Rebirth of the Gold Dragon

The young woman's feet sunk into the icy dirt. The frosted fields were probably the only place in the North's capital left not overrun with metal. The only thing before her eyes were carved, wedged gravestones, littering the snow with black honour and fury. In fact, she swore she saw the grave of one whose proud family name was that of Black itself. But that name, proud as it was, was not the one occupying her mind. After all, the name one should be proudest of was one's own.

She looked at the (comparatively smaller) grave in front of her. She had, perhaps, laid too many wisteria flowers of her own at the grave's foot. But how could she not? The carved name – "Wisteria Kuang" – was naturally carved into her own mind.

"Ma," the young woman slowly whispered, "I'm sorry to say I...won't be able to visit you anymore. Not for a while."

She took the chilly air into her warm lungs. Her left metal fingers twitched and clenched. She wasn't going to cry anymore. Evidently, her tears had been exhausted over the past few off days, very generously given to her.

"You understand, right?" She almost laughed, "Duty calls. It's the least I can do. It's the only thing I can do..."

A memory flashed in the young woman's mind. At her old home, the days of grieving one were given towards their parents were much, much longer. That, and annual visits and payments of respects, was typically looked upon as more honourable than any amount of work or achievement one could muster up.

But that was all in the past. That was all when the young woman was a naive child – naive enough to believe her brother or her father would, being soldiers as they were, end up dying valiantly and honourably for their city, and not be incompetently thrust into an unprepared fight, or tossed aside like common garbage...

Everything in the past comes and leaves without a trace. Peace, homes, dreams, family...

"And besides, I'm the only one left with the Kuang name..."

In the distance, she could hear the grinding and the clanking of metal from the factories. The sound triggered another, more recent memory. And so in her right hand, she gripped her halberd, the Huang Long, tighter than ever…

It was then that she turned briefly to look behind her. Her co-worker Almedha was previously standing aside, just giving her a bit of the time she needed. Now, she approached her grieving comrade, putting the one human hand she had left on her shoulder.

"I know that parting from loved ones is always hard, but I also believe that they never want to see us mourning in sorrow and grief forever...”

The young woman nodded once, hesitantly. The Warmonger removed her hand from the cold shoulder.

“Come on, the old man wanted to discuss something with you."

“Just…just one more thing…”

The former daughter turned, and stood at attention before the grave in front of her one last time.

“You have done your part well, teaching me,” she declared with a low, stark voice, “And I will carry on your work and our name. I can promise you that…”

It had been quite some time since she stepped into her leader’s office. She had largely forgotten what it looked like – but to be honest, it didn’t really matter. There the Iron King was, gazing down at her with eyes of silver and red. Even the sight of his metal purple ‘suit’ was enough to make her shiver a little. She gripped the seams of her golden cape, which right then and there seemed wavering and weak in comparison. So instinctively, she looked around the office anyway.

His office was surprisingly small, considering the rank of the man who held it...if, indeed, he could even be called as such anymore. Walter Black was no stranger to the views held by many regarding his existence as a being of metal and bone, but like everything else born of such fancies, he ignored them. Besides, a larger office was far less defensible, not to mention inconvenient for someone who preferred to keep things within arm's reach. He knew other CARDINALs had far larger arrangements, but then they all hated each other anyway, so far be it for him to waste time comparing.

"Kuang Jin Bai." He said finally, steam hissing from exhaust ports on his neck. "It Has Been Some Time, Hasn't It?"

That booming voice... she could only nod slightly back.

"Indeed," she nonetheless replied strongly, "I...can't thank you enough for how generous you've been to me these past few days, Mr Walter."

Speaking those words, she once again remembered how she initially thought those days to be unbearably short, considering where she once came from. Now she really knew the gravity of having just one competent worker being lost... and therefore how surprising it was the Iron King still chose to let her grieve for as long as she did.

But of course, that was all in the past now. There were more pertinent matters at hand.

"I'll see to it that I resume my duties immediately," she quickly added, "Once I know what else it is you require of me is."

If the Iron King noticed her discomfort, he gave no sign of it. The girl had only recently lost the last living member of her family after all, and if nothing else, that was a pain he knew better than he cared to admit.

...from a more pragmatic point of view, however, there was the fact that the WBRO had also lost one of their finest R&D specialists at a time where they could ill-afford such setbacks.

While the idea of saddling one so young with even more demands did not sit truly comfortably with him...Walter had to admit, her extensive experience with the more practical use of the WBRO's arsenal might prove even more formidable than her departed mother's prowess.

