Resonance of the Stars: Bleak Horizon

Zach tied his boots and made sure he was ready to go. The last 5 days had made him stronger. Enraging Zero made things dangerous but it enabled Zach to retake control. He was much better for it.

"It's time to go." He smiled as he pulled his cloak on and walked to the door. Before leaving though he looked in the broken mirror. And saw Zero's angry face. He smiled back.

"Damn you. Damn you Zach!!!: Zero shouted. Zach smiled at his other personality. He turned around to walk out the door. But stopped and turned to look at the mirror over his shoulder.

"I've one this battle. Yet our war continues you sick bastard. We are both weak. Which ever of us wins this war. They will be much stronger." Zach finished resolutely. He left the room hearing Zero's angry roar and went toward where he was supposed to meet the others.

With the goodbyes already taken care of, Michiko prepared for departure. Trails of dried salt adorned her face. It had been just as awful an experience as she'd imagined. She felt cried out, numb, and gutted emotionally. Their woeful expressions haunted her, but she made herself focus. This was the best decision in the long run...Wasn't it?

Aurora sprang forth as Michiko spilled some blood. Though she'd found out in her spare time it wasn't actually blood. It was an amazing facsimile, the syrupy substance looked, smelled, and even tasted like blood. Be that as it may, it was far from the same. It pulsated with Aurora's energy signature. Michiko surmised that the time she spent within Aurora after the incident hadn't been to "heal" her. It was Aurora trying to find a way to compensate for the dead tissue and bone that had become Michiko's body. Apparently the artificial blood was the answer the resonark must have settled upon. It stimulated the dead cells in such a way they mimicked a living cell so convincingly that it was almost impossible to tell the difference.

Everything on her end was ready to go, all that was left to do was wait for the command, and try not to think about Sophia and Raul...

Lucas sighed as he made his way towards the command deck.

"Fine Kyuba, just making sure things go according to plan for once in this entire operation."

Something had been bother Kyuba for the last several days, but he had yet to be able to decipher WHAT it was. Yet another thing he was going to need to devote time to during their time together.

"Alright guys, it's showtime. Get in position and prepare to board."

At this, Lucas clutched the case in his breast pocket once again. It had been almost a week since he last called Xander, last made any contact with him. He still understood almost nothing about Resonarks, how they worked, what kind of power they ran on, whether they were even alive or not, which he was growing more and more certain that they were, or even why they chose the pilots they did. It was another mystery for him to solve, as if he didn't have enough of them.

Removing the case from his pocket and making his arcane gestures, Lucas quickly found himself once more in Xander's cockpit.

"They have an open channel of communication for us Kyuba?"

Kyuba smiled as Kiri'Tas appeared before him and he hopped inside. He grunted as the Mech came to life binding itself to his nervous system. He cou;d feel everything around him to an extent and that was the way he liked it. A display popped up in front of him and a gastly gaunt man appeared in front of him. "Greetings Mirik...I trust my ship is well taken care of..." First mate Mirik snapped a salute before responding. "Aye sir...shes running like a charm she can still cut a swath through the galaxy as good as the day she first sailed Sir." Kyuba smiled and patched Lucas into the communique. "First Mate Mirik this Lieutenant Lucas Wynne...you will follow any order he gives as if it was my own." Switching to team speak he shot a message to Lucas. They are all yours.

Lucas gave a slight nod as the connection was patched to him.

"It's a pleasure, Mirik. My team and I are about ready to get moving, there are some...undesirables...we need to deal with. Prepare the docking bay, we're coming aboard."

As he gave the newest set of instructions, Lucas re-opened the communication link with Michiko.

"We're going to need you to walk us through everything, alright? As of right now we're going to be flying blind when we hit the ground, so I'm gonna need your help to keep things running smoothly."

Lucas could easily tell that leaving the children behind was not going to be easy for her, and he knew he was going to have to monitor the situation closely, however, he felt that by keeping her focused on other tasks, she might not spend as much time worrying about the kids.

Zach stepped into the area that his comrades were in. He didn't even talk he just summoned Kyuukenbi. Well until this.

"Damn you Kyuba!" Zero started shouting but was quickly shut down.

"The WEAK shouldn't speak right? Well WE are the weak so shut up!" Zach snapped back as he entered Kyuukenbi and settled in.

