Resonance of the Stars: The Beginning

The Sonarqa Nebula is home to a series of oppressed planets and peoples, across these planets lie people who are ready to give in and end their own lives.

However, there are also those who are willing to fight to the bitter end, these are the ones who realize the hidden power their homes possess.

The people of the Sonarqa Nebula are unique. Their very essence is able to resonate with the particles that make up their galaxy, transmuting Resonarks, mechanized emobodiments of their hearts and souls.

Resonarks are not simple devices to control, however. They respond entirely based on their pilot's emotional state and personal convictions. If a pilot becomes faint of heart, their Resonark will be almost entirely useless.

With all of these things being learned over time, those who have become Resonark pilots must work in secret and attempt to overthrow the tyranny that has overtaken their homes.

We now take our first step into the eyes of our heroes on the field of battle, where they meet for the very first time as a team...

----------

A hail of missile fire and explosions rained down around Lucas Wynne in the black void of space, the stars of the night sky burning brightly around him. Each explosion racked his thin frame with pain as he was bounced around inside the body of his mighty Resonark.

He panted, attempting to catch his breath as sweat dripped from his mangy brown locks.

"Come on, Xander, we can get through this..."

With that, Lucas forced himself to lurch forward, his Resonark's fist smashing through an enemy mech. Gaining momentum, he backpedalled and began to strafe, firing a volley of targeting missiles from his shoulders.

"I will NOT submit!"

With each shot fired, a memory would flash through Lucas's mind, and eventually those memories began to form pictures, and those pictures began to form stories.

From the moment Lucas was born, he was a kind hearted rebel. He lived the idea of optimism, refusing to relinquish his hopes for the future.

All of that changed as the years went on, however. Every year the brutality his family suffered would worsen, and every year the future seemed more bleak. His twentieth birthday was well on it's way, and it seemed like Lucas Wynne would fade into the background of history like so many before him.

Then the fire came.

Blazing inferno, fiery hatred, searing rage. All of these things boiled into Wynne's mind, and they took form in the mighty Xanderfall.

Xanderfall gave Lucas the power he had so greatly desired, and the opportunity to the change the world that he so greatly needed, above all, it gave him a reason to live.

So Lucas Wynne, age 19, took to the stars, in search of adventure, justice, and revolution.

----------

The explosions rocked the nothingness of the void around Zachary "Zero" Zimmer. The young man smiled like a mad man.

"Come on Kyuu! Blast them all to PIECES!!!" Zero yelled at his Resonark.

-FlashBack-
It had been strange for Zero. His resonark had appeared when his hatred and rage over took him. He had been looking for his best friend Lucas. while searching he was told Lucas had died. He got angry and vowed vengeance. Surrounded bye enemy mechs in a standard phantom battle space jet he new he had no chance but he kill them all anyway. For his friend.

It was sudden as a missile ripped through the jets hull he heard a growl and he was enveloped in red light. When he opened his eyes he was inside of an odd metal fox with nine tails that were as sharp as swords.

He suddenly spoke to himself. "KyuuKenBi give me your strength!"

and his days as a resonark pilot began.

-Present-

Zero saw it in the distance another resonark.

'That must be the Xanderfall' Zero thought.

"Lets go Kyuu full speed ahead!"

and so Zero raced to the side of his old friend.

----------

"And yet another falls to the Goddess of Death Shiira." This was the prayer Kyuba Genrei said after his enemies fell in battle. Kyuba was a Resonark pilot and a High Priest of the Knights of Shiira, the God of Death for Kyuba's people. From a young age Kyuba knew he was different, instead of feeling normal emotions like any average species, he only felt emptiness, a void not unlike space, cold and empty. That was until he discovered his favorite pastime. Kyuba received pleasure from the misery of others, and no pleasure was greater than when he took a life. When his dad found him standing over the corpse of the family dog he was immediately sent to the tutelage of the Order.

Under the guidance of the Priests of Shiira, Kyuba learned to harness his gifts for human slaughter and put them to use for the Goddess Shiira. As he killed his way through the ranks he learned the Dark Rights and Rituals until one day, after he had just finished killing his ultimate rival, a dark shadow surrounded him lifting him into the air. Suddenly out of his chest a dark torrent of energy erupted like lava. The lava started collecting a few feet away until it grew and grew and formed into a Resonark. It was jet black except for the head which seemed to resemble a skull and it wore a dark cloak around itself. Across its back was a giant black scythe.

In his mind he heard a voice which was almost like a song. He knew at once that this was the song of his own heart and the Goddess Shiira. This was his Resonark, a gift from his goddess. This was Kiri'Tas the Reaper.

Kyuba then joined the resistance, at the age of 23 to further the cause of his goddess.

-Present-

"So much death surrounds us Kiri'Tas. Can you feel it? The goddess smiles upon us." Kyuba willed his Resonark through the void of space killing one enemy after another leaving a trail of blood mechanical parts and death in his wake. Seeing no enemies in sight he decided to find his team mates, Lucas Wynne and Zero Zimmer, both partners, albeit unknowingly, in his quest to feed his Goddess's insatiable appetite for death and her unquenchable thirst for blood.

"Ah i can see Xander now. Let us be off."

----------

As the explosions continued around him, Lucas slowly inhaled and exhaled, ignoring the outside world and taking in nothing but what he required in order to focus, pure, calm energy.

He sensed the chaos and calamity his new teammates were causing, and tried to block it out. He always knew what to expect from Zero, but something about Kyuba always disturbed him. His love and fascination with death were dangerous signs, but as of now, he knew who the true threat was.

As the rest of his team formed on him, Lucas coughed up a bit of blood, his body still jarred from the violent rumbling of Xanderfall.

"Alright guys, let's take them down. We have our mission, it's time we finish it."

Lucas shut his eyes and focused once more on his environment, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

Soon, the thin glasses on his face began to glimmer in the light, and when Lucas opened his eyes, the lenses had become target commands.

Xanderfell's mighty arm was lifted into the heavens, and a beam coming from it's arm began to glow a radiant white light.

"Ready....Aim...."

With a single pull of the trigger, half of the enemy squadron had simply vanished, but to possible Resonark Pilots, and to those who were observant, it would be simple to tell they had been vaporized.

And with that, Lucas Wynne pushed his glasses up on his face, smirked, and began to charge forward.

"Move it!"

----------

Zero grinned. Good old Lucas. Except something was wrong.

"Damnit Lucas..." Zero said to himself. "Going over board again."

Zero had relized that the Xanderfall had flinched for a second. A sign that its pilot wasn't doing to hot.

"Kyuu its time for THAT attack." Zero said. Kyuukenbi seemed to purr in response. The resonark then began to gather outside energy infront of itself.
the dark matter formed into a ball which the Resonark then used its mouth to toss back to its tails. Meanwhile Zero had been pressing many buttons inside the cockpit and finally pulled off the center of the control booth to reveal a button.

"Kiss your asses good bye!" Zero yelled insanely.

The center tail of Kyuukenbi sliced the ball of dark matter in four pieces which were then swallowed by the Resonark.

"YONBIKO IMARI!!!" Zero shouted as four concecutive blast of raw red light ripped into the enemy forces.

"Heh seems we missed some Kyuu." Kyuukenbi growled in annoyance.

Zero then pushed his Resonark forward and caught up with Lucas.

"Lucas i think you should pull back you've used up to much energy." Zero shouted as he pleaded with his old friend. "If you use much more your gonna die. Leave the rest to me and the other guy. We haven't been out here as much as you."

Zero then rushed in to finish the rest of the enemies.

"Bet i destroy more than you Kyuba!!"

----------

"HEHEHEHEHEHEH FAT CHANCE ON THAT" Kyuba said to Zero with his maniacal high pitched laugh. "You hear that Kiri'Tas? I believe that is a challenge." Kyuba summoned his energy and prepared himself for his attack. Kiri"Tas's Scythe began to grow and glow with dark negative energy. It finally stopped when it was twice its normal size. Kiri'Tas rushed forward towards the remaining wave of enemies. "REAP THEM TO DEATH KIRI'TAS. GALAXY RENDER AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH" Kyuba screamed as the Scythe swung forward in an arc across the void sending out a torrent of dark energy, a torrent of pure death that seemingly passed through each of the enemies leaving them unharmed. Suddenly the energy stopped and fizzled after it had touched each of the enemies.

Kyuba barely heard the laughing from Zero who thought his attack had fizzled. Kyuba only smiled as he waited for his masterpiece. Suddenly at the exact center of the remaining mechs a hole was ripped in the void. Black tendrils shot out of it and pierced each of the mechs that were touched dragging them all in at blinding speed into the single point of singularity. The single point of death. Kyuba's attacked dragged each mech and its pilot into a black hole dimension the size of a grain of sand which then exploded outwards in a fiery blast.

Kyuba laughed as he sped forward. "Take that Zero, and yes you should leave the battlefield Lucas. Leave more killing for me in the name of the Goddess SHIIRA! FOR THE GODDESSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

----------

A planet whose unparalleled brilliance put many stars to shame is what Michiko Hoshi remembered. It brimmed with great minds and technology. Creation was a staple in every aspect of life, and the people enjoyed a state of never ending prosperity. There was no such thing as the poor, the hungry, or the downtrodden. In a galaxy full of tragedy it managed to escape the horrors that befell so many of its neighbors. Unfortunately that also meant that no one was capable of realizing their stunning sanctuary was starting to rot at the core.

Michiko had a happy childhood. She was very close to her family, her sister and father especially. Her sister Raiko was older than her and an unwavering source of guidance, while her father Usui was a tender, loving man, who always made time for his daughters, despite his demanding political career.

As Michiko grew so did the political unrest. A new party was on the rise and it had incredibly questionable intentions. Their platform was one of military superiority. They claimed that their planet was the only one with the right to exist and all others were outrageously inferior. Naturally there was opposition, but not enough to silence the movement. Propaganda began to fill the streets and sadly the convictions of the people started to sway.

It was on a day that should have been one of the best in Michiko's life that everything came to a head. Usui was officially elected as president and Raiko was going into labor with her first child. Michiko held her sister's hand through the delivery. The end result was a robust baby boy. Coinciding with the baby's first cries was a loud "THUD THUD THUD" on the door of the delivery room. After smashing the door, soldiers flooded in.

Shortly thereafter General Noir, the leader of the rebel party entered. He looked upon the two sisters and the baby crying in Raiko's arms. He smiled deviously as he motioned to one of his minions "Take that thing, It's beginning to give me a headache." Raiko cried out as the baby was ripped from her arms. Michiko glared at the monstrosity of a man that stood before her. "What's this? You're not going to give me trouble like your father did are you?" Raiko started flailing madly "I'd hate to have to scalp such a pretty head." he said stroking Michiko's chin with his finger.

Raiko's screaming got progressively worse. "Now," the general continued to caress Michiko's face. "How would you and your sister like come to my new presidential palace and be my special friends?" Right after the words left his mouth Raiko's breakdown reached it's peak she lunged at one of the soldiers and tried to claw out his eyes. Following suit Michiko bit the general's finger and took a chunk out of his face with her fingernails "What are you waiting for!" the general shouted as the soldier was trying to fight Raiko off. "Shoot her! That's an order! These sluts aren't worth the aggravation!!" He grabbed Michiko by the throat and turned her head towards her sister just as the soldier pulled the trigger. Raiko's lifeless body fell to the ground as blood poured from her forehead. The general turned Michiko's face back to his. "And for you.... Something a bit more dramatic" she took this last opportunity to spit in his face. "ARGH! " He yelled as he pulled the knife from his belt and began to write his name in her flesh. After he finished the last r he plunged the knife into her stomach and dropped her.