The tabletop before him lit up with holographic lines, a variety of files materializing.

"Miss Kuang Jin Bai." He said flatly. "What Is Your Opinion Of The WBRO's Long-Range Artillery To Date?"

The question certainly took the young soldier back by chance. For a few seconds, her tongue flustered hesitantly.

"Well...um, if you would forgive any insolence from myself..."

Deep breath. She cleared her throat once before gazing back into those red eyes, and spoke as starkly as her stance.

"Their actual calibre is definitely formidable. The decision to mix traditional gunpowder and chemicals with the arcane elements we found was undeniably a step in the right direction. However, I've seen their typical operations, and I do feel like their coordination is severely lacking. Be it the lack of any real standard mode of operation, or just because of transportation issues, I do think much, much more must be done if we are to really instil a fear of our artillery in our enemies' ranks..."

The Iron King was silent for several moments, the lightless red eyes staring at the fidgeting girl.

Finally:

"Correct answer." He rumbled. "Thus far, mobile artillery and long range fire support has been one of our few stumbling points when deployed to the field. To date, we have simply worked around that with exceptionally strong mechanized infantry and attack units, led by individuals who specialize in that breed of warfare. Unfortunately-"

He leaned forward.

"This type of strategy is one whose time is limited, as once my fellow CARDINALs begin to find ways to build up their own forces, we will begin to lose more than we gain. The simple fact of the matter is that I find myself in the position of requiring someone to fill the post of Artillery Commander, a dedicated overseer of our long-range/heavy weapons department."

The table lit up again, this time showing blueprints and schematics all too familiar to Jin Bai.

"Your mother's work in that field remains exceptionally valuable, and your own contributions are far from insignificant themselves. In addition to this, I have reports from several field units which you were assigned to support while conducting field tests, and all are favourable. In short..."

The Iron King steepled his fingers, coolly sizing up the girl in the gold cloak.

“I wish to offer you a promotion, Miss Kuang Jin Bai, and a seat among my generals."

"W-wha...?"

Once again the young soldier took a step back. Her gold cape shivered a little in the heavy air.

"Z-zh...I mean, really?" Her tongue slipped back into her native language for a second before she could even utter, "I-I-I... I cou--"

Looking back into those piercing red eyes, Jin Bai halted her words. "I couldn't", she was about to say, out of perhaps an old, knee-jerk modesty. But she immediately remembered how foolish that was. There was no need, nor time of day given, for mere facades of false humility. Not here in the North.

She once more looked over the computerized board, and the models of the WBRO's handicrafts. Yes, a lot of their designs were the success of her mother, and she herself was taught of how to similarly replicate such beauties. But to think that then, standing alone, it would all fall under her hands, and their names unchanging...

Everything in the past comes and leaves without a trace.

Or at least, that is what mortals who believe themselves to be gods would like to believe. But that was simply folly.

History is frozen, unchanging, and thus never truly gone.

Those were words her father once indoctrinated into her. At the time, she believed it to just be a warning against ignorance and failing to learn from mistakes of the past.

But at that moment, perhaps the young woman finally understood the true meaning of those words.

The name of the Kuang clan, and their far-from-obsolete machines of war...if Kuang Jin Bai were to claim this position given to her, then those very symbols, even in the face of the evils and incompetence of the wretched ones...

She too could make them frozen, unchanging, and eternally present.

The clan from which she was born into had an ancient family motto...one she couldn't remember as a child, but right then as a soldier—no, a General, her tongue mustered enough memory to whisper.

“The official dies in Haixue Hall. The warrior dies in defence of the fort.”

As she uttered, she looked over the board once more. Over her new Hall, over her new fort. And the Iron King, without any error, saw that as she observed, she smiled – an almost sinister smile, devoid of childish innocence. And with that hardened smile came the final, worthy reply.

General Kuang. She always dreamed of being called that as a youth, but she never really thought of what she would do or say once she finally got the title.

Having it now, and taking such huge strides over the metal bridges, she was trembling, but not with fear. The clanking of her metal feet, and the tapping of Huang Long’s tip against the beaten path, was somehow not drowned out by the whirring of cogs and the hissing of steam in the factory.

As she advanced, she turned back once. The Warmonger was following her close behind.

“Make haste, Miss Almedha!” She did not request, but rather urged, “There’s a most important task at hand.”

"Easy, easy...” came the reply with no shortage of sarcasm, “Man, your height seems to equal your patience."

Despite that short patience, the two eventually did reach the end of the bridge. Jin Bai immediately shuffled over to the edge of the railings and looked down below. The manufacturing areas she once traversed, crawling with both man and metal workers and molten lava, looked so much different from above.

