But manullium is immune to mana. So, they had to leave an opening for that part of the collar and use ordinary metal for the internals. This small area on the back of the collar is where the cable comes out. The owner can use tools to remove the collar by accessing the key components in that area. I'll have to study Terra's when I get the chance. Hopefully I don't kill her by accident.'
Ed stood up and stretched. 'We leave in a week. Operation Terra begins in five days. I've got to start getting things in order in case I do end up leaving.' Over the next several days he held meetings with Dupe and Gunther to prepare for his absence. He gave Gunther the mech and operation manual. He handed over operations and leadership authority to Dupe. Several days quickly passed. The night of Operation Terra arrived.