"Lieutenant i hope you and the XO will forgive this ,a, outburst." Zach said firmly.

"Awaiting orders Lieutenant." He said and then went silent.

Mirik saluted and cut the communication. "Lucas...I am going on ahead I will see you there." Kyuba launched himself from the bay and flew over to his ship. He made a quick stop at his chambers and changed into his Commanders Robes which were also a mix of Violet and Black with shoulder bracers of Corpse Pyre. As he stepped on the bridge every man and woman immediately snapped to attention. He smiled to himself as he sat in his chair in the center of the bridge. These were his troops and they were the finest the galaxy had ever seen. "I trust you have each killed your weight in men in my absence." A roar from the crew was his answer. "Good good...NOW....I WANT ALL PREPARATIONS MADE FOR WARP JUMP INTO A BATTLE ZONE....MOVE IT!" The bridge jumped to life at Kyuba's orders. He called Mirik over to his side. "I need three more stationary chairs brought in for my comrades...seat them near me. Get ready for glory Mirik...this will be a battle for the ages...many will win glory here...but many more shall become fodder for our Queen!"

Vesdasteri was a world once saturated in culture and technology. It was one of the few places nature was not thrown to the wayside as society advanced. Minimally invasive hydroponic farms lined the countryside, they produced food that was twice as nutritious than conventionally grown produce, in half the time. Ancient trees jutted into the atmosphere, their leaves and flowers visible from space. On top of that it’s jungles held the most diverse gathering of flora and fauna in the known universe. The cities were equally as impressive. Paper thin television monitors ornamented all the major plazas, neon lights danced in every shop window, there were street performers, theatres, art galleries, laboratories, amusement parks, zoos, the list went on and on. This is the planet Michiko remembered, this is the home she left, this is NOT what the Alpha Squad warped into.

The field they arrived on was scorched earth, in the distance the sky was a backdrop of sorrowful grey. An enormous charred stump remained stubbornly in the center of the land, as if it were still making it’s final stand, despite being completely devoid of life. Had the rings on the stoic stump not been burned to an unrecognizable black, they would have numbered in the thousands.

Though the aftermath of the elderly tree did little to distract from the gaping crater that lay ahead and to the right of it. Michiko was certain the crater had once been Golden Shine Acres, one of the most prominent sources of food on the planet. They weren’t very far from Dezvar, one of Vesdasteri’s most populated cities.

Beyond the crater stood an enormous sign, crudely hewn from the ancient tree’s remains. It read “Let it be known from this day forward, all who oppose, in whole or in part, the wise and most generous Emperor Noir shall become no more than pockmarks on the already disgusting face of the old democracy.” Michiko slammed her fist down after she read the sign. There was no doubt in her mind he’d invited all of Dezvar’s citizens to witness the threat as it happened. Could Noir really be that mad? Was making a statement more important than feeding the people? “He plans on not having that many to feed…” She thought angrily. This site was old, who knew how many similar examples Noir had made in all the other parts of Vesdasteri. Michi briefly wondered how many farms and cities had tried to resist their dictator. A knot formed in her stomach when she remembered how courageous and tenacious her people were.

“Lucas, even though we seem to be in the middle of nowhere, they already know we’re here. Sentry technology is one of our specialties, I’m sure Noir’s quite literally got the planet covered in sensors. I don’t know exactly how much time we have.”

Lucas gritted his teeth at the horrific display around him.

"Understood....Michi...I promise you, he will pay for this....Your people will be free..."

He looked up, focused anger and fury in his eyes.

"Alright, form up! I want every member of this unit spread out looking for signs of civilized life. The MINUTE you see anything, I don't care if it's a damned thatched hut, you report in and give us your location. Michiko, I need you on comms at ALL times to make sure we know where we are headed. This planet may have changed, but it is still your home and you know it better than any of us would. Kyuba, get your unit ready, we're running on borrowed time, the enemy could be sending units to our location as we speak. We do NOT attack unless attacked first, and we give warnings beforehand stating out intentions, understood?"

He was organized, meticulous, a prepared leader through and through.

Before even waiting for a response, Lucas took off to the North, looking for any signs of life.

"MOVE OUT!"

