Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Step step step…/

Immediately after he read Mei's text, Dale got up from his seat, making way to the gate.

His expression was a mix of anger and tiredness, but no helplessness.

If anything, he was sorry for these normal workers to have been put in the middle of his path.

"Excuse me." He said as he approached one of the security officers

"That's a bummer... May I ask why?"

'I barely even said anything.'

"The Orbital Craft has already been loaded and it's about to be shot, for the safety of every…"

But Dale interrupted the man before he could finish:

"This means I don't have much time… Would it be possible for me to come to an understanding with the passenger?"

"... Even if possible, we can't do much anymore sir, the Craft has already been loaded." The guard said as he shook his head

"So not only was the flight taken over without prior announcement, it was also loaded without any sort of notification or delay?"

"..."

"Fine then… He can't blame me for not having tried." He mumbled to himself as his eyes turned red

"Sir?..."

/Thud!/

The moment they did so, all of the security officers in front of the Gate collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Without waiting a single second, Dale began walking, Mei right behind him with a flabbergasted and pale expression as she noticed what had just happened.

/Din!/

[All ASP, please converge on Gate, Blue-A3!]

[I repeat, all ASP, please converge on Gate, Blue-A3]

Almost immediately after he began walking, loudspeakers began to echo around the airport, causing Mei's expression to turn even paler.

It was to be expected as there was likely no even a single spot in the entire airport that wasn't being monitored 24/7.

The moment the guards collapsed, security was called.

Of course, Dale did not care about them.

"M-Mr Houston…"

"Instead of talking to me, you should be contacting Roger, in fact, you're quite late if you hadn't done so already."

"If I remember correctly, he was the one who told me not to be late and the one who organized this trip, this also includes the fact he's paying for everything."

"If he isn't notified of what is happening here today, a situation that isn't your fault will end up ending as such, so make sure to contact him on time to rid yourself of such guilt."

"Before they close off all forms of communication."

"I…"

'I didn't want to contact him at first but he's absolutely right.'

'Sigh, who calls their CEO to such mundane problems?... I was too complacent.'

'I underestimated his decisiveness and recklessness… How did things even…'

Mei stopped talking midway through her words as she raised her hands and began typing furiously, making a call soon after.

Meanwhile, Dale reached the end of his back, pushing a set of double doors, coming face to face with a large, pod-like structure, floating in the middle of two gigantic metallic pillars.

He was now atop a suspended platform, a dozen or so meters above the ground, definitely not the place a civilian should be.

Beneath him, a ground of pure concrete awaited him…

'That must be the Orbital Craft, it looks rather sleek, even more so than the others I saw on the internet, it must be an expensive newer model.'

'I can understand now why the guard said that, it's impossible to load it back onto the ground for me to get in on time.'

'There is also the inner pressurization process and other systems that need time to stabilize, canceling them just to have another passenger enter would delay the process who knew how long, but enough for them to go out of schedule since they prevented me from entering.'

/Grab…/

"Mr Houston?..."

'Not that I care about their schedule, even if I can't go to South America today, I'll make sure whoever prevented me from such cannot either.' He thought as he jumped down from the suspended platform holding Mei in his arms

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

She began screaming like a little girl, but before she knew it, she had already been put on the ground and Dale was now a dozen meters ahead of her, walking to the Orbital Craft.

Her face turned a bit red as she realized how overly dramatic she had been... Or maybe that was just because she lost too much air.

"Huff… Huff…"

'I need some time to breathe…'

"If you take too long the Police will get you and things will become annoying." Dale said out loud without turning back

"A-Alright…"

'How did things even get like this… What am I doing?...' She thought as she adjusted her glasses

"Was there any reply from the old man?"

"Not... Not yet, he must be busy, as to be expected."

'To call Roger old man...'

"Then you better pray he answers fast, else things will get…"

/SIREN!/

/SIREN!/

As he said that, they were surrounded by several floating armored cars.

In the air, several drones could be seen, some even armed.

'Looks like they brought quite the security, I'm honored, to think they would treat a "crazy" civilian like this.'

As he thought about that, one of the drones floated down to his eye level, and a hologram containing a series of large words began flashing in front of him:

[YOU'RE TRANSPASSING INTO A PERSONNEL ONLY AREA!]

[FOR YOUR SAFETY, RAISE YOUR HANDS AND DROP TO THE GROUND]

[I REPEAT, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST, RAISE YOUR HANDS AND…]

/Rolls eyes/

Dale didn't even finish reading the letters, he immediately grabbed the drone and swiped it to the side.

/BOOOOOM!/

The sound barrier shook as the drone vanished from everyone's eyes, colliding with another drone midair, causing both to vaporize as their chunks scattered across the air and ground.

""...""

"Hum..."

