The Old World, Protectorate - Iron Kingdom Border
There was a loud clank as a part of the warped metal was wrenched back by a metal bar. Dozens of hands joined the metal bar and soon, an opening large enough for an adult to squeeze through. Eager bodies quickly squeezed into the darkness and soon, items were tossed out of the hole to waiting hands.
The items were quickly grabbed up and the people scavenging for anything useful quickly went through the broken remains of a Protectorate airship. All around were scores of people picking through the wreckage and suddenly, there came a cry from a young boy working as a lookout. Startled, the people quickly grabbed their findings and ran away from the crash site and into the nearby forest.
Dozens of soldiers riding land dragons wearing red coats appeared and they charged into the panicked scavengers. The sharp tips of their short steam lances aimed straight at the backs of the retreating scavengers, poised to stab at the heretics. The boy who acted as a lookout scampered into a broken gap of the hull and hid.
He wrapped his arms and curled up into a ball as he heard the frightened screaming of the people. The wreckage shook under the claws and weight of the cavalry as they charged past and the boy curled up tightly and covered his ears in fear. Suddenly, the ground shook wildly and the boy cried out. The earthquake continued on and the wreckage even shifted its position a few times while panicked cries and screams could be heard outside. He could feel something very heavy moving out there and felt the heavy stomp of its foot steps as it move.
It was only after a very long period of time when everything had settled down and quiet, did the boy dared to emerge from his hiding spot. What he saw made he gasped in shock. A massive sink hole had appeared near the wreckage and the ground looked badly churned up. Trees were either uprooted or mashed aside could be seen at one part of the forest where several large claw prints larger than an adult led into.
He noticed large amount of claw prints of various sizes all over the area where the soil was loose, most of which surrounded the larger prints. And of the Protectorate cavalry and the people he came with to scavenge for items at the crash site, none could be seen. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.
After gathering his courage, he climbed down from the wreckage and ran off towards the forest, away from the scene of destruction of fallen trees and claw prints. He only carried a looted pack found from a previous scavenging hunt that was filled with whatever food he managed to find in the wreckage. All thoughts of his earlier brush with death was soon forgotten as his thoughts were only on the faces of his younger siblings who would be fed with what he found.
-----
The Old World, UN FOB, Fort Anchorage, UNS Vengeance
Plee flopped herself down onto the soft bunk bed and let out a sigh of comfort. She rolled over to her back and rubbed her satisfied belly, after having her favorite meal of cheese 'ber girls'. After almost a year, she could pronounce burgers but for some reason, she felt pronouncing it as 'ber girls' was more appropriate.
She unbuttoned her uniform and tossed it over a chair before she booted up a small laptop, borrowed from an unwilling blue dragon and logged into the ship's entertainment library. Soon anime opening music came out from the embedded speakers. Plee bobbed her head to the music and changed into more comfortable wear before flopping down on her bed once more and settled down to watch her current favorite anime series.
She had grown a slightly taller and her body had filled up more while her speech and her understanding of the current era has improved a lot. Further training with the Navy had also taught her a lot and with her ability, she was finally given access and command of the Vengeance's big guns a few months ago. It made her both proud and happy but the joy was short lived as the Vengeance barely had any chance to use its main guns, making her bored and unable to make some 'Bin bam booms' as the goblins and followers of the Faith liked to chant.
A sudden sense of vertigo struck her just as she was focused on the screen. She nearly cried out in shock but quickly regained her senses. She felt a very strong sense that attempted to invade her divine core but thankfully, she managed to resist that foreign sense and repeal it out of her body.
She looked at the direction her core was, secured under hundreds of tons of reinforced steel and heavily armed Marine guards. Her breaths came out in short ragged pants and sweat covered her body as she found herself looking at the screen once more and she found the show had ended. It had taken over twenty minutes to push that foreign intent that tried to invade her core out! It wasn't the first time this had happened and Plee laid down on her bed once more, her mind worried as she searched her fragmented memories of her time being a Goddess for any clue. The only thing she could come out with was that it had to do with God or Goddess.
No longer having the mood to watch her anime, Plee dressed into her uniform once more and headed out of her cabin to look for Captain Nemo. She found the Captain in the officer's mess and out of training, she threw a salute to the Captain who was reading a book and holding a glass of amber liquid in his hand.
"Good evening, Captain!" Plee stood at an attention and remained in salute, waiting for the Captain to acknowledge her as taught by her instructors.
Captain Nemo raised an eyebrow at the God girl saluting him and repressed a smile that threaten to spill out. He set his glass down and slipped a bookmark on the page of the book before closing it and shook his head at the God Girl and remained her. "Lieutenant... There's no rank in the mess."