Beginning his rapid search for life, Lucas scanned through every surveillance monitor he had. Noir fancied himself having eyes everywhere on the planet? Well Lucas had a pair of the sharpest eyes in the Galaxy, and he was going to show this tyrant the wide berth in difference between them.

"Mirik keep the flagships in tight formation.....lock down this planet...and actively scan for survivors. Omega 1 find defensible positions and scan for sensor equipment and either hack or destroy them and then pick out signs of life...you are our eyes. Omega 4 Take up positions as you see fit. Do not engage without permission. Omega 3 and 5 spread out and search for life signs. Omega 6 land on my position and start setting up our base and defenses. MOVE OUT!" Kyuba pushed Kiri'Tas through the debris of the planet with relative ease. Good...we wont have to worry about marring the landscape...this Noir has already done it for us.

Kyuba came upon the burned remains of a small village and exited Kiri'Tas to search on foot. Something drew him to the largest house at the edge of the village. He walked inside and immediately felt a chill. "Hello?....Is someone here...Come out and I promise If you are my enemy I will give you a slow and painful death..." Kyuba heard a creak come from upstairs and moved to investigate. He found himself in a long hallway, the creaks seemed to be coming from beyond the door at the far end. As he began to walk down the hallway he started hearing a familiar voice in the back of his head calling his name. He had been hearing this voice a lot of late and had grown accustom to ignoring it but he found its truly hard to push it away as the hallway seemed to go on and on forever. He started to run as the creaks got louder along with the voices in his head. Finally he reached the door and pushed it open.

Laying on the floor in front of him was the body of a young woman faced away form him towards the only window in the room. Something seemed oddly familiar about her but he couldn't quite place it. He moved in and knelt beside her to check her vitals. Nothing, he was too late. An odd feeling compelled him to look upon the girls face. As he slowly turned the body over he was filled with shock as he recognized the face. "Esperanza?!?" The corpse came to life and latched itself upon him with arms like steel. "HELP ME KYUBA!"

Kyuba awoke in a cold sweat alone in the strange room. Forcing himself up he exited the house and left the village behind. As he reentered Kiri'Tas he contacted Lucas. I am not finding any life signs...but our forward base is being established as we speak, He sounded harrowed and tired even through the mental connection ...I am going to head back and see how things are going. Kyuba out.

Just as Kyuba was heading back a massive wave of enemies became visible on the grey horizon. Michiko noted that the units were much larger than the lesser mechs they were used to fighting. They were an austere white color, and sported rounded edges instead of sharpened angles. Each one armed to the teeth. Leading the intimidating unit was a much smaller resonark.

The resonark was a blinding yellow. It's left hand gripped an obscenely tall staff. Adding to the staff's somewhat peculiar height was the fact that it was topped with the head of a spiked morning star.

The enemy advanced rapidly, most likely sizing up the Alpha Squads forces along the way. As soon as they came in comm. distance the leader stopped them and spoke. "Welcome most esteemed guests, to the Empire of Vesdasteri. Normally we have proper channels visitors must go through to even set foot on our planet, but I'm most certain we can overlook this most grievous faux pau. My name is Colonel
Gris, please allow me and my unit to escort you to our capital, where our most gracious Emperor may greet you properly." Michiko gawked at the audacity of this man. Did he think they were THAT stupid?

Lucas continued his search, but had yet to find anything of worth. There were no settlements he had found thus far, and he was slowly becoming more frustrated as he continued to find nothing but desolate ruins.

"Damnit!" He shouted as he continued to patrol the area, looking for any signs of life.

As Kyuba's report came in, Lucas nodded to himself and stopped for a moment.

"Roger that, Kyuba, I'll be returning shortly, nothing out here. Michiko? Status report."

He wanted this mess to be over with, and he was honestly very disappointed. He had been hoping for far more signs of life than this, anyone who might be willing to welcome them, just to show the people they were not alone.

Lucas quickly rubbed his eyes and straightened out his back.

They would show these people they were not alone.

As Lucas turned to start making his way back in, he realized his eyes were itching again. He rubbed them once more, but it only seemed to irritate them further.

Shaking it off, Lucas looked around and realized that his eyesight was once more as clear as ever and he started making his way back towards camp. He decided he would check in with Kyuba and Mirik before making another sweep of the area, hopefully turning up more this time around.

