When Jozzor brought Brakagi and Caliditas' location, Hong Fu can sense the clear hostility towards him, though they cannot argue with the results. The truth is that Miss D is one outrageously strong artifact user, perhaps the single strongest one that any of them have ever faced, and that includes Hong Fu's encounters with Lady Lily and Sir Deva. When Brakagi saw the foe that not too long ago nearly took his head off laying motionless there, he couldn't help but respect what Hong Fu have done.
Though nobody appreciates the secrecy of his actions, and also the fact that Brakagi is nearly dead because of it.
'You have lots of explaining to do.' Brakagi pointed his finger at Hong Fu briefly before turning to face Miss D and projected the Ring of Instability on her. As his eyes glowed with the visual of the system level mapping of her internal functions, he can already tell the physiological enhancements that are present all throughout her body is starting to accelerate the healing process. Despite the large amount of damage present at all of the levels, there is no doubt that she will awake to nearly 100% of her capabilities soon if Brakagi does not intervene.
Fortunately, the solution is simple. With a simple push in the right direction, the enhancements in her body is completely thrown into a frenzy before they are all shut down as a result. Brakagi know that this means Miss D is unlikely to awake and heal her damage on her own, but that at the same time prevents her from any chances of escape using the overpowered Amplifier.
Once Miss D's comatose state is ensured, Brakagi then turned around and gestured for Jozzor to teleport everyone to one of the safe houses located in the outskirts of the city's residential areas. It is a plain looking townhouse designed for middle class families that are from the Olympus system, and the cleaning droids are certainly shocked by the sudden appearance of five sweaty and dirty Rockies in the middle of the room.
'Brakagi...your wounds...' Caliditas pointed out, her voice sounding worried, but Brakagi puts a hand up and shook his head.
He gestured towards the sofa opposite the one Caliditas and himself have taken and ordered Hong Fu and Vindy to take a seat there.
'Now, start talking.' Jozzor said, standing besides Brakagi. The wounds on Brakagi's body have already began to heal thanks to the enhancements, though it still looked bad from the outside. There was the sound of pouring tap water, and a few glasses of drinks are served into the table between the two of them, 'what were you planning all this time, Hong Fu?'
'I was able to track down Miss D, the user of Amplifier ever since the first attack.' Hong Fu said, 'I met her, and her goals were to usurp the One Rock government through whatever means possible. I convinced her to call off the later attacks, but she insisted.'
'Then, the confrontation at the train station happened, and all of us realized that she is too strong to be taken down alone, haven't we, Jozzor?' Hong Fu looked towards the angriest Rocky in the room, but he couldn't really disagree with what he just said.
'As I am sure you know, normal forces wouldn't stand a chance against her.' Hong Fu continued, 'and the only ones with enough fire power to take her out are Vindy and Brakagi. I cannot risk Vindy's life for this, but to be frank, Mr President...'
'I wanted to see how strong you are.'
Brakagi looked Hong Fu in the eye, and that is about as truth as one gets at this moment. He wanted to punish him for the betrayal, but deep down, he also admired the lengths that Hong Fu is willing to go to.
'Of course, we can set up an ambush for her, but it will be on her terms. But I am able to convince her to come to the tower, then the fight will happen on Brakagi's terms instead. Consequently, the only way that I can convince her to come to the tower willingly would be through what we have just done.'
'You are playing a dangerous game, Hong Fu.'
'So are you.' Hong Fu retorted, 'you wagered the lives of an entire system on the line for this...all of this!'
'Why are you really here, Hong Fu?'
'I am here to make sure what happened on Olympus won't happen again.' Hong Fu said, laying everything on the table, even to the surprise of Vindy, 'if you can promise that, I wouldn't care for what you do otherwise. But remember, if you ever wanted to step out of line, the evidence of your artifact abilities will be revealed to the entire galaxy, and this won't be the only evidence out there as far as I know.'
Now all the cards are on the table, it's time to play.
'You little...' Jozzor was about to step forward and attack, but Brakagi shook his head and prevented Jozzor from moving further.
Brakagi stared at Hong Fu for a long while as the room fell into a strange silence. Then, he burst out laughing. It wasn't a laughter of mockery, or of humor, but rather one of relief.
'Just you wait, Hong Fu.' Brakagi said, pointing his hand towards Hong Fu, 'I will make sure to create a galaxy that is far greater than the ones you have ever seen before. You are right, I may have been opportunistic with how everything started, but I promise you.....I will make sure New Olympus is a shining beacon in the galaxy for all to see. I have gotten the chance I needed, and I will not waste it. The current system is sick, and I am here to offer an alternative.'
