Resonance of the Stars: Bleak Horizon

Arkon continued to mow down the cannon fodder soldiers that came for his head with relative ease. Off in the distance he could see a ring, not like the one he fought kyuba in, but a more simple ring with nothing more then a floor. no walls, no fancy design. No tricks. He rushed for the ring. He knew before he could even see, what awaited him in the center of that ring. His father. He would try to beat him down into either submission, or death.

As he took his steps into the ring it became surrounded by black fire. No way in, and more importantly, no way out. Only one way to leave this ring. Be the last one standing. He was prepared for this, but somewhere inside him he could feel the child who still shook at his fathers voice alone, let alone his cold presence. He did what he had to do, and put those thoughts in a box and locked it down in his mind. For this he needed to be in complete control. He couldn't risk anything disturbing his train of thought.

His father pulled out his huge battle ax from where it rested in the ground. The ax was almost as big as he was, yet he could lift it with one arm with incredible ease. "Come to your death boy. I have no use for cowards who run away instead of facing me like a man. It's a shame that power of yours was wasted on the weak of heart." he said then rushed Arkon swinging that heavy ax down vertically. Arkon tried to stop it with his telekinesis but he found his power was as useless in this ring as it was during his fight with kyuba. With what little reaction time he had left he went to dodge it. No sooner had he moved had there been a crater where he had been standing just seconds before. His father was just as strong as he remembered. He wasn't sure he could win without his power. Arkon kept on his toes and drew his sword and went for a slice to his fathers back but he was blocked by the ax and was thrust back with a swing of it which was followed up by a kick in the face from his father who used his ax as a pole vault for his kick, knocking Arkon far too close to the flames then he would like. His vision began to dim as he felt his rage ignite. He launched himself at his father with a flurry of slashes keeping his father on the defensive while a smirk appears on his face. "Stupid beast." he said as he stopped backing up and hit him with the flat of the ax. " I did not call for you. You were created by me, and you can die just as easily by me. This is between me and that failure of a son. BE GONE!" and with that the darkness dimmed from his eyes, leaving him clear again. "what did you just do?" Arkon asked as he was forced on to dodge repeatedly from his fathers flurry of slashs at him. "only what needed to be done. You will be in your own rational mind when I kill you. I will not allow you to beserk on me. beyond that, what I did is none of your concern welp." and with that Arkon is caught finally with a slash to his left arm, the force of the blow not only sliced him, but dislocated his arm. He clutched his arm with a scream of pain as blood poured down his arm.

"your weak. You will always be weak. You will realize your weakness and then I will kill you. Your only purpose in life is to be killed by me in this moment. That is all you are." His father said as he watched his son scream in pain.

Arkon felt a warm glow on his arm and slowly his arm stitched back together and his arm was replaced back into socket. His father watched with a surprise he failed to hide. "what is this magic?" his father asked. Arkon grinned as his pain drained away and he regained control of his arm. "looks like I'm not the one to die here after all pops." Arkon said and he rushed his father. his father dodged and slashed and every time arkon was cut down that golden glow eminated from him and healed him instantly. Till finally he felt something in his mind. "I was created to be your weapon. The perfect weapon, the answer to this mech war. I am the balance, and I am the most powerful psychic the universe will ever know. THIS IS WHO I AM!" and with that his body set out a telekinetic blast, sending his father flying into the black flames then he felt that golden glow all around his body like a healing touch and the world melted around him, though he didn't fight it. It felt right. Finally it felt right. He started to wonder how he even got to his planet and as the world melted around him it warped and in an instant he saw he was in the camp where he had been staying with Kyuba and his forces. He shook his head as he felt sluggish as if he had been drugged. He saw the bulk of Kyuba's army fighting nothing as the drug seemed to still be affecting them, but Kyuba was no where to be found. He was sure that Kyuba was handling business. He had no doubt the man could hold his own. "nephilum, What did we miss while we were out?" he asked his partner

"it seems every one in the camp was drugged by some air borne fumes. You seem to be amoung the first to come out of it, though it seems most don't survive the trip. Those who do seem to be being killed by the enemy who dropped the toxin to begin with. I would advise entering us for your safety." Nephilum said in that duel voice they had when they were perfectly fused. Arkon nodded and summoned Nephilum and he began surveying the area. He couldn't save the army much as he wanted to. His main worry was to make sure their leader did not fall to the same drug he had almost been killed by. He was still weak, but he could function thanks to that weird golden energy.

