Darling in the FranXX: The Lost Prodigy

Chapter 29: Reaching for the Kosmos

Plantation 1

The Nines sit in their private lounge located inside Plantation 1, the site where APE plans to make their final move once Hringhorni has wiped out the last of the Klaxosaurs. The laid back and relaxed atmosphere the Nines typically have at times like these is nowhere to be found, instead it is replaced by an almost eerie silence as they pass the time there until the proximity alert calls them for deployment.

Delta and Gamma were god-knows-where and they aren't allowed to search for them. They threw themselves in Squad 13's way so that their squad could escape with Strelizia and this is how Papa rewards them. To top it all off, there is a new special forces group that looks to be a replacement for the Nines, the Spectres.

Alpha sits on one of the couches, staring blankly at the ceiling and pondering about the things you told him. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. From the moment he could think, he was taught that as long as one was of use to Papa, that they would be taken care of. What did Delta and Epsilon being discarded mean for the rest of the Nines? Alpha doesn't know. Frankly, a part of him doesn't want to know. Everything that you warned him of back when he visited you in your cell had come to pass, more or less.

But there was one more thing Alpha needed to know, and he might as well do it now while he still has access.

Getting up from the couch, he makes a beeline towards the door, which immediately slides open once he is close enough.

"Hey, Alpha," Beta calls out to him, "Where are you going?"

Alpha stops in the door but doesn't turn around. He doesn't want to trouble Beta and Gamma even more now with information that could be false but he'll tell them later if it turns out to be true.

"I'll take a walk," he replies, "This sitting around is growing boring."

As Alpha walks through the Plantation's hallways, he reflects on his life. Besides Papa, the only constant in his life has been his squad, the Nines. They've always had each other's backs in their countless fights, and now Papa just discarded two of them like they held no more value than any other Parasite.

Eventually, Alpha reaches his intended destination, the Plantation's archives. He holds his hands in front of the scanner that is located right of the door, which turns green after recognizing his ID as a Nine. Upon entering, the light automatically switches on and he walks up to the nearest terminal to look for the answer to the question that is stuck in his head. He always had access to this information but there was never any reason to look into it because he never doubted Papa, until now...

XXXXXX

After meeting with the Klaxosaur Princess and the mass of information you received, Squad 13 returned to base for a good night's rest. You're just glad to be back where you belong and are frankly amazed at how fast your teammates went out to rescue you, consequences be damned. Everyone was glad to have you back.

The following morning was spent on a long briefing to discuss your strategy for infiltrating Kosmos station and destroying Hringhorni, which was docked to it.

The first step was to hijack a shuttle that is capable of reaching Kosmos station. The fastest and easiest way for that would be to go back to Plantation 13, which was now abandoned and can also serve as another base for you. Since Umbra was still in APE's network, he can simply add your shuttle to the schedule and get the necessary codes to get through their checks.

However, one problem is that every shuttle going to Kosmos station is scanned before landing. This way, APE ensures that anything that could pose a threat to them never reaches the station, shooting anything down that fails this security check. In other words, any Umbra unit on board your shuttle would be detected and shot down unless the Umbra units were inactive.