'...' To be honest, Hong Fu was expecting the complete opposite reaction from Brakagi, and yet he can tell that the Rocky in front of him is being completely honest. This is what Brakagi wanted to do, and this is what Brakagi promised. He may have started this all using the wrong methods, but it doesn't appear that he will repeat his mistakes in the future.
Typically in stories like this, Brakagi would have become power hungry and swing around his solar system destroying power around just to get whatever he wants, but...it seemed like Brakagi wanted to choose a different path from the one he has taken before. Just because someone made a certain choice in the past does not mean the past have to be repeated.
In a strange sense, Brakagi is actually extremely similar to Zero. Hong Fu has a feeling that it will also be the two of them standing at the end of it all when everything ends. The two symbols in the galaxy clashing against each other in a climatic battle in the middle of New Olympus for the future of the galaxy.
'Very well...' Hong Fu said, 'it's not like you are performing outrageous atrocities everyday here..... I hope I am not being naive.'
'No, you are not.' Brakagi explained, 'I have always wanted change from the current paradigm, and with each change comes its own sets of resistances from the current system. All I did was taking advantage of what people wanted, and delivering them the results they wanted. There are no need to do anything further. We are not idiots.'
'And if I do ever stray from the paths, please take me down, for that I have failed in my mission.' Brakagi said, bowing his head forward to both Caliditas and Jozzor's surprise. Hong Fu felt himself frozen in place before he shook his head and bowed his head forward too.
'I will try my best, so please...be the change you want to see in the galaxy, Mr president. It's not like I don't have my own problems with the current system, so please.....try your best too.'
'I swear I will.'
And just like that, Brakagi turned what could have become an afternoon of bloodbaths and betrayal into one of honesty and confessions. It looks like he has won over Hong Fu and Vindy at least. They came here expecting to overthrow a tyrannical government, but what they came to learn is that Brakagi is no less 'human' like the rest of them. Brakagi seemed to be more interested in actually creating a bright future for the Rockies than trying to consolidate his power, so perhaps he was never really the power hungry type.
Power is the means to an end, rather than the end itself.
Political systems are all fun and dandy to debate on paper, but at the end of the day, who is really doing work for the people, and who is really just there?
Jozzor, Brakagi and Caliditas then got up and left the place, as Hong Fu and Vindy made their way back to home through public transport.
'So...you have been doing all of these things behind the scenes?' Vindy said, sitting right next to Hong Fu, yet she is not making any physical contacts with her.
'Yeah...' Hong Fu said, scratching the fur on his head, 'I am sorry for keeping you out of it.....But Miss D is simply way too dangerous for everyone, and she is also the only one strong enough to push Brakagi to the limits.'
'I understand...but I don't like it.'
'I know.' Hong Fu said, letting out a sigh, 'I am sorry.'
'Don't apologize.' Vindy said, forcing a smile, 'I am sure you did what you thought you need to do. And through it, we learned so much more about Brakagi, right?'
'Yeah...' Hong Fu said, thinking back to the comparisons he drawn earlier between Zero and Brakagi, though he is sure that Vindy sees Zero a lot differently. He is really referring to the public personas put up by the two leaders, rather than what they do in the dark.
'So, what are you going to do with the files?'
'Like we promised, we will keep it on our hands, just in case Brakagi strays from his path.' Hong Fu said, 'throughout history, there are way too many people that are lost in the whirlpool of power. When you are so deep in the entanglement of power, it's easy to lose you way. But...it doesn't hurt to have hope, does it?'
'Nope. It never hurts to have hope.'
Maybe...this time will be different. Hong Fu thought, as he looked outside towards the Western Park that has now been fully rebuilt as the hover train moves through the air. Down there in the greenery, kids play without a single worry in the galaxy, as crowds of people move from one attractions to the next. There is a certain old-school sense of peace and prosperity around, despite all that has happened.
Perhaps what Brakagi has created here is worth protecting after all, and if he can create a beacon for change in the galaxy, does it really matter why the city exists in the first place?
'Are you sure it's fine to leave Hong Fu and Vindy like that?' Jozzor asked yet again, as the trio that started it all sat around the living room table in Brakagi's house. Caliditas is sipping a cold drink while Brakagi stared into the thickened fluid inside his cup.
'Isn't it better to have more allies than enemies?' Brakagi said with a smile, 'I intended to do everything I said I will do.'
'But he has already betrayed us once!'
'No, he did exactly what he came here to do.' Brakagi said, 'and it appeared that my answer was satisfactory to him. Plus, none of you feel good about dropping the suns, right?'
The room fell into silence before the two of them nodded at the same time.