Kyuuuuba....kyuuubaaa....."KYUBA HELP ME!" Kyuba woke with a start and hopped onto his feet assuming a defensive stance with his scythe at the ready. "KYUBA!" "EZPERANZA?" Kyuba ran off in the direction of the scream seeing nothing in the dim glow of the crimson sun so far above him. "ESPERANZA WHERE ARE YOU?" "HELP ME!" was all he received in reply. 

Suddenly the scene shifted and he found himself in a familiar hot desert. In front of him esperanza stood with her back turned. "ESPERANZA!" Kyuba ran up to her and embraced her in a hug. He felt something hard enter his hands and a warm liquid poured from Esperanza causing Kyuba to let go in shock as she turned around, a knife protruding from her chest. "You killed me Kyuba...it's all your fault....you killed me." 

Kyuba sank to his knees as a wind seemed to roar in his ears. "N...no...i didn't...I wouldn't...." The scene shifted again and he found himself kneeling in darkness. Esperanza still tood before him but behind him another figure appeared. A woman of unparalleled beauty with long silver hair and light blue skin floated behind him. Kyuba felt himself turn towards this new figure. "So...you refuse to kill? You do not take pleasure in this kill my son? Then you have forsaken me...." Kyuba's eyes widened in fear as his worst fears came true right in front of him. "NO...NO I SWEAR MY GODDESS I HAVE NOT FORSAKEN YOU!" "So you did this on purpose?" Kyuba turned back to Esperanza. "No...I would never!" Esperanza stared at him with lifeless eyes. "LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR!" The corpse of Esperanza repeated the phrase over and over as Kyuba was turned back towards the avatar of Shiira. "You have forsaken me...you admit it with thyne own tongue." "NO NO NO I HAVENT SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" "The penalty of forsaking the goddess is death!" Silver flashed in the light and Kyuba screamed as two daggers plunged into him repeatedly as Esperanza and the Goddess enacted their punishment on him. "NO NO NO PLEASE STOP NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 

Kyuba trembled as the pain coursed through his body. "I have failed..." Kyuba collapsed to the ground as as one of the daggers pierced his heart. Then all the pain stopped as a creeping cold moved over him like ice in his veins. "So...this is it? This is how the mighty Kyuba dies?" "Zero?" "Yes Kyuba...it is I. I have to admit...I didn't expect you to be this weak. How pathetic...unable to fight off two women." Zero walked over and kicked Kyuba who only grunted. "Pathetic..Pathetic...PATHETIC!" Each word accented by a kick and a grunt form each respectively. As Kyuba lay there something dawned on him. A warmth began to burn off the cold as with each kick the fire of rage began to kindle and grow within him. Catching Zero's foot he thre him back and climbed to his feet. He brought his scythe down around Zero's neck and moved in to whisper. "Pathetic? A worm like you has no right to call me pathetic...." With a single swing he parted Zero's head from his body in a spray of blood. 

He screamed in elation tasting the iron tinge of the blood as it splashed over his face. He advanced over to the goddess and removed her head as well screaming and drinking in the taste of victory. "Kyuba...help me?" Esperanza once again appeared in front of him knife in hand. "WITH THIS...I END THESE PATHETIC FEELINGS." He brought his scythe back behind his head. "Kyuba! PLEASE!" The very air seemed to rip as he brought his scythe down "DON'T KYUBA PLEASE!" He laughed as he felt the scythe dig into the neck of his former beloved laughing all the louder as her head flew from her body and her life blood sprayed across his face. 

