Stage II, Chapter XXI: The Maya, Ambushed

The siblings (minus Sabik) had arrived at the largest factory, located in the heart of Fahndra. On their way, they came across many enemy Karman ships, mainly Kuman type ones were the ones that they commonly ran into on the way there.

"We're finally here. What should we do, little bro?" Lucas looked towards Kenneth.

"Right. Here's the plan. I need Tyrone and somebody else to scout through the factory and look for the Mana storage systems." (Kenneth)

"Are we shutting down the flow of mana to the whole city, little brother? That's going to cause a blackout." Confused, Lena asked about his plan.

"Not now. Once the Maya comes inside, it'll probably dig through the whole building to look for the rich mana sources. We're going to stop the mana from flowing, and keep it inside the storage area." (Kenneth)

"I'll go ahead with Tyrone then. We'll blaze through this building quickly." Without waiting for a response, Lucas ran off along with Tyrone, leaving the four of them in the dust.

"Ignore that. Anyway, we'll be setting up traps for when it reaches the storage area. It's going to track it with it's F.E.D and probably find left behind residue from the sudden retrieval of mana." (Kenneth)

"Right. I will go on ahead to scout the perimeter and inform you if anything dangerous is spotted." (Aurelia)

"Good, you do that. Catalyn, could you bring me to the center of this factory? If I can clear a good portion and have optimal communication wherever then we'll be fine and dandy. Big sis, wait here for Lucas and Tyrone. You can notify me once they get here." (Kenneth)

"Wait a moment, little brother!" (Lena)

"Yeah?" (Kenneth)

"You can't leave without receiving a hug..." Lena took him from Catalyn's arms and locked herself around Kenneth's body.

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"Little brother, Lucas and Tyrone is back." Lena called him through his Mind Link.

"Great. Tell them we'll be there soon. Catalyn, let's go." Kenneth called his maid, who appeared beside him seconds later.

"We're back. Managed to find the mana storage and a map!" Lucas waved the map in his hands, practically boasting about his success.

"Yeah, yeah. It was probably Tyrone who found it. Don't be proud." (Lena)

"Wha- no! I did something too, right buddy?" (Lucas)

"Woof!"

"Anyway, here's the map. Too complicated for me to understand, so you do it." Lucas tossed the map in his hands towards Kenneth, who caught it flawlessly.

"Hmm..." Kenneth began examining the piece of paper. "Alright, I'm done. I got it." In just a few minutes, he had already memorised the important parts of the map. "It's not complicated, really. Here..." Kenneth pointed on a part of the paper that had red ink encircling the room. "The Mana Storage room. We'll be setting up our traps there." (Kenneth)

"Young master, Catalyn has a question." Catalyn spoke up.

"Yeah? What is it?" (Kenneth)

"Won't the Maya notice us when we use mana? If what Sabik said earlier is true, then the Maya must already know." (Catalyn)

"That's true. That's why we'll be setting up our traps in the storage room. We'll be opening the containers to release the mana inside. With such a high concentration of mana, the Maya will most likely get confused from all of it floating around." Kenneth explained.

"So... you're saying that's free mana?!" Lucas' voice rose, a hint of excitement audible.

"Uh... yeah. Since we're releasing it into the air, we'll be able to inhale much more mana into our bodies. It's an advantage for us, but for the Maya, it's nothing." (Kenneth)

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The factory was quiet and desolate. Under the night sky, the barely audible sound of the Maya sneaking towards the factory was the only thing that was heard. If one doesn't count the battle happening in the other part of the city, of course.

The Maya's F.E.D had picked up an abnormally high concentration of mana enveloping the place.

Deciding that this was going to be the money shot, the Maya wasted no time and headed inside the dark factory, foregoing it's camouflage in exchange for more speed. Why would it have to blend in? It was pitch black inside the building.

Despite this, it still took great caution in its movement, taking the shortest possible route, while staying quiet.

The F.E.D sensor was going crazy. It seemed like it was now fast approaching the mana storage. Metal pipes rattled under the chameleon's legs as it ran hastily towards the would-be bounty that would be claimed by yours truly. Perhaps it was excited that the caught haul would finally allow the pilot inside to be promoted to that of a higher position.

Eventually the Maya reached the door to the storage. It was now directly outside. Even if it got here in a rush, it still didn't forget it's mission. The pilot checked inside with the F.E.D. But this action was probably useless, since the sensor was literally swarmed with mana particles, the red dots moving eagerly inside the room.

The door itself was small. Not so small that it wouldn't allow the pilot inside to enter, but small enough that the pilot inside could enter.

The head of the chameleon began to slowly rise from its neck, bringing with it smoke that poured out from the cramped pilot's seat.

Finally being loose enough, the pilot stepped out of the Maya, revealing a Karman with a noticeably smaller frame. It was slightly taller than Catalyn, if they were to be compared. And on it's eyes, the Karman pulled off the goggles blocking its pupils, raising it over his forehead.

Revealing the crimson eyes of the Karman, it struggled to adjust to the darkness; it began to rub its eyes, like a newly awoken person.

Perhaps it was adjusting to the darkness. If one were to look inside the cockpit, one would see a huge array of lights everywhere. The sudden change of lighting would blind most people.

Either way, the Karman finally stopped and went towards the door. Directly outside was a control panel, probably an entry device that required a password. And it did. Buttons, 1 through 10, were on the keypad. A basic piece of technology, the Karman thought inwardly.

Tapping the goggles on his forehead, a neat little metallic critter poured out from the glass. Well, it would be more apt to say the glass melted. Melted, into a liquid structure, until it began to gather and reassemble into that of a wasp.

The wasp, looking as if it had life despite being made from glass, eagerly flew around once noticing its master had a job for it to do. The Karman, looking eager as well from the excited friend it had brought, pointed at the control panel, to which the wasp responded with an eager nod in its own way.

Gliding towards the panel, a sharp blade began to protrude from the wasp's behind. Metallic, like the rest of its body. And, finding a flat area on the control panel, it stuck the stinger inside.

Soon, numbers began to appear on the control panel. 6...9...4...2...0...?

Thinking nothing of it, the Karman tapped his goggles one more time. The wasp, realizing that its job was done, was sullen. Yet it was still somewhat happy, as it was able to help its master. The wasp flew back to the goggles, once again melting into the liquid state, and flowing directly inside, going back to its original glass form.

The door to the storage began to magically open slowly, but the Karman, probably impatient, kicked it open. Inside, it was dark. Yet the Karman didn't even have to think twice, as the air was glowing a bluish hue. Eager to bring back all the mana, the Karman turned around to the entrance to get a tool.

What greeted him was a locked door, not an open one. That's weird, it thought. Reaching for the door, the Karman was unable to, feeling a sharp pain from his back, knocking him down towards the ground.

The lights opened. The room was now lit. Except the light wasn't from the bulbs. It was directly coming from Lena, who was standing in front of the Karman. In her hands, a shining light glowed.

A portal? Indeed, a portal appeared above the head of the Karman. And what came through was a boy, no bigger than the smallest Karman. Reaching his hand out, the boy landed roughly onto the Karman's body, before touching its forehead, making it struggle wildly. Yet the struggle ended quickly with Lucas unleashing a strong hit on the back of its neck, knocking it out.

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"Welcome, to my world." Unlike the playground in Sabik's childhood, the area around was what seemed to be a Karman's version of a flight school. Planes gathered around the fields, different types of Karman aircraft lined the roads. Some types of ships not known to be of the three (Kuman, Krondu, Maya) ships explained by Sabik. "Quite a nice place you got here. This must be where you went to get your pilot's license or something."