Michiko shrieked in an agony that was both emotional and physical. Just when she thought all was lost the opal necklace her father gave her began to pulse. The medical equipment in the room levitated and surrounded her. Being too weak from blood loss to notice what was happening she stayed in her crumpled heap on the floor. She wished she'd survive, just to make this man pay for what he'd done. The machines and utensils began to form a sort of armor around her, and the iv's attached to her body. In a matter of seconds all the equipment had molded to her shape. It continued to grow and change until it had a means of escape, metal wings as flight stabilizers and a propulsion system. The resonark flew deep into space finding a secluded spot to fulfill her pilot's unconscious wish to live and heal.

Michiko was quite surprised when she awoke after months of suspended animation. Her resonark quickly brought her up to speed with what had happened. "Thank you Aurora." she said between sobs, finally getting to mourn her family. Not long after that Michiko formed a plan. She would work as a mercenary to gain the necessary experience to avenge her family.

-Present-

"You know the drill Aurora." Michiko said, sighing slightly as she slashed through the cockpits of resonarks she was fighting. She located Lucas and boosted over to him. "Hold still, you know this only takes a second." Wires burst from Aurora and engulfed Xander, not only repairing damage on the resonark, but rejuvenation the pilot as well. "That one took a lot out of me Lucas, if you don't let yourself get that bad it's better for both of us." She chided before going back to the matter at hand.

----------

Lucas sighed with relief as the wave of energy poured over him.

"You're right, thanks Michiko, I'll try to keep myself out of trouble from now on, at least a bit more anyway." He said with a chuckle.

Lucas merely patted the controls to Xander and smiled.

"I'm not heading out any time soon Zero, don't worry about me. We have a job to do, let's finish it up."

Lucas kept a calm composure, but the rest of his team had him greatly concerned. Michiko knew how to keep herself calm on the battlefield, but she was not in good mental health, something that constantly worried Lucas. He was trying to lead a team to save their galaxy, he felt the last thing he needed to worry about was his team having a nervous breakdown.

"Alright everyone, I'm fine. Let's finish this up and go home, the first round of drinks will be on me." Lucas said with a smile. It was their first mission, and he knew it was going to be over soon, why not celebrate when it was over?

----------

Zero sighed "You sure Lucas?"
Zero was worried. Even when he and Lucas were kids he got hurt easily. Zero was always protecting him.
Zero turned around and faced the Aurora.
"Thank you for healing him Machiko"
Suddenly it happened. An enemy mech came right up behind Kyuukenbi.
It fired a giant laser blast at Kyuukenbi's back right where Zero was.

For a moment Zero saw the beam then nothing but the light.

silence.

Just as the beam touched Kyuukenbi, Kiri'Tas threw
its cloak over it protecting it from the blunt of the blast although it
did get a little singed. "You owe me a new cloak Zero", Kyuba said as
he tried to slice through the enemy who had fired the blast but suddenly
the enemy vanished mid swing. All that was left behind was half of the
high power laser rifle used to attack Zero. "What was that? No mech can
move that fast!"

Suddenly it appeared a few yards back well out
of range of the Resonarks. What appeared before them was no normal
mech. "I cannot believe it, the enemy has a Resonark? How is that
possible?"

Standing before them was a Resonark that held half a
giant laser beam, and all across its metallic body were weapons of
various size and types ranging from
vibro-mech swords to laser
rifles and grenades. It had a Vaguely humanoid shape much like Kiri'Tas
but was a mixture of red and blue.

Kyuba started to charge but right then they received a priority one order of retreat from Command HQ.

Kyuba
switched his mic to open frequency, "Damnit whoever you are I swear we
shall meet again and i shall deliver you to the goddess of death. In the
name of Shiira YOU WILL DIE!"


----------


Lucas saw the flash of light and immediately turned to see what happened. When he saw Zero was safe, he sighed with relief.

When the call came in from command, Lucas quickly switched his mic to the command frequency.

"Wynne here, copy Command!"

"This
is Command, pull back Alpha Squad! We have confirmed reports of Enemy
Resonark Prototypes, we need you back at base to report and debrief! I
repeat, retreat NOW!"

Lucas gritted his teeth, their first mission and they already were being called in for a retreat.

"....Understood, Command, Alpha Squad will return immediately."

Lucas switched his mic back to open frequency and reported in, contacting his team.

"Attention Alpha Squad, Command has ordered an immediate return to base, we're pulling out!"


----------

Zero growled. "Damn now? but were not done yet?"

Zero then turned his frequency to private talk with Kyuba.

"look i would of been fine but thanks for saving me."

he then turned his frequency back to standard squad talk.

"Okay you guys begin the retreat meanwhile i'ma give this bastard a goodbye he'll never forget!"

Zero then turned back to the enemy resonark. he then changed his radio frq to open.

"Piece of advice mr.Resonarknewb" Zero smirked. " Hold your ankles and kiss your ass goodbye!"

Kyuukenbi
absorbed all the residual energy from the destoyed mechs. Six of its
tails rose up and then swung down like levers. Suddenly another huge
beam of red energy blasted toward the enemy resonark.

"Rokubiko Imari!!!" the blast of power collided dead on with the enemy resonark.

then Kyuukenbi let out an odd mist that was still substantial in the void of space.

"Go go go!!!!" Kyuukenbi turned and followed the other resonarks away from this battlefeild.

----------


As the team retreated, Lucas growled to himself as he watched Zero try and take on the mysterious Resonark.

Once Zero rejoined the group, Lucas made his way over to Zero and had Xander smack Kyuukenbi.

"Don't try and play hero, damnit! When I give an order, you follow it!"

At this, Lucas began to tear up ever so slightly.

"This is our first mission! I don't want any fatalities, especially not on our first mission! Think before you act!"

Lucas
always knew Zero as the one who played the hero, wanting to stay behind
and go down in a blaze of glory, and he knew that if he wasn't careful,
he would lose his best friend to a mission like this one day. That was
something he planned to avoid at all costs.

"You are member of this team, don't try and take the brunt of the work yourself!"

As
the retreat continued, Lucas looked back as the explosion of energy
cleared from Zero's attack, and saw the opposing Resonark was still
staring them down.

"SHIT! Everyone get moving! It's still alive!"


----------

When they finally reached the command ship Kyuba willed Kiri'Tas back
into its own dimension and the reaper shaped tattoo once again appeared
on his back. He knew the others had similar ways of carrying a
connection to their Resonarks but he cared little about how or what they
were. As he entered the debriefing room he saw Zero floating next to
Lucas in the Zero G room. He immediately floated over to Zero, his long
wavy grey hair floating behind him and his sunken dark eyes fixed upon
Zero.

When he reached Zero he grabbed him with his pallid white
hands right on the front of his pilot suit and said. "Zero...next time I
wont save you then and you can take the blow for yourself and feed the
Goddess for all I care, but if you touch my prey again I WILL RETURN YOU
TO HER MYSELF YOU GOT THAT!"

----------

Zero was officially upset. he had caused his old friend to cry. He had
as a kid protected his friend and stopped his friend from crying. even
knowing in the end Lucas would cry anyway because Zachary always ended
up beaten and bruised for his friend.

"Sorry Lucas..." Zero spoke
so only Lucas could hear him. "but its my job to protect you and it
always will be. Someday I'll probably perish doing so, but that would be
fine with me. By then I would make sure you could stand and walk on
your own without me having to hold your hand and guide you like that
time when we were kids and you got lost in the woods and I found you."

Zero stopped abruptly when Kyuba approached. After the man yelled in his face.

Zero sighs.
"Kyuba I did that to knock it back, I knew it wouldn't be destroyed."

Meanwhile
Zero's odd metallic crimson hooded cloak growled at Kyuba, and one of
the 9 pieces of fabric that made up the cloak swung at him, but Zero
grabbed it before it made contact.

"Stop Kyuu." Zero shook his
head his red shoulder length hair swinging back and forth. His steely
blue eyes met Kyuba's dark ones.

"By the way in War their is no
Prey for a single soldier just enemies for the entire platoon." Again
Zero sighed. " Don't treat me like I'm lower than you we are both
warriors and I don't know about you but i come from a very military
oriented family. The last 5 generations of my family have fought in
various wars. I'm done with this. Lucas I'll be in my quarters if you
need me."

With that, Zero left.

----------

Lucas heard Zero say this, and that frustrated him all the more.

"Zero, what's the point of us succeeding if we lose those we care about?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
After
the debriefing and 'discussion' between Zero and Kyuba, Lucas merely
sighed. He knew the two would probably butt heads very often, even
though they had very similar mindsets.

Lucas turned to Kyuba and sighed.

"Go
easy on him Kyuba, he has a lot on his mind. And please, try to
remember, we are a team. We will help you on your quest to serve your
goddess if you help us on ours. Please, don't try and take matters into
your own hands..."

"We have someone like that already on the team." Lucas thought to himself.

With
that, Lucas took the Glasses case in his pocket out and put his glasses
away, patting the case gently and rubbing the crest on the top, the
crest of Xanderfall. He then sat down and shut his eyes, waiting for his
commanding officer to arrive and give him his next debriefing and
prepare for his next assignment.

----------

Kyuba made a mental note to Kiri'Tas. "Next time he tries to attack me
destroy one of his tails." Out loud he said "I will respect your
decision Lucas but keep your pet dog under control from now on. I will
be filing a report with the Commander on his lack of ability to control
his Resonark. If that thing attacks me again i wont hold off." He
floated back against the wall just as the commander came into the room
for a debriefing. When the commander was done with his speech he asked
to see the commander in private. He left the room leaving Lucas and
Michiko alone.

----------

Lucas watched as Kyuba left the room, and he sighed.

"Xander, how the hell am I going to lead this team if I can't even keep them from trying to kill each other?"

Lucas
pulled his glasses out and set them on his face, adjusting them ever so
slightly, and looked out into the empty void from a nearby window.

"I must be the shittiest leader out here if I can't keep my own men under control..."

----------

Zero watched Lucas from around the door way. he stepped back into the
room and walked up to Lucas whose back was to him. He plucked his
childhood friend in the back of the head.

"Idiot." Zero chickled lightly " Saying you need to 'Control' us makes you sound just like the bastards were fighting."

Zero sat down. " look at you if you act like this it seems i'll jjust have tokeep watching your back huh?"

Zero
shook his head. "you were the smart one. the geek. the nice guy. and oh
course the best friend of the biggest trouble maker our hometown had
ever seen. I protected you but you dont realize you are great leader
already cause back then when i started thinking hateful or depressing
thoughts you were always there to bring me back from the brink. we as
your soldiers have to work things out ourselves."

Zero wrapped Lucas in a brotherly hug.

" Just remember i cant die in battle as long as you need me to watch over you."

Lucas smiled for the first time in the entire day.

"Thanks Zero."

It
had been a long time since they had been in such a dire situation, and
now was not the time to choke up. They had work to do, whether they
liked it or not.

Lucas made his way over to the door and sighed.

"Well,
I better go and see the Commander, no doubt he probably has more work
for me. I'll come check in on you in a little while, alright?"

With that, the door opened, and as he walked out, Lucas looked back to his old friend.

"Zero, try not to make too many enemies out here. I can't play politician all the time, you know?"

And with that, he left before his friend could even respond.

----------

Michi was silent during the conversations that took place when they got
back to the base. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, but that was
next to impossible with all their prattling. She was trying to learn
and absorb every tactic and variable associated with battle, and not one
of them was saying anything productive.

She tried going back
over the battle in her mind, but Zero and Lucas were still speaking.
Michi already knew what they were about, Kyuba too. Superfluous
information seemed to abound when they were left to their own devices.

The
casual use of the word politician triggered some bad thoughts, and she
grabbed the opal that hung from the two wires fused to her neck in an
effort to push them aside. Michi was very aware of Lucas's departure.

"Training
certainly wasn't as intense as this was it Zero?" she tried to draw
upon something they'd all experienced together as an ice breaker. "They
make you think they've prepared you for everything, but the reality of
things is sobering."

----------

Zero looked Michi in the face. He then tilted his head.