"Lucas...we've been found...the enemy's forces are standing right in front of me... I'm not sure how to handle this..." A silence descended on the field. Gris broke it after an unreasonable amount of time passed. "It's most unwise to make the Emperor wait Stranger, I would hate to have to do anything overly persuasive here." His tone was impatient. "Lucas I don't know if I can stall, he wants us to go with him. we are grossly outnumbered." This was a very delicate situation. No blood had been spilled yet, and that was wonderful, but how long would it last?

Lucas frowned to himself as he heard this report.

"Sit tight Michiko. If they ask any questions, tell them you are unable to comply until your commanding officer is present, and he is enroute. We'll get you out of there."

Now in a full sprint, Lucas immediately patched through another link.

"Kyuba! We have a situation! Michiko is locked down, she is in direct contact with the enemy. I don't know how long she'll be able to stall for, I want you and one of your units set to come with me as a detatchment, we at least need the appearance of a full force before we deal with them, and I want this in less than two minutes, understood?"

The first hour of their mission and already they had encountered the enemy. This did not bode well for their mission.

"Understood Lucas...My sniper and mortar teams have them in their sights just in case...they fire on your command." Kyuba switched to regular com, "Omega 3 on me boys...safeties off but do not fire unless Lucas gives the command or you are fired upon first...If they are dumb enough to provoke either...then show them why they should fear the Knights of Shiira..." Kyuba heard a roar over his com as his men voiced their approval.

The men fell in line as they caught up with Lucas. "We are at your command."

Lucas sighed with relief as he saw the soldiers in position when he arrived.

"Nicely done Kyuba. Alright men, on me. One of our own is in there, let's get moving."

Moving alongside the soldiers of Shi'ira would normally make Lucas a bit more uncomfortable, but their fluidity, the way they adapted to Lucas' style and maneuvers, soon it became as though these men always worked under Lucas, and before they had even arrived, the full facade was complete that Lucas Wynne was a full fledged commander of an army, coming with a unit of his troops to retrieve one of his own.

As the unit arrived behind Michiko, Lucas took a step forward.

"Pardon me, sir, I'm this woman's commanding officer. Is there a problem here?"

He knew this would probably end in bloodshed, and the fact that the enemy clearly had resonarks was another unsettling detail he would have to sort out at a later time. Right now his only concern was making sure that Michiko got out of there safely, and if at all possible they avoid conflict until full preparations were made.

However, some part of Lucas was hoping a problem arose.

Zach pulled up alongside the knights of Shiira. He was prepared to fight or defend as needed. He readied Kyuukenbi's main mouth cannon just in case. He hoped these men would listen to reason. He didn't want a fight to aggravate the control he had right now. But if it came down to it he'd fight his best.

'Lucas i'm prepared to move on your orders. Wether its to assist others or bring the fight to the enemy, or if need be hang back as heavy fire support.' He communicated to Lucas through the link. He would be a soldier as he meant to be. Maybe it would help him cleave his own path through life. He shook his head it wasn't time for those thoughts. He readied himself for any order given. He would follow orders and stop giving the others reasons to doubt him. At least that was his hope.

"I was simply extending some Vesdasterian hospitality. Your subordinate seemed hesitant to take me up on it." Gris raised and lowered his staff three times. It made a hollow sound as it hit the ground. "Do you know what an ant lion is?" he let the seemingly random question hang in the air before he answered it. "It's a remarkable insect that digs sand pits, and any ant that has the misfortune of falling in well...It's consumed." If they could have seen inside his resonark they would have seen him smirk. "I'm sorry to say you find yourself in a sand pit. We've made brilliant use of the underground passages the last regime foolishly wasted on transportation. Coursing under us at this very moment are even more units. The large metal hand that wasn't occupied with a staff pointed above them. "Our atmosphere has been generously peppered with satellites, some have bombs, some are mounted with lasers, and some just watch. You are trespassing. I'm giving you a chance to make amends. So I pose to you the very same question you asked me, is there a problem here?"

Kyuba listened to the man and silently radioed Mirik to ready the fighter squadrons and target the Satellites with all possible weaponry and wait for the signal. Lucas, give the word and those satellites are toast. Kyuba smiled viciously. This man knew not who he dealt with. Kyuba would enjoy ripping his head from his body and showing him just how foolish he was to threaten the Knights of Shiira.