Kyuba's eyes opened and he got to his feet. His eyes glowed with dark energy and his voice was unnaturally deep and metallic. "I am Kyuba Genrei. High Father of the Knights of Shiira! Commander of the Hellion Contingency. ARISE MY MINIONS!" Black crackling energy shot from kyuba in a circular wave which washed over his men. The symbol which marked them as members of the contingency began to glow along with their eyes as they all snapped to attention. "You who dare enter my camp....you have made a FATAL mistake!" He snapped his fingers and his men moved around the miners trapping them in a circle of death. "LOWER YOUR WEAPONS....AND LIVE FOR NOW...YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO COMPLY!"

His eyes narrowed as he watched her, cautious of her actions as she stood in silence, awaiting certain doom. If nothing else, he had to give her that she was as stubborn as Michiko was, if she couldn't get things done her way then she'd just stand her ground at wait to get them done in another. He could play that game too, he'd wait as long as he had to in order to make her prove herself. He wouldn't be fooled again. He would watch, and he would be cautious.

Once she took her first step, his eyebrow quirked. She'd all but decided to stop fighting, what was her game now? He tensed as she took another step, watching her every move with a suspicious eye. Something about her stance, her movements....it didn't alarm him as it should have.

"What are you doing....?" He wanted to ask, not forcing the thought into words. He didn't want to give any semblance of confusion or control over to her, he needed to stay alert. Until she stepped further and further towards him, completely ignoring the mighty flames that surrounded him. He could feel himself weakening, even if he wouldn't admit it. His heart was slowing, the flames dimming. He was running out of time, and he should have known it. But it wasn't until she placed a hand on his chest that his blood ran cold. She'd made first contact. This was the do or die moment, he prepared himself for whatever would happen next...and then she captured him in a kiss.

He should have been stunned, floored even. But as their lips mingled, and he wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from the flames, he knew the truth. This wasn't some imposter, here to destroy him. She wasn't some phantasm of his mind. This was Michiko Hoshi, the real, true deal. And with that, every single fragment of information and detail over the course of his friendship with her began to flood back into his mind like a tidal wave. He held her close, gripping onto whatever solid, constant fact he could possibly have, as he was overwhelmed with everything. He remembered it all. His mission, his reason for being here.

All in time for the cold embrace of death.

He hugged her tight as he felt the darkness encroach on him, the flames finally beginning to die out, shutting his eyes one last time as he felt their lips stay connected in that eternal moment of passion. This would be how he would die. At least it wouldn't be painful.

"AWAKEN." A voice bellowed in his mind as he closed his eyes to the darkness. And he did.

His eyes shot open, a vicious gasp escaping his mouth followed shortly by a wheeze. He wasn't in that room of darkness and confusion. He wasn't even standing. He was....Laying down. In a bed. He looked down and tried to get his barings, still disoriented and confused, until he saw Michiko at his side, laying there, holding onto him as if it were the last thing she did.

"Michi...?" He wheezed.

"Lucas..." Michiko murmured sweetly. She stirred, enjoying the warmth in her arms. Was this what death was like? The fog in her head started clearing.  She could feel the draft in the ramshackle home. The scent of mildew hung in the air, but none of that seemed important for some reason.

"Uh grandpa...? What's going on?" Shuffling could be heard and a door was opened and closed along with exclamations of "Not old enough to see that!"  and "What did Naro drag home THIS time!?" being uttered in hushed tones. 

 When Lucas's wheeze hit Michiko's ears it was the best sound she'd heard in a long time. Her eyes fluttered open and she quickly realized the warmth was Lucas. "OH!" Her surprise caused her to release her hold and fall off of the bed.

"I...I can't believe you're ok!" She stood up. Apparently she'd regained control of all her limbs. Immediately she disconnected her necklace. There was no need to risk nerve damage from a prolonged link. "Don't try to move, you were drugged with some kind of strange newly discovered mineral. You're going to be fine, but I have to run some tests." The sentence was somewhere between a sob and a reassurance. She fought back the urge to hug him. His body had been through a lot and it seemed she'd done a enough hugging already.


