"So, how do you kill one? Do you target the head or…?"
"N-no. W-we primarily target the chest, the heart region."
The veteran replied, though hesitant before steadying his composure a little.
"E-enough of that. C-could you… come with us? We, um, need to take you into custody for questioning."
Usually they wouldn't ask so politely to take someone in and would just beat the brakes off the person and drag them in…
But when the person you're facing is someone who shrugs off bullets and can fly, usual procedures aren't applicable.
"Hm. Uh sure. Why not."
Kaelis wasn't about to give them a hard time seeing as they were doing their job.
"Alright come this way."
"Ah, send word to lord Yomogawa."
"Right!"
With kaelis following behind, they descended down the station's outer wall allowing him to have a better view of the infrastructures.
Though the first thing that hit him was the smell.
Steam and oil.
Pipes ran everywhere, rattling and hissing like overworked radiators.
Workers clanged around with giant wrenches, tightening bolts, shoving coal into furnaces.
Everything looked heavy, oversized, like someone had taken industrial scraps and threw them together into working machines.
He slowed his steps, frowning. Steam tech… really? That's the best they've got?
Back home, on earth, even the cheapest generator could power a whole house.
Here, ten men were breaking their backs just to keep a boiler alive.
He passed by a team shoveling coal into a glowing furnace, their shirts soaked with sweat.
Kaelis shook his head. All that effort, and for what? If they had an internal combustion engine, they wouldn't need half this nonsense.
A soldier walked by carrying one of their steam-rifles. Kaelis's eyes tracked it, and his lips twitched into a wry half-smile.
The thing was massive—pipes, valves, a tank strapped to the poor guy's back.
He looked at the back of the soldiers who were escorting him and saw the same contraption.
He never actually looked at it before now and getting a close up look at them… they look terrible.
It looked more like a plumber's toolkit than a weapon.
One modern assault rifle would wipe the floor compared to that oversized nail gun, Kaelis thought.
And it looks like one valve cracks? Boom. No gun. Just dead weight.
The deeper he went, the more the place felt like a cage.
Iron walls loomed high, reinforced with beams and barbed wire.
People moved under them like ants in a hive, their shoulders hunched, their faces tired.
Kids playing in the alleys, but even their laughter sounded thin, nervous.
Nobody here seemed really relaxed.
Man… this is just a castle with extra steps, he thought. Sure, it keeps the monsters out—but if those things ever get in? Everyone's trapped.
At the platform, Kaelis stopped in front of an armored train.
The soldier in front saw this and stepped forward, chest puffed out, and gestured toward the massive armored train resting on the tracks.
"This," he said, voice carrying just enough pride to mask the exhaustion in his eyes,"is the Kotetsujo."
"Our lifeline, our moving fortress. It hauls supplies, troops, and anyone lucky enough to make it inside these walls. You see that steel plating? Won't let a single Kabane claw through."
The thing was massive, plates of steel bolted onto its sides, smoke coughing from its stack.
He crossed his arms, smirking faintly. "I've seen better."
"Huh?"
If they had even a single tank, or hell, a helicopter, they'd be doing laps around these Kabane.
Instead… they've tied their entire survival to train tracks. Break the rails, and it's game over.
A little sigh slipped out of him then he muttered. "Kind of impressive, but still… bleak."
A while later they arrived at the holding area for suspected threats.
"Please wait here sir. My subordinate has gone to inform Lord Yomogawa."
They gave him a stool to sit on while they dispersed leaving 2 other soldiers to stay behind.
Looking around, kaelis saw quite a number of people locked up in wooden cages and looking ragged.
Though one stood out to him.
"Hey kid, what's your name?"
He called out to a kid with thick messy, light blonde-green hair.
From his attire, he looks like he works alongside the other steam people he came saw before—light green hoodie, blue robes, a dark-grey belt as well as black sandals.
"…What is it?" The kid responded with a question.
"I asked for a name, kid. Name." Kaelis said.
"Oh ah, it's um, it's ikuma."
"Ikuma huh. Well, the names Kaelis, Kaelis Valeblade. So what are you here for?" kaelis asked.
The kid seemed like the quiet type, not the ones who usually get in trouble.
"I uh. I tried to save someone."
"Save…someone?" Huh?
"Fill me in on that, will you."
Elsewhere while Kaelis was hearing Ikuma's story, the soldier who was supposed to carry the news about Kaelis's appearance was filling the Yomogawas in on the situation.
"A man who was seen flying? Are you sure you were not hallucinating?"
"Yes lord Yamogawa, I'm quite sure. I was not the only one who saw him, sir."
In a wide open area room at the lord's mansion quite a ways from the holding area sat the Yomogawa's family head conversing with the soldier.
"Sir, he is currently in the holding area with guards awaiting further instructions. What should we do, my lord?"
"Hm…"
The idea of a person flying and not being a kabane might be absurd but as the governor of Aragame station, he must investigate and confirm whether the information is true.
"If this person is as you say, how come you were able to apprehend him?"
A man in white outfit asked.
"Yes. How did you catch him?" Lord Yomogawa questioned.
"We didn't catch him sir. He was quite compliant throughout the whole ordeal. He even asks questions about the kabanes… as though it's his first time seeing them."
This information sparked curiosity in everyone.
"Was he living under a rock by chance?" Yomogawa's head murmured.
Few more murmurs coursed through the room as one individual, a small girl who looks no older than 15 began shifting and left the room.
Likely heading for the holding area.
After a couple more rounds murmuring, Yamogawa head decided to meet this strange fellow.
"Mister Shimon… If that is all there is to be discussed between us, this meeting shall end here."
He addressed the man in white before turning to the soldier, "lead the way."
"Yes sir!"
BOOM!!
"WHAT!!?"
"WHAT IS THAT!!?"
A huge explosion rang out startling everyone in the room.
They immediately ran outside to see smoke rising from the front gates at the station's entrance.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Eeek! Uuuugh!"
"Waaahhh!"
Screams rang out with people wailing, and running for their lives and loved ones.
"What's going on!?" A young man with a katana asked one of the people who came from that area.
"Kabane! They're everywhere!"
"What!?"
Chapter 2 end