'So let's make sure that will never happen ever again.' Brakagi said, and Jozzor nodded firmly. He still had his doubts about Hong Fu, but that will have to wait until later, 'you know...when I was thrown out, I was angry...I was hateful. I wanted to destroy the GBI, and I wanted to start a revolution against the system that allowed such injustice to exist...'
'I was probably the angriest being in the galaxy, which is probably why I was able to make it out with the artifact...I was unstable, to an extent.'
'But somewhere along the way, I realized that the best way to fight is not through blood or fists. No...if you fight to tear the other side down, you just end up with two losers. I fight to create a better solution, and that's how we win. There are no heroes or villains in this story...only winners or losers....'
'You know, when you talk like that...you are so hot.' Caliditas said, her eyes locked onto Brakagi who chuckled as a result of the remark.
'Ok, I have some work to do with the police chief. Take some time off, Master.' Jozzor coughed awkwardly once and excused himself before slinging himself away as Caliditas jumped towards Brakagi and pressed her body over his. He grunted out in pain as his wounds from the battle still remained. Seeing this, Caliditas had to stop her desire and instead carried him over to the recovery pods and turning it on.
'Recover quickly!' Caliditas ordered, 'Don't keep me waiting for too long.'
'Yes, yes...' Brakagi smiled before falling asleep and letting the natural recovery process of his body begin.
Jozzor made his way back to the police department, where Miss D's body is placed in a cryogenic pod. All of her wounds from the battles still remained as the enhancements have been completely turned off by Brakagi's artifacts. The cryogentic pod then ensured that her current state is preserved, freezing her in time until they are ready to figure out who her employer was, and how her mission started.
Brakagi mentioned how Miss D is only here for a challenge according to herself, but deep down, there are forces at play that manipulated Miss D's desires for a fight to their advantage. However...if all that they wanted to do is to kill Brakagi, they would have succeeded already...instead, all they had was a fight.
So perhaps their goals are not just about whether Brakagi lives or dies after the battle?
Meanwhile, in the GBI headquarters in the Hades system right across the entire galaxy, General Kuviar found himself in a meeting with a mysterious figure. To his surprise, that figure is a Rocky, and somehow, they have manged to obtain the private communications channel for him.
'Who are you?' General Kuviar asked, as he glanced nonchalantly over towards the information panel on his holographic projector which typically displays the sources of the calls, however, the name of the current source are made up of a bunch of meaningless gibberish.
'I work for the previous Rocky president, and I have come with a proposal.' The figure replied, before showing a video recording of Brakagi in his battle with Miss D in the office and on top of the tower, 'I am sure this isn't your first time seeing this sort of...supernatural behaviors?'
'I heard about the attack on Geb 4.' General Kuviar said, leaning back in his chair, 'what's special about this.'
'What's special about this is that you now have two independent sources of Brakagi using his artifact in combat, and each of them displays a completely different sets of abilities.' The figure said, 'I am sure you know what to do with this information.'
'Hm...' General Kuviar rubs his chin in thought, 'what do you want?'
'Just for things to go back to normal.' The figure said, 'The galaxy is too messy with all these artifact users running around, don't you think?'
'All these artifact users?'
'We know that Brakagi has already gathered a substantial group of artifact users already, and adding onto the group of bearers you have lingering around Olympus not too long ago.....Are you sure the GBI is ready to let the galaxy become a battle ground for those users?' The figure pressed.
General Kuviar didn't say a word. He thought back to his visit to the prison colony and his conversation with Senator Zender/Zero instead. Whatever it is, there is no turning back for the galaxy. The existence of artifact users are known to the public, and users themselves will stick around for the foreseeable future. They cannot go back to the normal of the past, however, this doesn't mean they have to be powerless in the future.
The galactic government have been putting pressure on him for dealing with the artifact users, and thankfully, there aren't too much interference with his work so far. This isn't guaranteed to be the case for long if he doesn't produce the results, however. If the fact that Brakagi is a sure-fired artifact user is revealed to the public, the pressure from above and below will only mount further. Those that are resistant against the Falling Star conspiracy will only gain more momentum, and this will force the current galactic government to bring Brakagi in.
This is good for General Kuviar in terms of public support, but in practice, there will only be more expectations for him to do something. He does plan to release this information in a well made package, but that will have to wait until after he is ready to move.
General Kuviar needs to act, and he needs to act fast. If there is anyone that can control and command groups of artifact users, it would have to be Senator Zender. So, perhaps a prisoner transfer is in order.
Looking up at the star maps of the known galaxy, General Kuviar pondered what the future lies before making a call for Cellica.
As the wheel of time continued to move forward, the time for reckoning has finally arrived for the One Rock government.