The woman who'd been tending to Lucas held an expression that conveyed she didn't quite know what to make of the situation. Finally she grasped Michiko's hands and nodded wordlessly. She then walked out the slightly ajar door of her home, most likely in search of her husband and granddaughter.

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Naro smiled at his "fatal mistake". "Do what he says." He radioed his men. He threw down his staff in front of Kyuba. He'd miscalculated the time in which the foreigners would be affected by the dust. He'd been very close, but it didn't matter, not really. His objective was still the same. 

"NARO!!!!" A voice rang out through the camp. "What sort of trash did you bring home!? They were sick, then they started...being affectionate or something... I just don't understand, and I won't stand for this anymore! You have a daughter to think about! How long does it take to get supplies anyway!? It's been *click*" He flicked the off switch, his smile was wider than ever. 

"I'll make this quick. I am Naro Stelladito, head of the underground local resistance." He pointed at Kyuba "You are Kyuba Genrei, High Father of the Knights of Shiira and Commander of the Hellion Contingency... Which I assure you I knew despite the fact you dramatically shouted it 2 minutes ago. That embarrassingly enough," He pointed to his radio "Was my mother, and those affectionate people are your comrades."


"Would you like to hear more or kill us now?"

Kyuba blinked, slowly, as the man named Naro introduced himself. "It must be my birthday...not only did I kill that pathetic dog zero...drug induced fantasy aside, but this foolish old man is actually giving me the choice to kill him!" He lowered his scythe and snapped his fingers, immediately his men fell to the ground as one. They started to get to their feet, some still coughing. He turned towards his men and spat in disgust. "Pathetic worms...get up...I want this camp move to a secure location. NOW!" The men immediately hopped up and began to clean the remains of the camp. 

Kyuba turned back to the old man. "If you are lying to me old one...I WILL kill you...but your death will come slowly." He concentrated on the mental link they all shared. Lucas...Michiko can you hear me?

Arkon listened as the man who announced him self as Naro told Kyuba he knew where his team was. Arkon was unaware anyone was missing. Then again, they didn't exactly look like the type of people to send search parties for missing people. More likely than not if you were missing you were viewed as weak or useless. Either way, he doubted he wanted to be in the shoes of the missing person, or Naro if he was lying. That would be even worse. 

He walked up to Naro and Kyuba. "If you know where they are, then you should also know their condition. How are they doing?" he asked. He didn't know them but he would have to meet them eventually. He was after all their teammate now after all. He unsummoned Nephilum as there seemed to be no more confirmed hostiles in the area. He was sure that should these men decide to attack them, he could handle them easy enough. Kyuba looked as if he was concentrating, but he couldn't tell what. So instead of asking and breaking his concentration, which held the risk of that scythe being aimed at his neck again, he decided to merely keep an eye on the new group of resistance members. He didn't know them, and in his line of work, with his perticular background, he learned long ago not to trust that easy. Not without a reason or a common goal. He drew his sword and rested the large blade on his shoulder as he waited for the situation to change,

Lucas chuckled weakly as he started to try and force himself to sit up in the bed. His eyes were still fogged every so slightly, he was groggy and disoriented. Everything was still coming back to him...how long had it been? The last he remembered clearly was exiting the tunnel....and from there....All he remembered clearly were sensations. Confusion, fury, rage....warmth of some kind. He wearily watched her pace the room, a weak smile on his face.

"Relax Michi...I'm not dead..." And did he know it. He felt like he'd been hit with a freight train, his muscles ached from days of disuse, but still, he was happy, at least to some degree. Somehow, he knew it had been dire, whatever the hell it was that had happened, but knowing that he was at least up and functioning, and that at least one member of his team was safe....it warmed his heart, much more than he anticipated.