Lucas cleared his throat and smiled to himself.

"Honestly sir, this feels a tad excessive. I assure you, we have nothing but the best of interests here, we simply want to set up our camp and make ourselves comfortable, we just landed here after all."

Xander's head tilted up slightly, almost in a questioning manner.

"Or would you drag a group of innocent travelers to see your Emperor against their will?"

"Let them make the first move. If any of them so much as moves at us aggressively, show them what we can do. Kyuba, if this gets nasty, I want the leader alive. He may have answers for us, understood?"

Gris chuckled calmly "Against your will? No, there's a choice." he made a sweeping motion at all of the Alpha Squad's units. "Let me remind you for the second time, you are all trespassing. We are well within our rights to do anything we see fit to you." he lowered his metallic arm to his side. "If you refuse to comply to our request, all we ask is that you leave immediately. Most would find that a very reasonable offer." Michiko noticed a button on the Colonel's staff. "Lucas, he has some kind of detonator on his weapon."

"I don't think either one of us want an intergalactic incident." The long winded Colonel concluded, his hand subtly poised to hit the button in case things went awry.

Kyuba noticed the finger hovering over the button and keyed his com system to give the orders to Mirik to commence the bombardment at a moments notice. I understand...but do something quick...my men do not like to be threatened...he even moves to press that button an entire battalions of mortars and snipers shall be on him in seconds...It is your call Lucas but I think the time for pleasantries is over..."

Lucas grinned.

"I believe you're right Kyuba."

He looked up around the monitors and immediately began to type, making calculations and plans.Lucas immediately hit a button and Xander began to hum to life.

"Thrusters up now, when the ground drops out from under us I don't want us to even BUDGE, understood?"

Pressing another several buttons on his consoles, Lucas eventually sighed aloud.

"You know, sir, I was really hoping to avoid this. But you made one grave mistake..."

Xander's shoulder plates blasted out an excess of steam as they began to open, their contents completely masked by the steam.

"You threatened my team."

Quickly the steam began to grow dark, and a blast of black smoke shot out of the shoulders, blasting the team before him and spreading into a heavy smog that coated the area.

"Take them down Alpha Squad!"

Lucas's command initiated a domino effect of actions and reactions, orders and responses. Kyuba simultaneously signaled for the mortar and sniper squads to pick their targets and fire at will, commanded mirik to begin his assault of the weapons andf communications satellites, and commanding his troops into a full out assault. "I WANT EACH OF THEIR HEADS ON PIKES MEN....IF EACH OF YOU DOES NOT KILL HIS WEIGHT IN MEN IT SHALL BE YOU WHO WILL ADORN MY ENCAMPMENT WALLS!." Kyuba moved forward scythe in hand and reveled as each slice brought him the anguished cries of his foes. "HAHAHAHAHA DIE AT THE HANDS OF SHIIRA'S HARBINGERS OF DEATH....I WILL DRAG YOU ALL TO THE FEET OF THE GODDESS HAHAHAHAHA!"

Zach smirked. There were many enemies. Yet Zach took notice of some smaller but faster lesser armored mechs quickly rushing their forces.

"They may be fast but Kyuukenbi is faster and more durable." He said with a smile. Zach felt Zero stir but focused himself. He sped swiftly toward the lesser mechs. As he went he passed two Knights of Shiira who had just finished off severl enemies.

"Hey, form up you two were gonna teach these quick little upstarts who they're messing with." He said with a slightly commanding tone. The two Knights noticed the mechs he was heading for and flanked up on either side of Kyuukenbi. Zach and the two knights were quickly upon the enemy swift mechs and obliterated them quickly. After finishing off the last mech with a slice of one of Kyuukenbi's tails Zach shook his head and it seemed like Kyuukenbi snorted in disappointment.

"Fools. Using gorilla warfare style mechs in a head on battle like this. Did they really think they were gonna flank us by shooting straight through?" He said condescendingly. He said it so it came from Kyuukenbi and was broadcast to the nearest enemies. The two knights laughed with what seemed like glee as more enemies rushed the trio because of Zach's words.