Remix Visions: Indestructible

It is a song she heard as a child in her previous life, even before her flying wings had grown. Almost a hundred years before she was born, it was written by a band named Disturbed, but she doesn't remember that part.

First the sounds of an ancient battle fill her ears, ancient even by the standards she was used to as a Featherwing, although today she can't help but imagine the characteristic final cry of the creature she forgets is called an "Imp" or the discharge buzz of her super-cannon [BFG 9000] The sounds of her kind flapping through the air, and the ancient cry of an airstrike warning siren.

She walks up to the wall on the other side of the West Wood, very easily keeping her bearings this cloudless night. Even without the moon, stars, and watch, she could find her way back by a series of distinctive trees she looked at for that purpose. She was compelled to come here, knowing that she was going to return. She stares purposefully at it, then begins to sing her song.

"Another mission: the powers have called me away
Another time to carry the colors again
My motivation: An oath I've sworn to defend
To win the honor of coming back home again

"No explanation will matter after we begin
Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within
My true vocation, and now my unfortunate friend"

She defiantly points her finger at the wall, remembering, even as those ancient forces of darkness obviously won her war. No power can stand up to The Saviour.

"You will discover a war you're unable to win"

"I'll have you know
That I've become
Indestructible"

Her wings begin to glow, starting to outshine her halo ... maybe she hasn't noticed.

"Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"

A straight bolt of light flies straight up out of her body into the sky for a few seconds. She starts pacing back and forth in front of the wall, either ignoring or encouraged by this light. It fades as she continues to sing.

"Another reason, another cause for me to fight
Another fuse uncovered for now for me to light
My dedication to all that I've sworn to protect
I carry on my orders with not a regret "

She reaches over and strokes her own wings while she continues to sing:

"A declaration embedded deep under my skin
A permanent reminder of how we began
No hesitation when I am commanding the strike
You need to know that you're in for the fight of your life"

The glow starts again.

"You will be shown
How I've become..."

Flashes in several directions accompany the song's title word

"Indestructible"

She starts pointing her arms and gesturing, to see how much command she has over this new light.

"Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"

For thirty six seconds she is silent, listening to the song in her head. She realizes that the light she now wields is combatting the darkness of the night, and the evil just on the other side of the badly deteriorated wall. She figure that it's probably been neglected because of the delta radiation seeping through it. Suddenly sensing that the evil she chants against is trying to regroup, she holds out her arms and continues to sing:

"I'm Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I am indestructible, indestructible"

She reaches out and plants both hands flat on the face of the wall, singing ever more loudly, commanding her light through the wall to the other side. She has no idea what she's battling. The light swirls off her fingers, along and through the wall.

"Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible"

The light is somehow repairing the wall in front of her. She spreads her arms wide in front of the wall, commanding her light to repair the entire height in front of her.

"Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"

On the other side of the wall is a frustrated and mortally injured Hogosho, a modern evolution of the ancient Guardian, Tatakai could so easily defeat on the wing with BFGs and rocket launchers. This Hogosho had built in eyes, and was by her reckoning, entirely invulnerable to any weapon she had previously encountered. But she hadn't previously encountered this. She had been ramming herself against this part of the wall for well over a year, learning from the Toga that it was not inhabited on the other side. She thought the Haibane were harmless, especially these little girls, scared not just of the wall itself, but of the woods between it and their home. The Hogosho had been looking forward to a feathery snack, curious as to how similar they might be to the extinct Featherwing creatures that almost wiped them out at Armageddon.

She collapses, dying in front of the intact wall, twitching and groaning. She realizes as she slips out of consciousness, that there was only one power left that could have defeated her at all, let alone so easily: that of The Savior.

........

Menmo catches up to the ancient warrior first, rather surprised to see Tatakai standing there in front of the wall. Kurai is next.

"You're still here!" she cries.

Tatakai scoffs, "What? Where else would I be?"

Menmo explains, "The light we saw looked just like a Day of Flight. We thought you had left us forever. I was a little skittish because you've only been with us for two months."

Shinomi catches up, then gasps, "Oh my! They fixed it!"

Tatakai turns and asks in an almost disgusted tone, "Who's they?"

Shinomi says, "The Toga, I think."

Tatakai turns back to the wall and says, "I fixed it myself ... with help from the Savior, of course. The enemy was damaging it on the other side, so I sent some light through the wall." Then she asks Kurai, "Do you know your way around that herb garden? ... I have a nasty case of delta radiation poisoning. Something was trying to get through ... perhaps I'll never know what."