"Eh... yes sir!" Plee blushed as she put her hand down. "I..."
"Sit down," Captain Nemo gestured the God girl who barely reached his shoulder to the chair before him. "Any drinks?"
"Ah... I..." Plee stared at the board and frowned. She had a taste of the alcohol offered to her by the followers of the Faith and she nearly burnt the ship down. The followers of the Faith all learnt not to offer her any alcohol after that. "I... am banned... from alcohol..."
"Get her some milk," Captain Nemo grinned to the bartender who nodded. He quickly poured out a glass of muffalo milk for the embarrassed girl officer. Captain Nemo thought back on how much the God Girl had changed. The first time he met her, she was naive, full of curiosity and impulsive. Now, her thinking had matured and she learnt patience, control and responsibilities.
"What can I do for you?" Captain Nemo asked once Plee took a mouthful of the offered milk.
"Sir... I heard that the Vengeance will remain here?" Plee quickly replied. "And that you will take... the core back to the New World?"
"Yes," Captain Nemo nodded and he took a sip of his amber liquid in his glass. "You will be transferring back together with the core."
"Can I stay here, Sir?" Plee suddenly said. "I... I think... something is calling me here..."
"Something is calling you?" Captain Nemo sat up straight in his chair. His expression turned serious and he frowned. "Do you know what is it?"
"No, sir... But for the past few days, I had felt a very strong... aura that tried to enter my core..." Plee answered with a small frown. "I do not know what it is... But I can sense it... Its... coming from there..."
She raised her hand and pointed off towards the decorated bulkheads. Captain Nemo's frown deepened and he quickly made a decision. "I will pass this on to High Command. In the mean time, report to medical and have them watch your condition!"
"I am feeling fine, sir!" Plee shrugged as she was horrified inside. She remembered how Dr. Sharon and taken her blood and had heard many horror stories about Dr. Sharon later on, like how she will open up monsters or creatures just to see their insides all in the name of medical science. She also heard Blue Thunder's complaints that Dr. Sharon wanted to steal his kids to experiment on. And the food, she won't be able to eat her favorite 'ber girls' under her care!
"Still do a checkup, just to be sure," Captain Nemo smiled as he could read the changes of expressions on Plee's face. "I will assign someone to watch over you too. As for your request, I will discuss with High Command over."
"Yes, sir..." Plee felt depressed. She stood up and struggled to not salute and instead gave a bow like how those characters in anime usual do. "Thank you, sir!"
Captain Nemo watched Plee shuffled off in low spirits and shook his head before he finished his drink. He left the officer's mess and headed back to his office and quickly called for a meeting. At the same time, he ordered an increase in guards to watch over the core and also Plee, just in case.
It had taken less than an hour for all relevant parties involved to gather at his office. Dr. Sharon, Magister Thorn, Lt. Commander Trism, Marine Major James and their aides sat around a table while Captain Nemo explained the reason for the summons. The expressions on everyone's faces were bleak as they pondered on the news they just heard.
"Another God here?" Trism sighed. "Could it have felt Plee?"
"We still do not know much about the Old World," Captain Nemo added. "It could be a God or... something else..."
"I need to report this back to Naval Intel," Trism sighed again. "I hate dealing with Gods..."
"I will delay my return to the New World," Dr. Sharon said. "In the meantime I will do a full medical on her to see if there's anything wrong."
"I have double the guards on the core," Major James said while gesturing to Magister Thorn. "But... If its some kind of magical intangible enemy... My men can't really do anything about it..."
"I will see if we can put up more magical defenses then," Magister Thorn replied with a nod. "This is something new for me too."
"Will this push back our departure time to the Dragons?" Major James asked.
"It... shouldn't," Magister Thorn replied. "And as for Plee wanting to remain here... Well, if High Command agrees, we can bring her along to investigate what she felt?"
"Won't that be a bad idea?" Dr. Sharon frowned. "It's like going right up to the unknown and knocking on their door..."
Magister Thorn gave a shrug as he stroked his long beard. "Maybe, but if we can find another God to add to our cause..."
"Still this is quite dangerous... We do not even know if they are friendly to us or another mad God!" Dr. Sharon protested. "I say we send her back to Haven together with her core, to keep her safe!"
"Both of you raised some valid points," Trism cut in. He looked at Captain Nemo before he continued. "Ultimately, it will be the decision of High Command on what to do."
"Like what Captain Nemo had ordered, we will step up on security and wait for High Command's decision," Trism said. "In the meantime, we will continue to prep for departure tomorrow."