Momo and Kajou stepped up to face each other, Kajou more curious and Momo more excited. The two stood there for a moment, hands close to the swords on their hips. Before any of the onlookers could react, the two disappeared and slammed against each other, each closing an equal distance on the other and catching a punch that was thrown by the other.
"I knew it." Kajou grinned, "You're the real deal aren't you? A truly trained warrior. I haven't seem a rebel a graceful in the middle of battle as you."
"Then you haven't seen much of the outside world." Momo grinned back, "There are plenty of warriors stronger than me."
"Maybe. But I have a pretty cushy job here and I'm here to earn my wage!"
The two pushed the other away, sending each other sliding back an equal distance. Kajou's hand went to her sword and she drew it, the unsheathing of her sword creating a wind slash that cut across the ground at Momo. Momo brought out her own sword, blocking the slashing wind with ease. But then came Kajou leaping across the air, already bearing down on Momo with a jab at the ready. Momo shifted her sword, raising the edge of her sword to deflect Kajou's as it ground past her head, sparks flying out as they clashed. As Kajou's sword flew past her, Momo raised her sword and stepped forward, ready to slash into Kajou's unguarded body. As Momo moved to striker her, Kajou's hand reached up and caught onto the butt of Momo's sword, using it and the momentum to push herself back away from Momo, safe from her slash.
"My turn!" Momo cried as she readied her sword and charged.
"Nope!" Kajou said, jumping forward at breakneck speeds, "The offense is mine!"
Momo's charge came to halt as she quickly brought her sword up in defense, blocking Kajou's slash as she flew right past her.
"Ora ora ora!"
Kajou lunged about, slashing at Momo over and over again, keeping her on the defense, rooted in one spot. Momo was still defending with relative ease but it was clear she wasn't going to last. Mentally that is. She probably could outlast the assault but she was itching to test herself against this new foe. So she ducked down and swung her sword at Kajou's legs when she next tried her approach. Kajou wasn't quite so easy to catch however and jumped over Momo's attack, her assault halted for a brief moment. And in this time, Momo swung her sword around, resting the blade against her shoulder and in a direct line to intercept her falling adversary. With one sharp movement, Momo jabbed her sword at the descending Kajou, spinning around as she did so. Kajou calmly brought her sword up in defense, the tip of Momo's sword clashing onto the flat of her blade and throwing her to a safe landing a few meters away. But Momo wasn't quite finished, though she didn't choose to press her advance just yet. Instead, she slashed her sword in the air a few times, throwing a series of air slashes at Kajou. Kajou raised her sword and smashed it into the ground creating a shockwave that dissipated all of Momo's air slashes. With a slash, Kajou dispersed the remaining dust only to find Momo already bearing down on her, sword in hand and going for a jab. Kajou managed to bring her sword arm back around to deflect the attack and tried to return the attack with one of her own. Momo was equally keen on pressing her chance at offense, the two's attempts leading to multiple clashes that forced the other back from equal attacks. The two kept up this equal and counteracting offense until they both got tired and finally had to jump away from each other to take a break.
"Not bad." Kajou grinned, "Not bad at all! I haven't had this much fun in a while! I really want to break out my armament magic right now."
"Please do!" Momo smiled back, "I've got reinforcement magic up my sleeve too."
"That fight wasn't using enhancement magic?" Azimuth blinked.
"I'm just as surprised as you." Roko sighed.
"Ooo, this is so exciting! I just might have to actually break out my swordstyle on you."
"You have a swordstyle too?!"Momo said ecstatically, "I have one too! Let's duel!"
"Oh man, does that mean I finally get to do the thing?!"
"I'm excited too! This is my first time in a proper, fair duel in, like, forever!"
"Then let's not waste anymore time! Kajou Seiza. Hyakuenro Senkeiro. Cho-ri Kiryo. Hereby offers a duel."
"Momo Kentoryu of the Ichininkami Gari school. Royal Blade of the God Beast. Hereby accepts the duel."
The two warriors readied their sword and was about to charge into another round until a ringing sound went off around Kajou.
"Ah. Sorry, I have to take this." Kajous said apologetically.
"No problem, take your time." Momo said cordially.