She stared in wonder, for a few seconds longer than she perhaps should have. The only thing taking her out of her stupor was the loud moan of Almedha behind, stretching her human hand. Her voice was still clear, though her eyes looking elsewhere.

"You definitely seem ambitious,” she begun again, “That’s good. However, as a word advice from someone who's been in the business longer: Never make empty promises. Let strong words be followed by even stronger actions. If your unit finds out that you're nothing but a small windbag, your presence will cause more loss than win."

That was true. Jin Bai did not forget the immense pressure she had then, as a soldier-turned-General. It perhaps was rather… aggravating that she was indeed vertically challenged, and as young as an adult could be considered.

But while those things would have hampered her as a child, those hesitant emotions seemed to be lost and forgotten.

"Naturally...” Her confident reply came, “An army with nothing but pride is bound to lose. But one burning with indignation – that's the one I shall lead to victory..."

Her words projected that same confidence onto herself. She turned back again to face her fellow General, and did not hide it.

"Now...where's that crate I was supposed to stand on?"

And yet, the Warmonger only glanced back from the corner of her eye, before she responded with a loud chuckle.

“Hey, how about I let you sit on my shoulders instead?"

"N-no! Absolutely not--!"

…needless to say, the young woman recoiled at the idea, before clearing her throat and addressing her comrade with her prior calmness.

"I mean...no thanks."

The Warmonger could only crack a big grin, having witnessed her comrade’s sudden vulnerability. Immediately after, she grabbed a metallic plate and ripped it out of its place on the wall, with seemingly no effort.

As soon as she held the piece of plating in her human hand, it began to glow with a hot orange colour; and as soon as the entire piece was engulfed in that colour, it began to lose its shape and turn into a lump of molten metal.

However, in the next moment, it began to take a rhombic shape.

As the molten metal seemed to form and reshape itself, purely on Almedha's will alone, it continued to do so for a while longer, until it turned into a rhombic frame, with one side closed in – a sort of podium for the new General to stand on.

Waving it around for a bit, as if the frame has merely caught on fire, Almedha caused the deformed metal to cool down almost instantly. And then, she put it down.

“Knock yourself out,” she chuckled softer this time.

Jin Bai did have half a mind to ask how in the world her comrade was able to achieve that little stunt, but seeing a searing orange glint going over Almedha's eyes brought her mind back to the pertinent matter at hand.

So the General in Gold stepped up – and pleased to realize now her upper body was high above the metal railings of the bridge. As if overcome by an unknown sense of power, she smacked her signature halberd against the hard steel once more. If its ringing sound did not catch the attention of the workers below, then they could not have missed what followed after…

“All Artillery personnel, listen up!”

[BGM: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHNzPb… ]

Those of flesh and blood stopped and turned. Those who were only metal had their audio sensors well triggered, and likewise turned to face the source.

“As of today, I, Kuang Jin Bai, have been assigned as your Commander. Regardless of what perception you may have had of me before…I urge you to put it all aside, in light of what I am here to reinforce.”

There were murmurs regardless, but it only took another ringing of the halberd’s force to get the workers’ attention. Jin Bai took a small step forward.

“Due to the WBRO’s constant, heavy, and rightfully so focus on its Infantry forces, you might believe your work here to be menial, and of inconsequential use, especially considering some constant difficulties. However…”

She lifted the Huang Long from the ground, and thrusted it forward in the air.

“That is a grave mistake!”

Now the workers were all listening. They had to strain their heads to see their new Commander’s face, but certainly not their ears for her echoing voice.

“Look around at all you have put your hands to work for. Understand that we do not call our creations ‘machines of war’ without purpose! They were designed, specially crafted, to bring about war – the very war we use to crush the insipid political powers, and the rebellious imbeciles that surround us all!”

Another strike on the ground. The General’s face was becoming more visible to those below.

“But they grow anyway. And in the face of such tenacious forces, should we simply just neglect, and fail to improve the tools which could just as easily bring their fortresses down?”

A second of silence passed, before her voice became even more expansive.

“Should we?!”

The response was a resounding echo of determination. The soldiers will neither neglect nor fail.

That pleased the General. She stepped back down a bit, but continued to speak.

“Now, here is what shall happen: once the current wave of production is complete, I shall issue a new plan. However, this will not just simply be us doubling, or tripling our numbers. We shall also begin the planning, creation and testing of transportation machines and vehicles. I believe it is long overdue that we should find an effective method of overcoming the handicap of our artillery that has been plaguing our firepower for so long!”