While everyone tried to figure out what had just happened, Dale yawned:

'Sigh… I think Tina's training has done something to me, my anger issues have only become worse over time.'

'As for this situation... I'll just leave it to Roger to settle.'

'I'm not bound by their oaths or whatever so it doesn't matter how much trouble I cause anyway, my priority isn't the real... This world anymore.'

Looking at the sight of several dozen armored personnel holding rifles and aiming them at him, Dale could only feel a sense of self-loathing for the situation he instilled.

But at the same time, he couldn't feel even the tiniest bit of a threat or fear from it, as if he was looking at children with toy guys… No, in a sense, children were more dangerous.

"Hm…"

"... Mr Houston?"

"You called?" Dale asked as he turned around

"M… Haa… Mr Roger just replied. Well, his assistant did." Mei said as she exhaled loudly, trying to recover her bearings

"Oh? Good, and what did he say?"

"... He told you to not cause any trouble and that he would solve it on his end…"

"That's already a bit too late."

'How did he know I would cause trouble? Is it due to my past record?' He thought as he scratched his chin

'Alright, I understand now…'

/Step…/

Without caring about the rest, Dale made his way to the Orbital Cannon. .

"W-Wait! Mr Houston!..."

"If we don't get closer to the Orbital Cannon we won't have the time to board it even if Roger pulls out a solution."

"The Cannon and most of the Airport's operations are controlled by an AI, so as long as everything is within its parameters, it'll take off just fine."

"B-But wouldn't that be dangerous? The Cannon is…"

"The Cannon won't take off as long as it detects someone's presence within its risk zone, it won't even take off if a bird flies too close to its tracks."

"Isn't that the case?"

"... Yes…" She said meekly

"Then follow me, I'll get us there."

"..."

…

/Step step…/

As they walked, they slowly approached the barrier erased by the police.

No matter how much they screamed for them to stop or raise their hands, Dale paid them little to no attention, opting to 'peacefully' pass by them.

He may destroy a drone without putting in a though, but a person or something else.

Of course, that wasn't how the officers saw his actions.

/BAM!/

So the moment he got too close, they shot a tazer bullet right on his chest!

"..."

/Swipe…/

""...""

But instead of feeling anything, Dale just dusted his chest as he pulled the tazer's pins, feeling a bit sad he now had a hole in his blazer.

Mei asked if he was alright but Dale only looked as tired as ever, as if this barely did anything to even wake him up from his tiredness.

In a sense, after facing countless challenges back at Resko, Dale was beginning to lose his grip over reality and what was considered a serious issue, as to him, this was less than child's play.

He barely even felt anything, not even a tickle.

...

/Meanwhile.../

"Dammit, what the hell is that guy?!" One of the Police Officers exclaimed out loud as he thought about what to do

'Is it some sort of protective vest underneath the blazer? What even happened to that darned drone?!'

"Any response from the QDIT? What about his equipment? Anything to look out for?" He asked as he turned to a police officer holding a tablet

"Not really, he's not wearing anything special… Aside from what it's on his luggage."

"What's on his luggage?"

"... Take a look." He said as he turned the tablet to the middle age officer

"... What the… Are you serious?"

/Din!/

"Hm? Finally a response from base." The officer said out loud as he held his radio communicator

"... Yes… Uhum… Understood, it shall be done…" He said as his expression went from serious to extreme and utter confusion

'... What the fuck did I just hear?'

"Sir? How should we proceed, the offender is approaching our location."

"... Get all units to return."

"Pardon?..."

"I said… GET ALL THE FUCKING UNITS TO RETURN!!"

"UNDERSTOOD!"

"..."

After screaming, the middle-aged man gazed at Dale as he slowly approached them, and a feeling of mystery and confusion passed by his eyes.

But as he remembered some codes and rules her learned as he grew into his profession, he shook his head as he got inside his car, lifting his radio communicator again.

"Have a unit follow him as per regulations… Yes, you got it right… Don't ask questions, I don't know the answers… Over."

"F... Sigh."

He had the urge to scream another profanity but he knew everything was being recorded so in the end, he chose to keep his mouth shut or else he would receive an earful from the Commander.

/Drive…/

And just like that, all of the police officers surrounding Dale scattered, leaving behind only he, a Mei, and a small group of armed officers following them from behind.

In silence, they quickly arrived at the foot of the Orbital Craft.

Several lights kept beeming, mostly red, likely they AI trying to signalize something was wrong...

The operators back at the Control Tower were likely having quite the good time...

Back to Dale, a small emergency letter quickly lowered for them to climb.

Following through, they reached the emergency exit, a smooth fortified red door...

/Tch… Clink… Shuaaa…/

Under a cacophony of sounds, the door slowly opened, and cold gas began to seep outside as the figure of a man formed within the mist.

The troublemaker that caused all of this mess.

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Notes

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