Kajou pulled out a phone from one of her pockets and answered it, "Hello? Kajou here. Oh hey I-...uh, wait, can you hold off on that, I-...I finally found someone I can really have a fight with! Oh come on, this is the first time I've ever found a challenge here and- okay, fine but you owe me!"
Kajou hung up the phone with a very disgruntled pout, "Captain, have you freed all your men?"
"A-Almost, Lady Kajou." Alphard replied, returning to untying the many guards that were still left tied up after everyone got distracted by their fight.
"Too slow." Kajou said as she sheathed her sword, "Pick up everyone and hobble out of here as fast as you can."
"So I guess the fight's off?" Momo said, disappointed.
"Unfortunately." Kajou sighed as she walked towards the exit, "My advice for you lot is to escape back to Mulapin. As fast as you can."
"Cool. See you again sometime." Momo waved.
"...Yeah. See you again." Kajou replied with a pleasant smile.
"Wait, explain what's going o-" Azimuth stepped up to try and get some clarification but it soon became clear as the entire building shook as an explosion on the upper floors rained small dust and debris onto the main lobby.
"What the-" Roko frowned and ran out the door to the streets of Muldingirmus. Not that he had much time to take in the surroundings as he looked up to see much of the upper floors of Fort M48 had caved in and were on fire. The reason for which were clear as two enormous fireballs flew through the air and smashed into the fort, destroying even more of it. These fireballs were big, not as big as the one that Eiam would try to create but clearly much more deadly than his almost worthless ball of hot air. These fireballs were destroying chunks of the building with every one that hit, melting the stone into molten slush. Following the fireballs' trajectory to their source, Roko could see them being manifested and flung from the top of the largest and biggest building in the district. The most opulent palace where only the richest and most powerful could live. Sirius' home base, Min al Az'al.
"Roko, we have to go!" Azimuth grabbed Roko's arm and dragged him back inside. As the guards evacuated outside of the base, Roko dodged chunks of the falling building until Azimuth stuffed him back down the sewer hole and escaping herself.
Back in the sewer, Everyone was taking heaving breaths, some recovering from their sudden escape, others from sheer panic as the world around them was slowly destroyed. The sewer hole they had entered from was now completely covered by rubble. They could no longer return to Fort M48, not that there was a Fort M48 to return to anymore.
"Everyone alright?" Roko asked, regaining his composure, "Everyone accounted for?"
"Yeah." Azimuth sighed, "You were the last one."
"Good." Roko nodded, "Then let's go back. No point in staying here anymore."
A few people nodded, their spirits damped by the sudden attack. One of them punched the wall, "Dammit! We were so close to retaking the base!"
"Chin up soldier, the war isn't over yet." Roko said as he began the long walk back, "We have much more to achieve."
"Achieve?! Achieve what?! We failed!" One of the soldiers shouted.
"Is that what you think?" Roko said, turning around to glare at the group.
"Y-Yeah..." The man who said that said more mildly, well aware of Roko's temper by now, "I mean...we failed to take Fort M48."
"Oh for sure, we failed to take the fort but do you not realize why? It's because they destroyed it to keep us from taking it. They burned the branch to keep the tree from immolating. That is miles above what you achieved before. You should be proud. We backed them into a corner where they had to make a sacrifice. Even if that sacrifice is small to them, it means a lot to us. We made them take damage. No, we made them damage themselves. Even without the fort, we've made our statement. We're back. We're dangerous. And we will not stop fighting this time."
Roko turned again and walked away from the crowd murmuring with agreeing discussion and a building mood of elation.
That mood persisted into the next day with proud smiles on those who attended, speaking ecstatically to whoever would listen. It wasn't just their semi-successful operation either. Talk of Momo being able to fight toe to toe with Kajou, one of their dreaded Planetary Stars rival, was giving much of them a new hope. This new energy was waking up the rebellion and more members, those who had remained skeptical of these new reinforcement's capabilities and refused to participate in their raid, were starting to take notice.
"This new batch of soldiers are much stronger than the last ones." Momo remarked, "If they had been with us, retaking the fort would've been a breeze!"
"Most of them are old soldiers." Azimuth smiled, "People who've been with us for a while and have a lot more experience and skill. Certainly, if we had them then we would've had a much easier time with the raid but the older and stronger you get, the more you yearn for peace and not want to return to the battlefield."