"You find
us strange dont you? and yes training be it basic or advanced may give
you skills you need to deal with a situation but in truth it doesn't
prepare you for a damn thing." Zero stood up and looked out one of the
windows into the vastness of space. he then turned to Michi.

"We
all have our purpose and reasons to be here" He laughed "i'm gonna sound
like an old man but each of us has something only they can do. do you
know why your here? i know why i'm here and its simple to protect my
friend even if it kills me." He motioned toward Michi "You have an
incredibly important job you are the only one with healing abilities
which of the other resonarks i've heard of your the only one with that
ability."

Zero's brow furrowed. " i'm gonna be honest with you
Michi. WE are a suicide squad. Each of us has some twisted past or
mental state or sadly both in my case and from what i've read yours as
well. But and trust me there is always a but sometimes good and
sometimes bad. The ones who have a chance to make us more then what our
commanders see us as is Lucas..." Zero stopped and looked Michi straight
in the face "And you."

----------

Kyuba was walking out of the commanders office when he bumped into
Lucas. "Oh Lucas....the commander is looking for you. He sent me to find
you. Look about before I am sorry. I neglected to report Zero....We
need all the pilots we have."

Kyuba walked over to a vending machine and tossed Lucas a drink. "The battle is over relax."

----------

Lucas sighed with relief and smiled as he caught the drink.

"Thanks Kyuba, and I wish I could relax, you know? If only it were that easy."

With that, Lucas looked to the stars once more.

"Sometimes
I wonder if I'm really making a difference out here. Sometimes I wonder
if I can really handle all of this stuff, the war, rebelling, Xander,
all of it. I really wonder sometimes, and then I think about what would
happen if I just gave it all up."

Lucas wasn't really familiar
with Kyuba or his personality, but his behavior now did not reflect his
file. He knew everyone had different sides, and thought about the
possibility of there being more to Kyuba than initially met the eye.

----------

"Don't worry about it, if you gave it all up Zero would leave with you
and it would be me and Michi versus unstoppable odds, and i doubt that
I'm the best person to keep her stable...so it would just be me against
all those odds, killing countless enemies in the name of the
goddess...." Kyuba stopped as he shuddered and his eyes rolled back, a
look of pure pleasure on his face as he imagined it. Waking from his
dream he coughed and regained his demure composure.

"Anyway if
you quit life would go people would still die and you will probably die
on some barren planet instead of the cold void of space along with your
friend Zero. Your Resonark chose you.....next time you feel like your
not worth it or its not worth it to try then remember that."

Kyuba finished his drink and threw it away walking to his cabin muttering to himself. "So.....much....killing.....*shudders*"

----------

Lucas sighed as he watched Kyuba leave. With the rolling of his eyes
back into his head, Lucas realized that there may indeed be more to
Kyuba then met the eye, but on a whole, he truly was a bloodthirsty,
borderline psychotic cultist.

Lucas fixed his glasses, got up and headed for the Commander's office, preparing for his specialized debriefing and updates.

As he entered the room, Lucas kept his head down, avoiding his Commander's gaze.

"Lieutenant Wynne, reporting in, Commander."

The Commander merely sighed and crossed his arms at his desk.

"Have a seat, Lucas."

Lucas nodded and sat across from the Commander at his desk.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

The
debriefing went very smoothly, with Lucas re-iterating everything that
had occurred during the team's first official mission. The Commander
merely nodded as everything was reported, then he cleared his throat.

"Nicely done, Lucas. This mission went incredibly well, considering the abrupt changes in priorities."

At this, the Commander pulled a file out of his desk and slid it across the table.

"Now then, your team has two days to prepare for your next assignment. This is going to be a recon/search and rescue."

Lucas looked directly at his Commander, very confused. Recon and Search and rescue missions rarely were bundled together.

"One
of our scouting teams disappeared in a meteor belt near Solaxis. We
need you to go, report whatever you find, and if you find them, get them
out and bring them home. Worst case scenario, find their field reports
and bring them back yourself."

Lucas nodded as he was briefed for his next mission.

"I'm sorry to do this to your team so soon after your first mission, but we need those reports."

Lucas nodded as he stood up.

"Yes sir. You can count on us."

"Be careful, Lieutenant. I don't want to lose any of you."

"Understood."

With
that, Lucas saluted, turned, and left, looking over the files as he
prepared for the next time he would see his team as a whole.

----------

Michiko was taken aback, stammering to find the right words. She wasn't expecting to participate in such an eloquent exchange.

"That's
a lot of insight." she said, suddenly becoming very uncomfortable. With
nothing left to say, Michi decided it was time to leave. "I'm sorry to
seem rude, but... I have to see if I'm needed elsewhere."

The
awkward energy in the room was almost tangible, but Michiko knew she'd
made the right decision. True to her word, she set off to find something
to do. There were many little things on the ship that could be fixed,
that would be as good a place as any to start. Broken wires, dents, and
dings soon became tedious adversaries, but she continued the busy work.
After a while she came across something strange. One of the air-lock
controls looked tampered with. In any other situation she would have
fixed it, but a repair like this needed authorization.

On the way
to the commander's office Michi saw Kyuba. Their gazes met and she
acknowledged him with a small nod. Lucas was standing in front of the
office. Noticing the drink she said "That's not good for you, it's
nothing but sugars and lipids." walking over to the machine she punched
in some numbers "Throw the rest of that away, and drink this. It
wouldn't do for you to get sick." and handed him the new drink.

----------

Lucas was a bit taken aback when Michiko tossed the drink away as he was
lost in thought, but when she offered him a new drink, he smiled.

"Oh,
thank you, Michiko, I haven't really been thinking about healthy eating
lately." He said with a chuckle as he sat down, putting the file he had
just been given in his jacket.

"So, how did the mission treat you? Nothing like what we went through in basic training, was it?"

----------

Zero found it funny that Michi just disappeared. He new he glimsed
uncertainty and apprehensiveness in her eyes as well as a little fear.
He had to get this girl out of her shell. so he followed. When he came
upon Michi giving Lucas a health drink he laughed while a single tear
rolled down his face.

"thats funny she's a health freak like my
mom. You always liked sweet drinks and my mom always made you drink
healthy stuff and eat healthy remember lucas?" he asked his friend.

He then stepped over to the vending machine and got another of the health drinks for himself and gulped it down.

"Oh the memories. Those memories and the people in them who we've lost is why were fighting."

Lucas nodded at Zero's comment about their memories and began to think of home.

"Yeah, all those people we left behind..."

Lucas sighed as he took a sip from the can, moving over so Zero would have room to sit down.

"It's been a long time since we actually sat down and talked about our lives, hasn't it Zero?"

----------

"No, you're right, it was different in certain aspects," Michi started ,
but before she could finish Zero came in and started talking. The
awkward energy trailed in with him. As they spoke the phrases "people
we've lost" and "people we've left behind" echoed in her empty heart.
She still couldn't believe she had nothing but vengeance to return to.
Her face changed to one of disgust "Yes but we don't have to speak of
such things." she said rubbing her temples in an effort to relax.

"By
the way Lucas, I thought you should know I'm on my way into the
commander's office to notify him of some suspicious damage to the ship."
Her focus was now split between Lucas and Zero. "Have you noticed
anything off?"

----------

Zero looked at Michi but the way he looked at her it was as if he was
looking through her. He shook his head sadly. He had seen the look on
her face and the vengefull hate in her eyes.

"Your right Lucas it
has been quite a while." he said to his friend without looking away
from Michi. "Lucas i think you need to work your magic on this girl."
the last part was whisper to his old friend. "she's still where i was
three years ago when my mom was murdered and the way i was just before i
found out you were alive."

Zero stood and paced. "i've noticed
damage on the ship and i personally think we have a spy but thats just
my opinion." Zero walked back to the bench. He sighed and turned to look
at Michi. "your in a dark place right now arent you. you fear me in a
way because i understand you. thats ok but vengeance it is not the way
to go." Zero's smiled sadly while his eyes were dead. "All revenge gets
you is thrown in a prison cell and tortured till your mind snaps. For an
entire year." Zero started walking down the hall but he called back.
"i'll talk to you later Lucas. and Michi...dont hide yourself let us
help you. i dont want to see you become like me." and he vanished down
the hall.

----------

Lucas sighed as Zero left. He often had a tendency to bring a dark aura into a room, then leaving it behind when he left.

Lucas looked at Michiko with apologetic eyes.

"Sorry about that, he really does mean well, even if he goes about it the wrong way sometimes..."

He put the can down, shifted his glasses and looked at Michiko with a calm, yet authoritative gaze.

"He
is right though, I know it'll take a while, but we are here to help.
Zero may not be the best one to go to about more sensitive issues, but
he is always there for the cut and dry."

Lucas sighed before he went on.

"I
know we all didn't spend a lot of time together in Basic, but we're
going to be spending a lot of time together as a team. If there is
anything you need, please, don't hesitate to pull me aside."

With a smile, Lucas shifted the subject to more light-hearted matters.

"And
as for your question, yes, I did notice some important matters that
need to be dealt with. The Medical Wing is losing power a lot lately,
and the backup generators can't supply them with enough energy. The
radiators are leaking in the lower levels of the ship, and some of the
ship's internal wiring is starting to go. These are all really
important, and things the Commander really needs to look into."

At this, Lucas got up and smiled.

"I'll let you go make your report, if you want, I'll wait out here, maybe I can treat you to lunch when you're finished?"

----------

The inner rage that brewed when Zero was making his self-righteous
speech took a backseat when Lucas started explaining. Michiko
appreciated his opinion and could now see Zero in a different light,
though she despised that the team knew anything about her past. As for
help, she highly doubted she needed any. Everything was going smoothly
and according to plan. Battle experience and military prowess was all
she needed to come to terms with things.

When Lucas went on about
all the other things that were wrong with the base her concern grew.
"Ah," she said. "That's quite unfortunate. I will go report this new
problem, and yes a small bite sounds nice, thank you. After that I will
have to go down to the medical wing and see what I can do."

Michiko
entered the commander's office and did the paperwork. When she came
back out she looked shaken "He doesn't want me to fix it. He said he was
going to have a team of specialists take a look. Why would he do that?
It seems so unsafe...all the extra time it will take."

----------

Lucas was also disturbed by the Commander's lack of tact and response to the immediate need for action.

"I'll
have to look into this, that doesn't seem right. Come on, let's go get
something to eat, then I'll go have a talk with the commander."

Lucas shifted his glasses and started to move toward the door leading to the dining quarters.

"What would you like? It's my treat."

He
saw the apprehensiveness in Michiko's eyes when it came to questioning
her past or offering aid in any way shape or form, and decided he would
not test his limits this early on when it came to his team. He may have
met them in basic, but he didn't know them THAT well yet.

----------


Zero sat in a corner of the mess hall. the mess
workers stared at him scared out of their minds. Zero had been sitting
in the corner drinking booze of all kinds and yet the man didn't seem
drunk. He just drank and stared off into space.

"Stupid woman."
Zero said to himself thinking about Michi. "She is broken to the point
where she doesn't even want help anymore."

Zero started laughing like a mad man. then abrubtly stopped.

"Not that i'm much better. Its sad that i'm still so hateful."

He
stared at the ceiling. "what am i doing wrong mom? can i help the girl i
see so much of me in?" he sighed. "why the hell do i want to help her
anyway?"

he decided to stop thinking and do more drinking.
"Make the memories go away!!" he yelled thinking he had just thought.


----------


About to pick something healthy and thank Lucas
for his offer, Michiko began to say "I think I'd like the..." when
suddenly some sort of shouting came from the far end of the hall. She
squinted her eyes in the direction of the noise. "Zero..." she threw her
arm in front of Lucas as he started to move towards his friend. "Let me
handle it for a change."

Michi sauntered across the room to
where Zero made camp. She looked into his glazed eyes and without
looking away snatched the half empty bottle out of his hand and smashed
it on the table. Taking the unshattered portion of it and holding it to
his throat she asked "Do you know what this does to your liver?" in a
calm voice.