Another wave of murmurs rose and fell. Jin Bai thought, and then interrupted them with another command.

“If you violently disagree with my proposition…then I will let your actions speak for your wishes, and see how it stands in the grand scheme of this order’s conquest.”

The murmurs became still again. This also somewhat pleased the General. And one final time, she pointed the Huang Long towards the cold horizon outside the metal walls.

“But if you continue to desire your duty, your role in this place, and against our foes…then I expect you to be at full readiness when the new plan is to be introduced. Is that understood?!”

More immediately than before, the soldiers collectively echoed affirmation. The General was fully appeased. She put down her weapon, and declared one last time,

“Carry on!”

The whirring of cogs and the hissing of steam enveloped the area once more. But now, Jin Bai looked over her own form of an army. The Artillery workers and personnel were never slacking or apathetic per se, but now, with just a few simple words she didn’t think she would ever be able to say, they were all moving about with more determination, fighting in their own way.

A faint cold chill swept the factory. Jin Bai’s golden cape soared behind her stark figure. And as the amber light of the fires and molten lava below burned forevermore, so did the General’s silver eyes.

Once more, the General in Gold grinned.

Even with none of her blood family left behind… no, their names, their successes…

They will never truly die, indeed.

Many dragons were slain over the past few years. But there in the icy north, there amidst the WBRO’s mighty conquest over war itself…

"H-Hey! Alyss!"

The door to Visionary Requiem's main office burst open. The young President lifted her head from the mountain of papers at the mention of her name. She was very much on the verge of spitting out an entirely annoyed 'what now?', but the faces of those who ran in worried her.

"Damn you, Honda, don't just—!"

Misaka Akimoto, her helpful Vice-President, was for once following someone else, if evidently reluctantly and furiously. Running frantically in front of her was the organization's relic master and arms handler, Miyuki Honda. The latter ignored the VP's protests, straightening her black fedora down as she marched up to her young leader's desk. It was at about that point Misaka just gave up and marched up to her own unofficial spot next to her leader's desk,

"O-oh," Alyss tried to hide any feeling of being overwhelmed, "What's up guys?"

She somewhat regretted asking, as Miyuki began rolling out words like a car motor.

"Okay, I hate to interrupt you right now, but look, after your last operation against the whatever west syndicate place, my spy cameras picked up something really juicy. You gotta see this!"

The arms handler shoved a picture onto the pile of papers. Observing it with apprehension, the young President could see the backdrop of the Oedipus Syndicate's corporate buildings (which, despite the printing quality, still somehow looked completely dull and colourless).

Amidst all the captured smoke and madness, though, Miyuki had rather insistently drawn a circle in bright red marker around a certain point of concern. And with just a bit of inspection, Alyss began to understand why the sight might have worried her friend.

"Those are cannons and...the like, right?"

"Definitely long-range, anti-air, and god knows what else," the arms handler nodded with a snarl, "Someone's trying to one-up you at your own game, boss."

"Well you know, super large artillery was never one of my priorities to get in terms of explosives!"

Alyss laughed as she spoke, but even she was not convinced of her own supposed calmness. Misaka bent down and brought the photograph back into focus.

"In any case, this isn't something we should brush off easily. The Oedipus Syndicate has always been brutal in our scuffles, but this is something a little too different from what we're all used to."

"If I had to guess," The young President's voice began to fall, "Those probably aren't their own, but from the North..."

"The North?" Miyuki maintained her indigence, "You mean those capitalist jackasses from that World Bureau of order and crap?"

Alyss nodded. Looking over the grey machines in the photograph, she too felt a looming weight over her shoulders.

"They haven't had any problems with us alone, but I know from Division scuffles that they're a fearsome bunch, and they are pretty cordial allies with the West. And when we take into account their predominant corporate control over machinery in this world..."

The room became oddly chilly, and dead silent, if only for a few seconds. The two women stood over their young leader’s desk in anticipation. Somewhat suddenly, the young President merely jolted her head up and smiled.

"Well, thanks for telling me this anyway, Miyuki. I'll see what we can do to prepare for any unprecedented confrontations in the future!"

Miyuki only nodded, but very hesitantly. As if to express similar worries and doubts, Misaka turned to gaze at her leader in her widened red eyes.

"Can we, now?"

She knew from experience Alyss did not like to either worry or doubt, even in a dire situation like this. But the words she heard were not those she expected.

"If anything..."

There was a strange fire dancing in those red eyes. The Red Bomber lowered her head, and laughed softly once more.

"These cross-clashes are going to be...interesting."