"I can't say I get that." Momo scratched her head.
"Well, you're certainly not quite the same as even those soldiers." Azimuth laughed softly, "I dare say there's a scarce few that could even come close to you in terms of strength. There were only like five people who can stand up to Kajou before you arrived."
"I'm interested." Momo said, "Who are these people?"
"I'll introduce you to them." Azimuth nodded, "But do understand they won't be as strong as you or Kajou. If we had someone like that then we wouldn't have been stonewalled by her for so long."
"Still, I'm interested." Momo got up, "I want to see what they're like!"
"Alright. I can show you our own 'Five Planetary Stars' as some like to call it."
"First, we have Gallus here."
"Oh hello." A red haired man looked up as he held onto the hand of his young son who was trying to run off somewhere, "How can I help you, Azimuth?"
"Not much, just showing our new ally here all our strongest members." Azimuth explained.
"Gosh, then you'd be wasting your time on me." Gallus smiled sheepishly, "It's been a long time since I was last on the battlefield and I'm basically a family man now."
"Hello there." Momo knelt down to speak with Gallus' son face to face, "What's your name?"
"Pluteum." The boy replied with a distinct uncertainty to Momo's friendliness.
"Nice to meet you, Pluteum." Momo smiled, "I'm Momo!"
Pluteum hid more behind his father's legs in response.
"Anyway, Gallus." Azimuth said, "I assume you know about our new allies."
"Yes, I've heard stories about your recent operation on Fort M48." Gallus sighed, "And I'm sure you all worked so hard but like I said, I'm a father now. I've got to take care of my son."
"We haven't asked you to fight again just yet." Momo said, standing up again, "But do you really not believe in our rebellion anymore?"
"It's not a matter of belief..." Gallus scratched his head, "I'm just too busy to be a soldier anymore."
"Then why are you still here?"
Momo's question shocked the man a few shades paler as he tried to come up with an answer, "I...I uhh…my-my-my WIFE. S-She's still here as-as a rebel so-"
"So you're throwing your wife at the war now?" Momo asked.
"UMMMM-"
"Hey, Azimuth maybe we should go talk to his wife instead." Momo said.
"Hm? Lilium isn't as great a fighter but we can talk to her if you want."
"AHEM, Pluteum, are you feeling hungry right now?"
"No? Not really." his son answered.
"I thought I heard your stomach growling! Let's go find you a snack. Don't tell your mom though!"
And the man quickly ushered him and his confused son away.
"Hm. Are you sure he's strong?" Momo asked.
"He might be a bit of a coward now but his strength's the real deal." Azimuth nodded, "At least...I hope he hasn't gotten rusty or anything over the years..."
"Well, we can worry about that later. How about the next one?"
"Next is Hirudo. He's a bit of a savant."
"A savant you say?" Momo said curiously, "What's he like?"
"Well you can see here."
Azimuth opened a door to a room that clearly was furnished like a medical bay. It was a very simple medical room, with lines of beds running the length of the room. The walls retained a rocky, somewhat uneven surface, a rare trait for the normally well built resistance base. Though a cistern maintenance room surely wasn't prepared to be turned into a sterilized medical bay. This wasn't a half bad medical bay all things considered.
"Whoever this Hirudo is must be pretty impressive if he runs this medical bay." Momo said as she looked around.
"Hey doc." Azimuth said to the robed man writing some documents on the table near the entrance, "Is Hirudo here?"
"When is he ever not?" The doctor shrugged, "In the bed on the far left."
"Gotcha."
Walking past rows of empty beds, the two girls walked up to the only one behind a thin curtain, pulling it away to reveal a thin, sickly looking man that was almost more skeleton than human.
"Hey Hirudo." Azimuth said, "Came to introduce you to our new management. Well, one of them anyway."
"How lovely." Hirudo said with a smile that spoke of an inner peace in the face of looming death, "I heard all about your recent exploits. Shall I join you one day?"
"Well, we can worry about that later." Azimuth said, "What do you think, Momo?"
"Ummm...are you sure he's strong?" Momo asked.
"Oh yeah. Hirudo can copy any sword technique he sees...in theory."
"In theory?"