She put down the broken bottle and gathered up the
rest of the alcohol. Michi then handed it to one of the workers with
specific orders "Dump this out and see that he doesn't have access to
any more of it, and if he somehow still gets it, come talk to me. I
won't stand by idly and watch my team mates ruin their bodies." she
finished shooting an angry look at zero.


----------

Lucas was completely stunned at what had just unfolded before him.
Michiko had just shut up his best friend, and completely ended his
drinking binge for the day.

Lucas cleared his throat and tried to return to his train of thought.

"Thanks.
Now then, uh, what exactly did you want to eat again?" He asked as he
tried to keep composed, shock still wafting over him in waves.

----------

Zero stared at Michi. Then he grinned ever so slightly.

" I'm glad" he said his grin widening "under that cold vengefull exterior there is a kind loving heart." Zero stretched.

"By
the way about my liver. it doesn't matter i probably wont see the age a
30. I'm a soldier not a civilian. I also happened to have an incredible
alcohol tolerance and a suicidal streak. so i dont need to worry about
liver problems."

He laugh this one filled with warmth as was his smile and it was directed right at Michi.
Zero's next words would show that he wasn't thinking clearly. maybe.

"But
when a beautiful fiesty woman such as yourself tells me what to do i
guess i should listen." Zero yawned. "well i'll leave you two to your
meal i guess."

Zero stopped and didn't seem to know if he wanted to stay or go.

Michiko blushed and wrote the comment off as drunken nonsense. "Don't get the wrong idea, I have responsibilities, and your invulnerable liver
is one of them. If this campaign lasts long enough you better get used
to the idea of living" she turned away and added "Death is a luxury none
of us can afford."

Trying to get her mood even again she went
back over to the food and picked out a hearty chef salad. "Thank you
Lucas, we haven't eaten real food in what seems like ages. All that
vacuum sealed garbage was the worst part of training, this is a
refreshing change."


----------

Lucas chuckled.

"Not a problem Michiko. Believe me, I'm glad we're back to eating regular food again, my stomach greatly appreciates it."

In the back of his mind, Lucas had a feeling of impending dread.

"If this mission doesn't go well, we may end up eating vacuum packed food again for a while."

Lucas quickly bought a sandwich and started walking over to one of the tables with Michiko.

"So,
you usually spend a lot of time working on repairs?" He asked, trying
to form some conversation as he pushed his glasses up on his face.

----------

Zero Laughed. Then seeing his friend sit friend with Michiko he realized he was jealous.

'Screw me sideways' he thought. Zero shook his head. he decided to go to bed early. So he went to his quarters.

"Damn these rooms are small." Zero shivered. "Stupid nerves"

Several hours past after Zero fell asleep. His sleep was restless though.
Four hours after he fell alseep he woke up screaming loud enough for other to hear. His entire body covered in a cold sweat.

----------


Kyuba wasn't really hungry and he wasn't tired so
he decided to sate his other appetite. And besides he had not had time
to do what was required of him after he left his temple. He returned to
his quarters and proceeded to set up the shrine to his Goddess. As
requested he was given a room on the ship for his Dark Shrine and he was
pleased to find that it was adjoined with his room. He quickly changed
from his jumpsuit into the attire required of every Knight of Shiira, a
dark black robe fitted with the shrunken skulls of each enemy the one
wearing had killed with his own hands. Kyuba had 255 shrunken skulls
adorned on his robe and he was about to add one more. He opened one of
the many boxes he had yet to open, each of which contained various
ritual items, and pulled out a clean skull and placed it upon the altar.

Kyuba
could still picture the look of shock and pleasure on the face of the
former High Priest Seradas, as he plunged his kuhkri knife into his
heart from behind. He had always promised to kill Seredas and he finally
did it the day he left for space. Seradas almost looked proud of his
former apprentice as he feel to the ground and met his goddess.

Now
his skull sat clean on the altar. Kyuba lit incense and said the ritual
prayer to the goddess Shiira. He then turned to another container and
took out a bowl and filled it with a vile black liquid. This liquid was
used to preserve the skull. From another box he removed Serada's robe
and set it aflame and dropped it into the liquid. Immediately the liquid
swallowed the robe but turned a bright red as the robe continued to
burn inside the liquid. He also added several other strange herbs and
powders into the mix and when he was done the mixture was a dark
crimson.

"Now to add the final piece and say the words of
Shiira." With that he dipped the skull into the mixture and said the
words, "OTTOTOM KIRUBA MURADO KURABIS MUTASVIS EXTACA INABURAI."
Suddenly the liquid began to bubble and turn black and began to recede
on itself. After a minute all that was left in the bowl was a black
skull with crimson streaks like lightning. The skull itself had grown
and hallowed out. Kyuba picked up the still warm skull and placed it
over his head like a mask. He then flipped his hood over it completing
his guise.

He then brought out a black box and removed his
Scythe, his weapon of choice and stood before the altar. His visage was
truly that of the old wives tale of the Reaper who used his Scythe to
steal the souls of the damned and drag them to hell. He had always like
this tale and had now finally become just that.

He bowed before
the altar and said. "Shiira Black Goddess of Death and Destruction I am
your loyal servant. With this I take your blessing and become your
Scythe....I become your Grim Reaper.....

With that he stood and
left his chambers to find Lucas too see when the next mission, and his
next chance to serve the Goddess would be.


----------


"Yes I do repairs," Michiko replied, "Fixing
things comes pretty easy, and it was one of the subjects I was going to
school for." That was the first time she'd willingly said anything about
her personal life in a long time. She was internally surprised.

Lucas
had created a comfortable atmosphere, which was quite a feat after such
an intense first mission. "But that was a long time ago." she said
trying to change the subject. "How about you? What do you busy yourself
with when we are on base?"


----------


Lucas chuckled as she asked about his free time.

"Well,
paperwork takes most of my time nowadays, but when I'm not doing direct
work, I spend a lot of my time in the med bay trying to help out the
doctors."

Lucas smiled a bit as he saw that his interaction was
helping Michiko open up, he could tell she was wound very tight and
needed to relax.


----------

"The med bay? I wonder why I haven't run into you more often" Michi
started "I'm sent there a lot as well, for obvious reasons" she causally
grabbed at her necklace "I don't know anything about medicine, but..."
she stopped abruptly

"Do you hear that?"

----------

Lucas saw Michiko grip the opal and nodded sadly, not going to pry into what the story was behind it.

"Yeah, I'm usually off handling their paperwork and whatnot...Hm? I don't hear anything."

----------

A young petty officer came running up to Lucas.

"SIR, something seems to be wrong with Mr. Zimmer." he caught his breathe.

"alls we've heard is thrashing and screams. No one has attempted to go inside."

----------

Lucas heard this and frowned.

"Damn. Michiko, you'll have to
excuse me, I need to go deal with this. I hope we can make time to talk
more in the future, now then, I'll see you at tomorrows briefing." With
that, Lucas stood, nodded politely, and took off for Zero's room.

"These people have no respect for their health." she said with a frown.
After hastily finishing her salad, she picked up Lucas's sandwich and
decided to follow him at a distance.

----------

Lucas swiftly made his way to Zero's room and began to pound on the
door, so wrapped up in the safety of his friend and teammate that he did
not notice Michiko tailing him.

"Zero! Open up in there!"

----------

When Lucas and Michiko came upon Zero it was odd. Zero was shivering
uncontrollably and seemed to be staring at nothing and yet reacting to
things that weren't there. When the others attempted to approach him he
began to scream. "NO!" Zero's breath quickened. "NO MORE! i wont be
tortured anymore. no more beatings. no more cuttings. no more
electrocutions. I...I refuse to be your prisoner anymore!." Zero started
hyper ventilating. "I cant ... i cannt.. do this anymore... i cant i
cant ...breathe." Zero's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he
collapsed unconcious but then began to have a violent seizure.

----------

Michiko was glad she followed Lucas. After what happened she pushed her
way into the room. She reached for one of the wires that kept her opal
affixed to her neck and stuck into the back of zero's neck.

"This
should give some insight as to what the problem is." she closed her
eyes in concentration. The wire she used provided her with vital signs
and other diagnostic information, but for some strange reason this time
it was giving her superfluous information as well. Pictures she didn't
understand were popping up.

Rather freaked out she disconnected.
Looking to Lucas she said "Nothing's physically wrong, all I could
gather was the obvious. It's some sort of severe mental episode, it
caused a sudden drop in blood pressure." she looked back to Zero's
convulsing form. "We just have to wait it out."

----------

Lucas nodded as he listened to Michiko's explanation.

"Mental trauma...What else have you been hiding, Zero?"

He sat down beside his two teammates, and watched as his old friend seized, unable to help him.

----------

A few minutes passed. When finally Zero stopped convulsing. The red haired youth's eyes fluttered open. then he suddenly sat up.

"Where am I?" he snapped then noticed Lucas and Michiko sitting by him.

"Lucas...Michiko....i guess you guys want an explanation huh?"

Zero sighed deeply.

----------

Lucas sighed with relief when Zero woke up.

"Hey...How're you doing?" He completely disregarded Zero's statement, focusing more on his health.

----------

"HEHEHEHEE Sounds like someone has a dirty little past eh?", Kyuba said
as he walked into the room dressed in full knight attire. He went and
stood in a corner leaning onto the wall and stared at Zero and the
others. "Well now that we are all together, I say we all get to know one
another. Ill start...Hi my name is Kyuba Genrei...I am a pyschotic
Death Knight and high priest of Shiira the death god. Pleased to
reap...I mean meet...you all." Kyuba said with a big malicious smile.
"Now it's your turn. Why don't we start with cold sweats over there on
the bed...."

----------

Zero rolled his eyes and ignored Kyuba's remarks and kept his attention
on his other two team mates. He could still feel the icy tendrils of his
nightmare gripping him and he suddenly felt very exhausted.

"I'm
sorry Lucas. After my mother was brutally murdered in front of my eyes,
I went on a man hunt and drowned myself in the blood of my enemies. My
lust for revenge led me to be captured and tortured for a long time. I
managed to escape just before I found out you were still alive. I am
sorry I never told you...I am ashamed of what I did."

He then
turned to Michiko and locked his eyes to hers. For once all the rage was
gone from his eyes and was replaced by a sincereness that would have
made even Kyuba shed a tear...well maybe not Kyuba but pretty close.

"Michiko....The
reason that I told you not to be consumed by your revenge is because it
nearly killed me. I don't want to see that done to you...So please at
least head my advice. My revenge held a great price one that i will live
with for the rest of my life. Yes it felt good to let my rage boil over
and be consumed by it but the price was heavy. My mom will never be
brought back to me. Neither will whomever you lost. Please do not make
my mista-" The exhaustion finally caught up with Zero and he slipped
into deep peaceful slumber.

----------

Michiko was starting to overload. She thought of calmly excusing
herself, but knew she couldn't take the easy way out. She was deeply
touched by the sentiment in Zero's voice, but at the same time she
couldn't let go of her goal. It had been the only thing that kept her
going this long.

She needed to be able to destroy the man that
had very nearly destroyed her, and it wasn't just revenge for revenges
sake, it was the last hope of recovering the last shard left of her
life.

Not knowing what else to do or who to respond to, Michiko stayed silent.

Lucas was completely thrown a shock. His best friend had kept such a
tragic secret from him, and it was clearly eating away at him.

"......Damn
you Zero." Lucas got up and walked to the door, his silhouette an
ominous backdrop for the realizations just thrown upon them.

"....Everyone
go back to your quarters. It's lights out, and we have a mission to
prepare for." He said with a cold tone in his voice, shallow,
emotionless, heartless, and with that he left the room silently.

----------

Kyuba raised his eyebrows at their leaders sudden change in tone.
"things are getting good....Well I am off for the night see you during
the next mission my dear...", he said to Michiko and as he was about to
walk out the door he turned and walked back to Zero. He kneeled by the
bed and bowed his head in prayer. "To the Dark Goddess, watch this one,
he has shed much blood and may soon join the ranks of your unholy
damned...." With that he got up and walked out of the room just as
silently as Lucas leaving Michiko and the unconscious Zero alone.

----------

Thankful to be able to leave the room, Michi gave Zero one last look to
make sure he was still in a stable condition, then rushed to her
quarters.

Once there she began to release the pent up emotion.
It was much better to do it here than on the battlefield where it could
inhibit her decision making. After a few broken personal belongings and a
small dent in the wall, she went to bed.

The next morning she was together enough for whatever the day could throw at her and reported to Lucas early.

----------

Lucas got up the next morning, drained and frustrated, but he knew he
had work to do. He forced himself to rise out of bed and get in the
shower.

As the water pelted him and forced him to wake up, the
memories of the previous day wafted over him, and memories of his
loneliness when his only friend, and his entire family, were gone.

More water fell, now mixed with salt.

After
the shower, Lucas quickly dressed, recomposed himself, grabbed a folder
with the mission parameters, and took off for the briefing.

When Lucas arrived, Michiko was already waiting for him, and he was certain that the rest of the team would follow soon.

"Morning." He quickly said as he went to the center of the room and began to prepare his statement for the team.

----------

Zero woke up feeling different. He couldn't place it at first, but then
realized he felt lighter, nowhere near as worn down by the weight of his
world. He went to wash up, for the first time in as long as he could
remember not sitting in the cold water and staring at the painful
reminders of his past, but actively thinking of the future as he washed.

After
he finished in the shower, he quickly dressed and grabbed a health bar
from his stockpile, one of the many from his mother's favorite brand,
and began to eat it as he swiftly left the room.

He quickly
arrived in the briefing room and saw Lucas and Michiko going about their
separate business. He quickly smiled and cleared his throat to get
their attention.

"Well I feel a lot lighter!" Was all he could
bring himself to say at first. "And I'm sorry if I worried or upset you
guys." From there, he looked away and walked up to Lucas, patting him on
the shoulder and whispering with a smile.

"Thank you again, for being my pillar of strength old friend."

Zero
then walked over to Michiko and started talking to her, regardless of
whether she was listening to him or not. His voice was soft, but loud
enough for Lucas and Michiko to hear him.

"I'm sorry you had to find out about that stuff that way. I'm actually a lot better then I was two years ago..."

Before Zero continued, he stopped himself and took a deep breath.

"After
I managed to escape my captors, I went straight back to my home town,
only to find out Lucas hadn't been seen or heard from in several months.
The sadness and fear this alone brought me, combined with the stress
and terror I experienced after leaving the military and being captured,
drove me to a point where suicide seemed to be my only option.

Near
our town there was a river. The local construction crew took great
pride in the bridge they built over that river. Right off the bridge,
there were some abandoned apartment buildings that were on the verge of
collapse. It was here the town's resident homeless old man, George,
lived. George was pretty quiet most of the time, but when he told you
something, it was damn important. He was often looked at as the village
loon, spent whatever money he was given on either food or drinks,
usually drinks.

As I walked to the halfway point of the bridge, I
noticed George had followed me all the way there. He stopped me where I
stood, and we started to talk. He told me he hadn't always been that
way, that he had had his moments. I think he must have had a Resonark of
his own, because he touched my shoulder, and my life flashed before me.
This gave me pause, and made me realize just how much I wanted to live,
not for spite or revenge, but for others, for my friends. I saw the
future that could lie in wait for all of us, and it made me want to
live. That old man saved my life that day on the bridge, and now I want
to pass his gift unto you."

Zero smiled and walked off to a nearby corner and crouched in the shadows, waiting for the briefing to begin.

----------


Kyuba walked into the briefing room in his full
Knight attire which he now wore everywhere, even into battle. The
artificial light in the room caused his skull helmet to slightly glow
under the dark hood and his normally dark eyes seemed to glow red with
blood lust. He walked across the room as if he was floating on air. His
robe barely moving as he walked with practiced grace and form. For those
who saw who he was in battle, the way he acted out of battle would lead
anyone to believe that this was a totally different person. That is
until they looked into his eyes....those cold...dark eyes, that seemed
to draw the onlooker into the unfathomable depths of the cold harsh
darkness of death. One unfortunate crew member who had the misfortune of
catching Kyuba's gaze, could be found in the ships infirmary repeating
the words..."Endless...depths....cold...my soul was lost in those
eyes...those cold dark eyes." Yes it was his eyes that always gave away
the true nature of a Knight of Shiira and Kyuba was no exception, quite
the opposite he was the prime example. Kyuba gracefully sat and awaited
in silence offering no greeting nor expecting one in return. His mind
focused on the mission ahead.


----------

Michiko hated when Zero did that to her. She knew he was trying to help,
but he didn't seem to understand. No one truly understood.

There
was someone left for her to save, and it wasn't just herself. She was
afraid to talk about it, afraid that if she said there was something out
there that was still near and dear to her, it would vanish in an
instant. She started rubbing her head. Zero had a knack for bringing up
things she didn't want to think about.

"Thank you Zero, that's
rather inspiring, I'll keep that in mind." Without looking up from
rubbing her head. She tossed Lucas's sandwich from yesterday on the
table. "Sir I think before we proceed you should eat that. It's just as
important for your body to be fueled, as it is your resonark. I'm fairly
sure all the rest of us have eaten."

----------


Once the last of his team had filed in, Lucas
cleared his throat in preparation to begin the briefing, when Michiko
interrupted his train of thought with his sandwich from the day before.
He smiled as he took the sandwich and began to unwrap it.

"Thank you, Michiko." And he quickly ate the sandwich, returning to his preparations.

Once again, Lucas cleared his throat and began his briefing.

"Alright
team. Our next mission is...Unorthodox, to say the least. Command has
ordered us to perform a recon/search and rescue mission. We are to
investigate an asteroid belt nearby Solaxis. A scout team went to
investigate the site a few weeks ago, and has not reported in. We
believe they have been captured by the enemy. Our mission is to head in,
make our own field reports, and locate the team. If they are no longer
viable rescues, our mission parameters are to shift to finding the
team's field reports and returning them to headquarters. This mission
may get tense, and it may get dangerous, but I need you all to be on
your A game. The command branch is counting on us."

With that, Lucas closed the file and cleared his throat.

"That
is all, Alpha Squad. Dismissed! Get moving and prepare for the
mission!" and he walked out of the room, preparing to head to the
docking bay.


----------

Zero thought of what to get to get ready for the mission. He decided
first to get a decent breakfast. He went and ate then returned to Lucas.


"Curiosity Lucas." Zero started "Is this the Xalenden belt?"

Zero was pensive waiting for the answer.

'Cause i sure as hell hope not' Zero thought.

----------

Lucas sat down checking his outfit and looking through his files and looked at Zero.

"I'm not sure, but it could very well be. Is that going to be a problem?"

Zero scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Well, yeah, kinda." Zero said with a sigh as he sat down beside his friend.

"I
had to go through there once I found you, right before Basic Training.
It was about this time of year, and well, lets just say the asteroids
act funny right about this time of year. There is a pulsar type star
nearby which gives off weak novas this time, and well, lets just say the
asteroids act like atoms in a nuclear reaction, navigation can be very
dangerous."

----------

Lucas merely sighed.

"We'll work around it somehow."

After
a few more minutes of preparation, it was time to move out. Lucas
walked to his designated docking space as the intercom roared over the
entire ship.

"ALPHA SQUAD, REPORT TO THE DOCKING BAY FOR SUIT UP AND LAUNCH. I REPEAT, ALPHA SQUAD, REPORT TO THE DOCKING BAY!"

Lucas walked into the center of the platform and reached into his pocket as he shut his eyes.

"Ever vigilant eyes, watching in the depths of darkness..."

Lucas removed his glasses case from his pocket, the crest of Xanderfall glowing brightly on the case.

"Watch over my allies and guide my soul. Let me waver not in my convictions. Let me be tempted no more."

Lucas began to rapidly wave his hand, and began to draw the crest of Xanderfall with the aura emanating from the case.

"Oh
great guardian and strategist, night owl and watchman, let me protect
those close to my heart and turn back the tides of the encroaching
shadows!"

The crest nearly completed, Lucas began to wave his arms even more swiftly.

"Open my eyes!"

At this, Lucas opened his eyes, now burning a bright blue flame, the same hue of blue as his case and the aura.

"XANDERFALL!"

A
wave of energy began to pour from the platform, and the aura began to
take shape around Lucas. It began to form a giant, not unlike those seen
in mythology, only more stern and cold.

The radiant titan had a
sleek metal exterior, cold to the touch. It had two slits at the head
for eyes, colorless and empty, and had no face, a tactic used to
intimidate opponents. The rest of the body was slender and elegant,
clearly designed to be aerodynamic, the only point that was designed to
be weaponized were the shoulders, which were slightly larger and bulkier
than the rest of the body.

The mighty Resonark bent to one knee before its master, and opened its chest cavity, revealing a cockpit.

Lucas
smiled as he jumped into the cockpit and strapped himself in, pushing
his glasses closer to his forehead and jabbed the internal body,
signaling the cavity to close as the cockpit began to rise into the base
of Xander's neck.

"This is Alpha-I. Xanderfall, ready to roll!"

----------

Kyuba heard the order to move out and moved to the docking bay. He
started off at his normal reserved pace but as the thoughts of the
mission ahead poured through his mind he became more and more excited
and soon found himself running despite his robes.

Before long he
reached his port in the docking bay. Kyuba grabbed his scythe in both
hands and started to concentrate. The grim reaper tattoo on his back
began to glow.

"The final messenger, the last rider, king of the shadows...I beseech thee. Come

forth and reap the souls of her unholy damned in the name of the dark princess.

The unholy mother, she who brings pain and peace with one stroke of her black

hand. Ye who are her servant and knight I call upon thee to aid in this the

unholiest of deeds."

Suddenly the scythe in his hands started to glow a dark black.

Kyuba
reached back with the scythe and then swung forward in a great arc,
ripping the very fabric of space and time. A dark storm poured forth
from the tear and Kyuba now in a frenzy had to shout above the noise.

"I BESEECH THE LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD, COME FORTH AND DO THY

MISTRESSES BIDDING! YOU THE FAITHFUL WATCHDOG AND SHEPARD OF HER

DOOMED AND DAMNED. AID ME AND BECOME THE SWORD OF YOUR GODDESS IN

MINE HAND. TOGETHER WE SHALL MAKE RIVERS OF BLOOD THAT RUN INTO

OCEANS OF SOULS."

Kyuba then cut a sideways tear right across the middle of the first.

"I BESEECH THE ALMIGHTY RESONARK....REAP THEM ALL KIRI'TAS!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A
gigantic dark hand appeared and grabbed the edge of the rift. Another
appeared and grabbed the other side and each pulled making the tear
bigger and bigger until it was so large it made Kyuba look like an ant
in comparison. What stepped forth from the tear was a large black
relatively humanoid looking Mech with a skull for a head. Its body and
head were shrouded in a dark black hooded cloak. In its right hand it
held a giant Scythe. As it stepped forth from the void the tear mended
itself and the storm began to settle.

The tattoo on Kyuba's back
faded, as it did whenever Kiri'Tas was summoned. Kyuba looked at
Kiri'Tas with glowing pride as he jumped into the air towards its chest
area. When he reached the chest area he once again used his deadly
scythe only this time he tore a gateway into Kiri'Tas revealing an open
room in the chest. When he reached the inside he activated his Resonark
with a thought command and immediately his brain, and entire body, was
patched into Kiri'Tas.