"My weak body limits quite a bit of what I can actually do." Hirudo laughed softly, "So even though I can understand the mechanics of any swordstyle I see, I can't actually preform a vast majority of them."
"I...see..."
"We've had to make careful use of Hirudo's abilities." Azimuth added, "He's strong but almost any soldier or even child could kill him."
"O-ooohhh..." Momo looked quite uncertain how to take this information.
"I'd love to fight you one day myself." Hirudo smiled, "Though you'll have to excuse me if I steal a move or two from you."
"Yeah I...don't think you'll be able to use any of my techniques."
"Probably!" Hirudo laughed loudly until he quickly began coughing and threw up a bit of blood.
"Let's move on and let Hirudo rest." Azimuth said, ushering a baffled Momo away quickly.
"I have to say, I haven't been impressed so far." Momo said anxiously.
"Look, I said they were our strongest but I also said they were no match for Kajou didn't I?" Azimuth sighed, "But this next one should be more interesting, alright?"
"Okay." Momo said, brightening up, "Let's see who it is!"
"Vespa!" Azimuth called as she threw open a door to a room, "Don't let me down, buddy! Come on out!"
The room in question was completely dark. And given that they were underground, that meant it was completely dark with no sunlight to give any hints to their mysterious ally.
"...Okay, where's the light switch?" Azimuth said as she waved her hand around the nearby walls for said light switch.
"Don't turn it on." A raspy voice called out from the darkness.
"Vespa? Is that you?" Azimuth called, "What are you doing in the dark?"
"Only the darkness can hide the true extent of my cursed power. This is all for your own safety. I-"
"Ah, found it."
With the light coming on, the duo were briefly blinded for a moment before they noticed the tall man dressed in a dark trench coat with an abnormally high and angular collar with chains and belts and bandages wrapped around his body. His black hair had grown so long and so wild that he looked like some sort of cryptid than human.
"Vespa?!" Azimuth cried, "What happened to you?"
"It came to me in a dream." Vespa said, as he gripped his face, a manic look in this eyes, "The spirit of the black dragon Aldeztroi. He took refuge in my body and his power has been corrupting my body from within. I've been doing my best to hold his power back but every second in the light agitates the dragon. He trashes against the cage that is my bones and corrupts my mind with thoughts of destruction. This dark cell is the only way I can properly control the-"
As Vespa continued rambling, the two girls looked at the very normal room he was standing in the middle of.
"So...was he always like this?" Momo asked.
"Not...exactly..." Azimuth said stunned.
"So you're saying he didn't always dress and act like this?"
"Would you believe me if I said he always kind of dressed like this?"
"Let's move on."
"Yeah..." Azimuth said as she shut the light again and quietly left.
"Argo. Argo save me please."
"Hm?" A well built middle-aged man looked up from his clipboard as Azimuth and Momo approached him, "What's up boss? I've just been reorganizing our supplies here."
"I need you to actually prove that you're a strong member of this rebellion. Azimuth said, grabbing Argo by the shoulders.
"Umm..." Argo laughed nervously, "I'm not sure what you're talking about..."
"I've been showing Momo here all our strongest members and it has not been going well."
"Uhhh..." Argo glanced at Momo who was still standing there, pleasantly smiling, "Are you sure she's upset?"
"She hasn't said anything but this is a matter of the rebellion's pride!" Azimuth shook Argo gently.
"Ahaha. Well it's been a while so I'm not sure if I'm still all that strong but I'll be happy to spar for a moment."
"Thanks, Argo. Please give a good showing."
"That's a lot of pressure, boss."
"STOP!"
A small child suddenly ran in front of Argo, arms crossed in an X shape, "No fighting!"
"But Medeia!" Azimuth yelped.
The girl pulled out her own clipboard and glasses, consulting it like a professional as she stated, "Dad has four more tasks to complete, five meetings to attend to and lunch in a few minutes. His next few days are also booked with several activities and NO time for fighting."
"But Medeia..."
"Stop acting like a child." said the child, "Now let's go. Off to lunch, dad."
"Hey, it's not a big deal." Argo tried saying but Medeia was already pulling him away.
…
"So one left?" Momo chuckled.
"One left..." Azimuth sighed, "This one's going to suck..."