Kiri'Tas, as far as Kyuba had seen so far
was one of a kind with its piloting technique. Kyuba was actually
connected to Kiri'Tas on a mental level. Every move he made Kiri'Tas
would make. He also felt every blow on more then just a mental level.
Kyuba was perfect for this kind of piloting system because it allowed
him to not only see but actually "feel" each kill he made in Shiira's
dark name.

Kyuba checked to see that he was fully integrated and
when he was fully satisfied he tightened his grip on the Scythe and
switched open his Com.

"This is Alpha-III In the Name Of Shiira."

----------

Zero stepped into his docking station. He pulled his cloak off and threw it into the air.

"King of rage, spirit of fire, the living blade..."

Zero slapped his hands together, is if in prayer.

"Walker of the empty dark, seeker of vengeance."

Zero took a deep breath.

"The bloody tailed murderer. The suicidal reaver. I CALL UPON YOUR STRENGTH!."

Zero shouted then was silent for all of one second.

"Kyuukenbi give me your power!"

The
cloak still floating in the air froze suddenly, and began to glow, a
growling sound could be heard seemingly from nowhere and a flash of red
light engulfed the docking bay. Meanwhile within the light ,so only Zero
could see, the 'Head' of the hood starred down at him. It then began to
expand and its substance changed. The hood expanded into a giant fox
skull while the 'tails' of the cloak seemed to form a skeleton. First
the center three spun around each other and extended to become a spine
where at the tail bone nine sharp bone 'blades' appeared. Meanwhile the
outer two split in two and wrapped around the spine and juted into four
opposing directions their ends splitting and as a whole the four formed
into legs, shoulders, hips and feet. The last four cloak 'tails' each
split in three and spread out to form Kyuukenbi's ribcage. The bone
skeleton then took a deep 'breath' and absorbed the surrounding energy,
muscles and tendon seemed to fill up the inside of the bones then
overlap the skin, causing Kyuukenbi to look more animal then machine.
Lastly blood seemed to seep from the muscles, shimmering and metallic it
spread over the body and when it finished it solidified, forming
Kyuukenbi's metal coat. When the light receded Kyuukenbi was revealed in
all its glory.

Several of those monitoring the summoning
sequence were shocked when Kyuukenbi opened its mouth wide and swallowed
Zero whole. The giant metal fox roared and swung its nine blade-like
tails having ,apparently, devoured its pilot. The onlookers froze in
fear when, the black outlined head of Kyuukenbi, turned towards them and
stared hungrily with its red eyes.

Meanwhile inside Kyuukenbi,
Zero, opened his eyes to look around the flesh-like interior of
Kyuukenbi. His 'seat' inside the cockpit pulsed like that of a living
heart. The fleshy inards pressed against Zero and then the 'veins' of
the 'heart' slammed themselves into Zero's kneck and spine creating
connections with his nervous system. The 'lungs' of Kyuukenbi bent back
and surrounded Zero. The lungs then grew sists that turned into
controls. Kyuukenbi's cockpit was in the center of its chest but to
enter you had to have no fear of being devoured by the metal monster.


"This is Alpha-IV ready for rapid deployment."

----------

Unlike the other resonarks, Michiko's Aurora was not encouraged to awaken with words. It responded only to pain.

When
she got to the docking bay, Michi started ripping out the two wires
that bound her necklace to her body. Blood spilled as the necklace
lengthened, but this was not enough, her heart rate was not even close
to where it needed to be.

Acting as a catalyst, the brilliant
fire in her opal came alive, singeing her young, resilient flesh. She
grimaced, but Michi didn't scream. No word, phrase, or utterance passed
her lips, it would have broken her concentration.

The adrenaline
was pumping now, fight or flight was in full effect, she was almost at
her panic plateau, but still Aurora would not come to her.

A
multi-colored light shone from the stone that was burying itself ever
deeper into her being. Then abruptly, the opal changed it's mind. In
response to her body's last frantic effort to make full use of it's
cardiovascular system, the gem burst from it's cauterized nook, and took
it's rightful place on her forehead.

The excruciating sensation
caused wires to extend from every other pour. They wrapped around
Michiko, pulsating with energy. Her heart was at it's absolute limit,
the feeling weakened and invigorated her simultaneously.

Now
purged of all non-biological material, Michi sat surrounded by the
technology that once inhabited her body. Aurora's inexplicable large
dark blue panels with blurred white spots gave the illusion of deep
space. The winglike propulsion system was the last to manifest, but when
it did, it blended seamlessly with the rest of the resonark.

At
home in her cockpit, Michiko's vitals returned to normal, and all
physical evidence of the awakening disappeared from her person.
Unscathed and ready for action, Michiko shouted "Alpha II Aurora, Star
of the Opaline Borealis, prepared to embark!"

----------

Lucas was the first to take off into the empty void, with Kyuba and Zero at each of his sides, and Michiko covering their flank.

Immediately Lucas set his com frequency to the squad line.

"Alright
guys, you know the drill. Keep an eye out for enemy soldiers, keep your
wits about you, and let's all get to work. Move out!"

Xander lurched forward and took off at an almost impossible speed, thrusters launching from almost every point on its body.

When
the team arrived at the asteroid belt, Lucas was most surprised to see
no form of security whatsoever. The asteroids were indeed volatile, but
if they were holding such valuable prisoners as enemy scouts, one would
think the enemy would want to protect themselves.

"Be careful guys, I don't like this..."

Xander
slowly moved into the belt, but was blasted by a wave of radiation as
it hit the asteroids. The mighty resonark was forced to use all of its
built up strength to keep itself from being sent flying into one of the
asteroids, which could very well start a chain reaction.

"Whoah! This kind of radiation is off the charts!"

Lucas
quickly stabilized himself, but not before the fear began to set in. He
realized he was in the field now, the enemy was not the only threat he
had to face.

"Everyone move cautiously! If you get hit by those radiation waves it could very well kill us all!"

Lucas
began to lead the team on a mismatched path of ducking behind asteroids
and quickly jumping from rock to rock in an attempt to avoid the
blasts. Eventually, they neared the heart of the belt, and began to
discover hollowed out asteroids.

"Alright guys, looks like we've
made it. Keep your eyes open, we have no idea what could happen. Split
up and search for the Recon team, or at worst, the reports. Signal if
something goes wrong."

As the team split up and began to investigate the ruins of bases, one by one field report fragments began to turn up.

"Hm...They
separated the files?" Lucas asked himself, trying to make sense as to
why the entire report was scattered across the asteroids.

Eventually
only one fragment of the report was missing, and it was at this point
that the squad uncovered their worst case scenario: the missing scouts,
dissected and experimented upon.

Lucas resisted the urge to vomit
as he gathered up the remains and looked for any report fragments. He
quickly got on his direct com link to command.

"Command? This is Alpha-I. We have the scouts, I repeat, we have the scouts. They're all dead, no sign of hostiles."

"Roger that Alpha-I. How many scouts are there?"

Lucas blinked and looked at the men he had just unbound.

"Three, copy."

"Uh,
Alpha-I, that is a negative. There are four members to the recon squad.
I repeat, four members. You're missing a crewman. Find him, find those
reports, and return at...What the hell are you doing in here, soldier?!"

Lucas blinked, something was wrong.

"Command, what is it?"

"What in god's name do you think you're doing, soldier?! Put down that gun right now! Do you hear me?! I said put down the-"

The voice at the other end went dead after a single blast.

Beads of sweat were dripping down his brow.

"Command? Command do you copy?"

All that was heard was static, until eventually it cleared, and a voice came on.

"Peek a boo..."

Lucas
quickly noticed a shadow approaching behind him. He nearly panicked. He
was inside a base, he was completely vulnerable without Xander.

"I see you." Was all he heard as a pistol was pointed at his head.

The connection was immediately made clear.

Michiko was right, something HAD been off.

There was a spy in the ranks of the resistance.

Lucas
threw his head back into his attacker's forehead and he ran for the
exit, pulling out his glasses case and throwing it into the air above
him.

"XANDER!" He shouted as Xanderfall appeared before him, chest open, ready for its master to make an escape.

Lucas
quickly jumped in the cockpit and closed the hatch, taking off into the
void of space and returning to the squad frequency.

"Attention
Alpha Squad! This is Alpha-I! The mission is a no-go! I repeat! The
mission is a no-go! This entire escapade has been a trap to lure us out
of headquarters! Everyone rendezvous on my position and prepare to
evacuate!"

As Lucas shouted this command, he realized that he was
staring down the barrels, blades, and empty faces of at least a dozen
enemy mechs, and two full-fledged resonarks.

"...Shit."

----------

After searching diligently for the last remaining crew member, Michiko
was deeply dismayed when she heard Lucas's order. It tore her up inside
that she couldn't do anything for the men they'd already found.

On
the way out Michi was stopped in her tracks by a realization. She may
not have time to summon Aurora. The concentration it required would be
hard to find considering all the atrocities they'd seen. Even under the
best circumstances the proper pain to heart rate ratio was a bit time
consuming to achieve on her own.

She searched herself for
something sharp. Michiko usually carried a knife for occasions such as
this, but she unfortunately left it in her cabin due to her haste to
report this morning. She wracked her brain while surveying her
surroundings, nothing stood out.

Then it came to her "Kyuba..."
she whispered. With no time to spare Michi backtracked. She didn't have
to search long. She found Kyuba pacing the floor most likely aggravated
at the insufficient (by his standards) amount death.

Trust was
definitely an issue here but Michiko didn't have another choice.
"Kyuba," she started hesitantly. "I need you to do something for me... I
know this is a tall order, but..." her gaze shifted to his face "When
we are almost to the exit I need you to cut me without killing me, you
know a moderate strike, not too much and not too little."

----------


"damn....damn....DAMNIT." Was all Kyuba could find
himself saying ever since he started this mission. He knew it was not
likely that there would be any killing to be done and he had accepted
that but this....this he could not accept. There were no signs of battle
no signs of any struggle at all. The Recon Team went down without a
fight and what was worse was there was no bloody mess on the
dissections, it was all systematic, all structured....no
chaos...."RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR" Kyuba let out
all his frustration slamming his fist into the wall leaving a size-able
dent in the wall. Just as he was about to do it again, he heard Lucas's
warning and then Michiko came into the room and begged of him a strange
request. Kyuba smiled evilly and followed her to the entrance. "Finally I
get to spill a little blood hahahahahahaha" he thought to himself as he
followed close behind. As they came to a stop near the entrance he
pulled a large knife out of its boot holster and came up behind Michiko.
He could almost smell the blood in her, hear her heart beat, the want
for the blood shed drive him half mad. He inched closer and closer as he
raised the knife above his head. A look of pure jubilant malicious and
even feral glee was painted on his face. When he reached his position
right behind her, he stabbed down into her head....Or so he thought.
Suddenly his arm froze as if some force was holding it back.

Kyuba
closed his eyes and when he opened them he found himself in his own
mind. He was in a dark circular chamber and Kiri'Tas was standing to one
side only, in this world, he was much smaller. Suddenly a dark figure
appeared in the center of the room. Kyuba screeched and launched himself
at the foe trying to tear him limb from limb. "I WILL KILL YOU FOR
BRINGING ME BACK HERE I SWEAR I WILL!" Suddenly the shadowy figure
revealed himself. It was an exact replica of Kyuba only this one wasn't
nearly as evil. Still very evil but not as feral.

The shadowy
Kyuba side stepped and kicked feral Kyu into the wall opposite Kiri'Tas.
"You will only come out when i say you can come out...DO NOT TRY AND
TAKE OVER AGAIN." With that the real Kyuba made a motion with his hands
and the feral Kyuba was immediately wrapped in chains and muzzled. The
feral Kyuba was then flung across the room into the arms of the awaiting
Kiri'Tas who held him perfectly still.

Kyuba then walked over
and look Kiri'Tas in his cold mechanic eyes. "Point taken my
Resonark....I will deal with him after the battle...but for now you know
what to do." Kyuba then closed his eyes and returned to reality where
not even a second of time had passed.

He lowered the knife and
walked to the side of Michiko and systematically stabbed her in the
upper meatier part of the arm. "I hope thats moderate enough for you" ,
he said as he pulled the knife out cleaned it and put it back into his
boot.

As he summoned Kiri'Tas he took one longing look back at
Michiko and shuddered with pleasure as he envisioned what would have
happened if he had not come back. "Easy there Kyuba" , he thought to
himself, "That wouldn't be right...she would have died by the hands of
the feral..." "Yea your right", he told himself, "t would be much more
fun to do it myself!" Kyuba laughed his merciless evil laugh as he
climbed into Kiri'Tas and set out to help Lucas.


----------

"Shit...shit...shit", Zero thought to himself as he floated inches away
from death where one wrong move could end in death for his entire team.
His own death he could handle but he refused to be responsible for the
deaths of his comrades, especially Lucas and Michiko, Kyuba would
probably enjoy the idea of dying far more then one should.

"The things i do for my friend and for the universe." Zero mumbled under his breath low enough for the com to not pick it up.

When they finally reached their destination he wasn't the only breathing a sigh of relief.

Zero received his orders and quickly moved off to his own asteroid

After
some searching Zero came upon what, according to his map, was the last
room he had yet to search. As the entered the room what he saw made him
leave just as quickly.

Inside on a table was a dissected corpse.
Zero summoned his courage and told his stomach to stop turning as he
entered the room and approached the table. He quickly located the dog
tags which were still around the victims neck. "Private First Class -
Steve Jenkins" was what the tag said.

"You poor bastard..." Zero said as he turned ad walked away. "I swear I will kill the ones that did this to you. "

Zero
walked over to the corner of the room and retrieved the recon files
from the safe. "Well at least your sacrifice wasn't in vain", he said as
he walked out of the room.

Zero was about to signal to Lucas his
findings when he was interrupted by Lucas's warning. "SHIT....how did
we not see this one coming." He patched in to Lucas to let him know he
was coming and ran full speed toward the entrance of the asteroid. He
quickly summoned Kyuukenbi and rushed off to Lucas's side.

----------

Lucas stared at all of the mechs around him, pushed his glasses up on his face, and sighed.

"Damn. Second mission, second time we've had complications. I guess I'm just that unlucky."

Lucas shut his eyes and focused all of his thought processes on his enemies.

The mechs.

The Resonarks.

The tyrant.

Everything.

Lucas's eyes shot open, a bright blue flame in his eye, and once more his glasses took the role of a targeting computer.

Lucas's
eyes darted across the screens, looking at every enemy for less than
half a second before the computer analyzed a weakness and targeted it.
All twelve mechs were quickly locked on, and Lucas ran probability
calculations before making a final decision.

"Alright. Xander! Do
it!" Lucas rapidly began typing in a holographic keyboard, rotated
several control panels, and pulled a lever before he grabbed the arm
controls and lurched forward with them, forcing a complete
transformation outside.

Xander began to shake violently, as a
deafening hum was heard emanating from the mechanized titan. It's
shoulders began to rumble, and its arms rotated into the joints leading
into its shoulders, revealing several gun barrels.

The shoulders
then began to glow and unlatch at specific joints, and a blinding light
was seen penetrating from the unsealed points. The shoulderplates then
began to swing up, as if on hinges, revealing a series of laser cannons
on the inside of the plates.

Lucas grinned as he tightened his grip on the controls, watching the power levels slowly rise.

"Let's go Xander!"

All of the laser cannons began to glow, and once more the mighty Resonark began to rumble.

"SAY YOUR PRAYERS FOOLS! NO MORE WILL WE WAIT IN SILENCE AND COWER IN THE DARKNESS! WE ARE A FREE PEOPLE!"

The power levels reached a peak, and Lucas grinned as a bead of sweat dripped from his brow.

"AZURE TYPHOON!"

All
of the cannons reached a blinding peak of light, and gun barrels began
to rumble as they fired one by one, missiles flying out and homing in on
respective targets. Once each missile fired, a laser would follow suit,
shooting a straight beam of deadly light, leading Xander to begin
violently rotating from the waist up, leading to a whirlwind of blinding
light.

Once the light dissipated, all but the enemy resonarks were left in ruin, and Xanderfall had disappeared.

Lucas had taken off into the asteroids, hoping to avoid any more surprises and constantly sending his signal out to his team.

"Attention
Alpha Squad! This is Alpha-I! I am on the run from enemy forces! Keep
your eyes peeled and rendezvous on my signal! I repeat, keep your eyes
peeled! There are enemy resonarks in the area! I repeat, the enemy has
resonarks! Watch yourselves and rendezvous on-"

At this, a blast came from within the asteroids and hit Xander in what would have been the ribcage on a human.

"ARGH! I'm hit! Everyone be careful! I'm hit! I'm going to try and make a break for it, rendezvous on my location!"

Lucas cut the com channel and growled, berating himself and punching Xander's internal plating.

"Damn,
I was careless, I shouldn't have used that attack protocol, I know full
well that it leaves me defenseless till I make repairs! Damn!"

Kyuba pushed Kiri'Tas as fast as he could go followed closely by Zero.
They reached the place where Lucas's last transmission had come from but
he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly Lucas's distress call blasted
across Kyuba's radio and the distress blip from Xander lit up on his
internal HUD. Just as he turned to head in the direction of the blip he
had to immediately dodge backwards as a large sword slashed in front of
him. Kyuba immediately swung his scythe in the direction of his unseen
opponent and was met with resistance as he cut a deep slash in the
shoulder. Kiri'Tas let out a piercing roar as his scythe bit into the
enemy. Kyuba then backed off, with his guard at the ready, and stared at
his opponent. It was the same blue Resonark they had met in the first
mission. Kyuba grinned and said "Well it seems that we meet again. Zero
you head off and find Lucas...THIS ONES MINE."

----------

Zero did not like the that Kyuba was giving him orders and was about to
say something when he was hit by an energy blast which was blocked by
Kyuukenbi's nine metallic tails. "Ha good luck trying to get past my
ultimate defense.", Zero taunted over the open channel, "Kyuukenbi's
tails block all attacks. You cannot win." Zero looked over his opponent
carefully, it was a Resonark in the shape of a wolf although its skin
was completely metal and looked like a creature called a Zoid, which
were the mechas used in an TV show he watched when he was a kid. It was a
mix of blue and gray and had sharp laser blade claws on each of its
feet and was equipped with a number of guns all mid to long range. "So
you are a Mid to Long range fighter with short range capabilities eh?
This will be fun. How bout we see who is the best beast pilot eh?"

The enemy Resonark fired once again without warning and once again
Kyuukenbi blocked the attack and Zero laughed. "I told you that wouldn't
work....shit..." Warning sounds blasted inside the stomach of Kyuukenbi
as the enemy suddenly appeared behind him and let out a barrage of
missiles and laser beams. Zero couldn't raise his defenses or turn in
time. He knew he was going to die. "I'm sorry Lucas i failed to protect
you...forgive me old friend. Suddenly his entire world went dark.....

----------

"YOU IDIOT!" was all Kyuba said as he pushed his enemy away and ran to
Zero's aid. He removed Kiri'Tas's cloak and threw it over both him and
Kyuukenbi, completely shielding them from the attack although Kyuba felt
every excruciating detail as each missile and laser was absorbed by the
cloak. "Haaa...Haa....SHIT that hurt....WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING
TELLING YOUR ENEMY HOW YOUR RESONARK WORKS WHAT IS THIS TRAINING CAMP?"
Kyuba barely managed to keep awake as he berated Zero on his
foolishness.

"I told you to leave and find Lucas." When Zero
started to protest Kiri'Tas grabbed Kyuukenbi by the neck and sent a low
powered electric shock throughout the body and into Zero. Zero screamed
as the electricity entered his body. "THAT IS NOT EVEN 1/4 THE ENERGY
THAT I HAD TO ABSORB TO SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS. I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF
HERE AND FIND LUCAS. LEAVE THE SUICIDAL SHIT TO ME. YOU HAVE A
RESPONSIBILITY TO HIM." Kyuba let go and took a deep breath and opened
up a video channel to Zero. "My life will end in blood and battle...that
is the will of the goddess...It is not your path to die today. Go and
save your friend......he needs you."

With that Kyuba threw off
the cloak and turned to face his two opponents. When he saw that Zero
wasn't leaving he immediately turned around and slashed the space
between him and Zero. A giant wall of black energy separated them and
forced Zero back.

----------

"Damnit Kyuba don't you ord-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" was
all that Zero could say as he writhed in pain from the shock he was
receiving as the electricity coursed through his body. Suddenly the
shock stopped and Zero was left shaking violently in the cockpit.

Suddenly a video message opened up and Kyuba's face appeared. Zero almost
laughed at the mix of pain, pleasure, anger and something else...that
looked like a cross between pity and loathing, that appeared on Kyuba's
face. He heard Kyuba's message before he could respond Kyuba cut the
feed and once again he world was filled with the bright lights of the
stars.

He was about to berate Kyuba when a wall of black energy
appeared in front of him. "DAMN YOU KYUBA DAMN YOU TO HELL" Zero
screamed as he shot off in the direction of Lucas's distress signal. As
he was flying away pride gave way to reason and he almost thanked
Kyuba....almost.....

----------

Kyuba shuddered involuntarily as a chill came over him. "It's almost
as if someone...almost....thanked me for something.....THAT MAKES ME
REALLY REALLY ANGRY. THAT'S IT NOW YOU ALL DIE!"

----------

Kyuba's strike was perfect, she counted her blessings that he denied
himself. Once Michiko was nestled in her cockpit Lucas's transmissions
came in. She furrowed her brows and sighed heavily.

Michiko
imagined the person she wanted to be. An unforgiving tool of war,
someone who was ever vigilant, tactful, and devoid of emotion. She was
disgusted at the feelings of concern that washed over her.

"They should be of no importance to me. This is not what a real soldier feels!"
She stomped her foot, not sure if she would ever be good enough to take
back her world. Despite her inner turmoil she continued on in search of
the others.

She spotted Zero and Kyuba, they were engaged in a
battle with what looked to be a resonark. She was about to go over and
assist when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small mech,
battleworn and struggling to get away.

Michi knew she had two
choices. She didn't much care for either one. If she healed the pilot
and got caught, she'd surely be discharged. If she killed him.... well
that would be... she didn't know what that would be... but not something
she looked forward to doing. She extended a combination of cables and
wires, whipped them around the enemy mech. and reeled him in close.

She
tried to look into the cockpit, it was dark, the lighting system turned
off as a fail-safe measure to conserve power. She turned an external
light of Aurora's on and took another look. Much to her surprise and
dismay a young boy not more than 15 was piloting. Michiko's eyes
widened, this added yet another disturbing factor to the decision making
process.

The boy's face had terror written all over it. He was
bleeding, bruised, and looked like he'd broken his wrists. She growled
at this ridiculously impossible choice. She tuned into a close range
general frequency and yelled "Stay still, SHUTUP, and don't do anything
STUPID!"

In much the same fashion as she helped Lucas, Michiko
engulfed the mech with cables. When she'd finished, the machine itself
was in the same condition, Aurora could not interface with non-resonark
mechs, but the boy's situation was much improved. She didn't heal him
completely and many of the bruises and lacerations were still visible.
Finishing the task would have raised suspicion when she brought him back
to Lucas....as her prisoner.

"Then he can be command's problem."
she said to herself. Keeping a set of cords wrapped securely around the
mech, she looked back at Zero and Kyuba to see if they still needed
help. Zero was barely visible as he sped off and Kyuba looked like he
had things under control.

Michi knew that following Zero would
lead her to Lucas, but she also wanted to be close in case Kyuba needed
her. In the end she reasoned that she needed to at least locate Lucas
and see what sort of a fix he was in.

Taking off as fast as she
could to catch up to Zero was a challenge. Her new prisoner added a lot
of extra weight, but somehow she made headway.

----------

Lucas grunted as pain washed over him, he'd been knocked around a bit
when he was attacked, and Xander was not doing much better.

The
lights in the cockpit were constantly flickering on and off, and Lucas
had no way of knowing how badly Xander had been hit during the brief
firefight, but he could assume that his core had been damaged, and in
that case, he knew he would have to switch to emergency backup power
supplies.

Lucas quickly hit the beacon display, signaling to his
team and his team alone where he was, hidden inside an asteroid, licking
his wounds.

Lucas reached for the com link controls, and his vision began to blur.

Realizing the good chance he had a concussion, Lucas forced himself to stay awake and activate the controls.

"Attention...Alpha
Squad....This is Alpha-I...Reporting in. I am alright...Just a bit
bruised up...I have displayed my location...Come....Come find me...We
have to get...Get out of here...Now...."

Unable to bear the
weight of his heavy eyes, Lucas's hand slipped from the controls as he
passed out, the allure of sleep finally taking hold over him as he
waited in the isolation of a hollowed out asteroid.

----------

Lucas sounded like he'd lost consciousness. That meant he was a sitting
duck for anything that happened upon him, and that beacon, though
necessary, was a big temptation for any enemies that may still be in the
area.

At this point communication was almost impossible and
would have wasted too much power. Upon entering the crater Michiko took a
good look around. Once the power failed Xander would stop producing
oxygen, she didn't have very much time.

Dragging along the kid, a
decision she was regretting more by the minute, took a lot of Michiko's
power as well, which meant not a lot left to heal Lucas. The best she
could do for him was give him enough oxygen to last until she found a
suitable spot to bring him around.

After interfacing and
attaching Xander to her increasingly heavy caravan of broken mechs, she
started searching for somewhere to dock. "I don't know this area at
all." she murmured in frustration.

Zero had been watching
Michiko work, apparently deciding it best not to hinder the process.
Noticing the erratic patterns of movement Zero moved in front of her and
signaled her to follow.

----------

Zero motioned for Michiko to follow him but then stopped and hit a
button. An emergency support line and a tow cable emerged from Kyuukenbi
and attached itself to the enemy mech. Zero punched the button for his
com line and said. "You focus on Lucas I will take this one. Follow me
to a safe location Kyuba is handling the other we need to move quickly.
Zero then moved them into a secure asteroid and stood guard at the
entrance. "Michiko, I swear that you will have all the time you need to
patch them up. I will not move from this spot."

----------

"AHAHAHAAHA DIE DIE DIE DIE DIIIIIIIIIIIIE" Kyuba screamed as he fought
ruthlessly against his two opponents. He scored another hit on blue
Resonark who was down to one sword which was held in its only remaining
arm, which was badly damage. For every hit Kyuba scored, he was rewarded
with two for himself. This was a tough battle and although the blue
Resonark was a rookie he had yet to hit the grey wolf.
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH damn that hurt," Kyuba cursed out loud as another
gash appeared on Kiri'Tas, his protective cloak long rendered useless.
Kyuba felt every cut and scrape that Kiri'Tas did because they were
connected on a nerve level. While no actual physical harm came to him
the pain itself was real. Suddenly the wolf attacked from his right just
as blue attacked from the left.

Kyuba knew he had to make a
choice and had no time to do it. He sliced at the wolf taking off its
head but it cost him dearly. Kiri'Tas lost its left arm as the price for
disabling the wolf.

Kyuba screamed in rage and pain and
immediately went into a blind fury.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE IN
THE NAME OF SHIIIIIIIIRRAAAA"

Kyuba swung with his one good arm
as he chased down both Resonarks. All pain and sanity forgotten Kyuba's
rage reached its peak and he summoned all his rage and energy and
focused it into his scythe. "IN THE NAME OF SHIIRA I WILL REAP YOU ALL
WELCOME TO HELL!" Kyuba swung his scythe in a a circle and a dark ring
of energy was left in its wake. The energy exploded outwards in all
directions engulfing everything.

----------

"Shit shit shit" , said the pilot of the Blue Resonark, named Poliz
Kritz, as he saw Kyuba's blind rage attack. Corporal Smith immediately
retreated as fast as he could. Not far in front of him was the
mysterious wolf Resonark who's name he had yet to know. Right before
this mission he was shocked to find that this mysterious stranger had
joined his team. He hadn't even the time to learn his name before the
mission. All he knew was this man outranked him and that he was utterly
in charge.

Suddenly the wolf stopped and waited staring right
at Kyuba. They were already pretty far ahead but the black energy was
still right behind him and catching up fast. Right before he reached the
wolf the dark energy struck his leg and started twisting around and up
it like a tendril. The dark energy had stopped expanding and was now
retracting rapidly and he was being sucked into it.

"Help me
PLEASE", he screamed over his comp to the wolf who just sat there
staring. Suddenly the wolf disappeared and slashed through the darkness
releasing Politz from its grasp.

The wolf opened up a video feed
with smith and all he said was "Move Now!" and disappeared. Smith
immediately fired his boosters and plotted his course back to the base.
Suddenly there was burning sensation on his back that faded quickly.
There was no time to check it now though. He had to get back to base.

Not
soon after the dark energy reached back to Kyuba it expanded only this
time in a giant explosion, that passed much farther than the original
darkness, but Smith was long gone.

----------

"Hyaaa.....Hyaaaaa.....Hah....Hah....damn we over did it," Kyuba said to
himself as he panted heavily in the cockpit of Kiri'Tas, "We shall get
them next time. There is no escape once one has been marked by Shiira."
Kyuba then set Kiri'Tas to autopilot and set the course for the
distress beacon. He hit the com saying "This is Alpha-III Enemy
Resonarks have fled. Kiri'Tas is severely damage and I have temporarily
lost all control over my left arm. I am heading to your location now."

----------

Relief fell over Michiko like a warm blanket. Zero's assistance was much
needed and much appreciated. She would have to remember to thank him
later.

Once docked Michi didn't bother to sever the tow, instead
she strengthened it and started sending energy to Xander. Her fatigue
increased with every unit of power transferred. She wasn't used such a
small amount of downtime between healings.

Xander was still
damaged but at full power, meanwhile Aurora had also been pumping a
mixture of rich oxygen and a revival agent into the cockpit. Lucas
started to stir.

Suddenly Kyuba's transmission came on the
monitor. Even thoroughly exhausted and low on power, concern took a
strong hold of Michiko's heart. Ignoring the self-loathing that came
with those feelings, Michiko took off to go meet Kyuba halfway. "Zero,
please stay with Lucas, and make sure he stays put."

----------

As the revival agent passed through the cockpit, Lucas began to stir very slowly.

"Ugh....Huh?
Where am I?" He slowly began to look around the cockpit, which was
still slightly damaged, yet every system was online.

"...Xander? You ok...AGH!" Lucas grunted in pain as his head began to wrack and spasm as he reached up and felt his head.

"Damn...Head trauma? Am I really that weak?" He asked himself, once more infuriated with his own physical weakness.

----------

Kyuba pushed himself and Kiri'Tas in the direction of the SoS beacon set
out by Lucas. When he came into view of a large asteroid he immediately
notice Michiko floating towards him. Great.... he thought to himself as he saw her getting ever closer She has come to heal me....instead of healing those who really need it....
Kyuba opened a Com-Link to the entire squad. "Michiko...My
dear...sweet....Michiko....why are you out here when our venerable
leader is still in distress. I am fine go see to him......" He then
looked up and saw the Zero was standing watch. "Ah I noticed the doggy
has done as he was told.....Want a biscuit?"

----------

Zero scowled at Zero's response and was about to say something but thought better of it. Its better to just let it go...,
he thought to himself. Just then he noticed some activity from Xander.
He immediately flipped his Com to a private channel with Lucas. "Lucas
are you alright?"



----------

Lucas groaned as his head was still reeling, but he slowly began to compose himself.

"I'm
alright...Just a little banged up...Is everyone else ok?" He quickly
asked, concerned that in his absence, he may have let down his team.

----------

"I did all that could be done at that moment." was her reply.
Calculating the minimum amount of power she would need to be able to
return to Lucas and Zero, Aurora connected with Kiri'Tas.

This
was quite the disturbing experience as Michiko got a glimpse of the
darkness in Kyuba's heart. Which wasn't much different than what it
manifested as. This source however, was even more repulsive and violent.
Michiko started feeling dizzy. She sent all the spare energy she could
manage to Kiri'Tas before hastily disconnecting. He'd needed a great
deal despite his comment. The arm would have to be repaired at a later
date, if ever. She said nothing once the transfer was complete,
immediately heading back to the others.

Upon arrival Michi saw
that Lucas was regaining consciousness. She wanted to check on his
condition but the last bit of her strength had been expended. Her
eyelids started to droop, and her vision blurred until finally she could
fight it no longer. Michiko slumped into a deep sleep. The only way to
regain the energy that had been used.

Kyuba scowled but said nothing as he felt Michiko begin to heal Kiri'Tas
and himself, he scowled even more when she put what seemed like minimal
effort into healing him. His expression changed when he saw her vitals
drop and Aurora suddenly stop for he knew something was wrong. "Stupid
girl I told her not to bother with me." He floated toward Lucas and Zero
and said, "We need to get out of here, I'll carry the girl you two be
the guards. I am not combat capable."

Zero looked at Kyuba with a
look of puzzling confusion. "How can you carry here with one arm?" When
Kyuba didn't respond immediately Zero started to look at Kyuba with a
look of pride, thinking that for once he had put his overly
condescending fellow pilot in his place.

The reason Kyuba didn't
respond was because he had gone into a deep meditation. With a sudden
outcry a torrent of black energy shot from Kiri'Tas's broken arm. Kyuba
opened his eyes and inspected his handiwork. It would have to be willed
into moving but it was useful for what he needed. He reached over with
his good arm and pickup up Aurora and held her in both arms. He looked
to Lucas and gave him a nod. Then he willed Kiri'Tas to move and set out
on the return course to home.

As he passed Zero he added in a snide voice, "This is how...dog boy..."
Zero
flushed with anger and embarrassment as once again Kyuba had made him
look a fool. He too looked to Lucas and awaited his orders.

----------

Lucas quickly attempted to shake off his daze.

"Alright guys, we need to get moving. We have to make our way back to the ship, we have to get out of here, NOW!"

Xander was quickly brought to its feet, and Lucas turned to the exit of the asteroids.

"Alpha Squad, on me!" And with that, Xander took off into the belt, knowing that his companions would be close behind.

Lucas quickly began typing at his controls, and activated a variety of scanners.

"If anything gets within one hundred kilometers of us, I'll be the first to know, every stay on your toes and keep moving!"

Lucas continually watched the scanners, unsure of what was to come, until soon the ship was being picked up on the scanners.

"Alright team! We're almost there! Hang on!"

Lucas sped towards the ship, certain of the fight that would be in store for them.

"Command, command do you copy? This is Alpha-I, over!"

Lucas waited patiently as the static continued to feed through his com.

"Command? Command please answer! This is Alpha-I, Alpha Squadron is badly injured, is there anyone left to treat us?"

Still the static fed through. Lucas knew that the ship had been attacked, but completely overrun? That could never happen.

As Lucas got closer, his scanners began to pick up enemy activity nearby.

Another ambush.

"Everyone prepare for battle, the ship is under attack!"

But even this he was not prepared for.

One meter closer was all Lucas got to the ship, and he was completely blinded.

The flagship Zigrav was having a massive meltdown in space, a chain reaction leading to only one thing, certain destruction.

"Oh
my god..." Was all Lucas could mutter before he was blasted back by the
start of the massive explosion, and one by one enemy mechs began to
pour out of the asteroid belt.

"We have to get out of here, now!"