He chuckled softly as he slumped back on the bed, hearing Kyuba's words and freezing. Kyuba was safe. That was one more worry off his mind as his thoughts were pieced back together.

"Kyuba....I'm alive...Michi too....we're in the city....I think."

Naro held his hands over his heart as if he'd been shot. "Old!? That's a new one... You wound me sir, and it looks like you'll wound me again in a more physical sense, but here's the thing." It seemed like he wasn't taking this seriously, but that was far from the truth. "I'm not here to make any enemies. My associates and I have been looking to join up with the off planet resistance since you set foot here so we've been gathering as much data on all of you as humanly possible since then."

He looked at Arkon. "You I don't know, but I will answer your question because you seem like a sweet kid. I'm sure you heard my dear mother, they weren't looking good when I left, but there was some talk of affection? My guess is, if they were feeling frisky chances are they made a remarkable recovery...Of course mother does have a tendency to go on about things."

He shifted back to Kyuba. "We've been working with sub par equipment, but you're looking at the famous and might I add roguishly good looking ex president and CEO of Vezdasteri's leading intel company. Not only did we design and manufacture a majority of the fine satellites in our atmosphere at this very moment, we had our own privatized investigatory division. Good stuff, good stuff, BUT possibly the best stuff of all is that my beloved dictator thinks I'm dead. Sooooo you have an off the radar tactical intelligence genius that knows the planet like the back of his hand at your disposal. BUT WAIT there's more, if you act now, I'll throw in my ragtag team of lovable miners ABSOLUTELY free! I think they have some dust lying around in some of those carts too." He motioned behind him.

"Though if you'd still like to kill us all, the slower the better. I mean personally I'd like to use that time to mull over all the regrets in my life, maybe have one of those nifty near death experiences beforehand, and I don't mean to offend, but when you do get done I've seen artists depictions your goddess in books and let me tell you, if that's what I have to look forward to in the afterlife sign me up. WINK WINK,  but you might have a hard time explaining to Lucas why you wasted a valuable resource."  He may have had a slight contact high from the dust, but he was still ok with a good 90% of what he said. Though the comment about his mother may have been uncalled for.

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Diye kept Brun abreast of everything that was going on. Including the newcomer that had arrived onto the scene. "I don't know who he is or what he's saying." he informed. Diye had ejected from his mech, killed a miner and stolen his clothes. They were much too large for him, but that wasn't uncommon among the poor.

"Get closer." Brun commanded. Diye did as he was told, blending in seamlessly as he went.

Kyuba actually smiled at the tenacity Naro showed towards him. Placing the hood of his robe over his head he motioned for his tentative ally to lead the way. "You are confident for one so ill equipped. You amuse me so you shall live...for now." He cocked his head as he received Lucas's message. You think? I wasn't aware our medical officer was that adapt at anatomy to make you forget where you are...

He turned towards Arkon and locked eyes with him. Arkon...as a resonark pilot we have certain advantages over normal mech pilots. You should be able to hear me in your head. Now...concentrate on my voice I am going to introduce you to our "valiant" leader and his medical officer snuggle toy. Kyuba concentrated again on the connection and weaved Arkon into it. Lucas Zero has yet to report in. He may have been captured or dare I hope...killed. Fear not for I have found a replacement. Say hello...rookie.

Arkon screwed his face up as he heard kyuba in his head? What were they psychic too? "woah, thats weird. guys psychic powers are abound when you have giant robots. besides, who would turn down even more voices in my head." arkon thought sarcastically over the link Kyuba added him to.

He looked up to Naro "sweet kid? thats a first. Just wait till you get to know me. Then you'll think I'm the weirdest guy you know in no time."

Once the link was established with the whole team he heard that blasted nickname again "I thought we agreed to drop the rookie shit Kyu. Anyways, Hi, I'm Arkon. I've been an alcoholic since I met Kyuba. I also answer to 'that guy that kicked kyuba's ass twice.' So, apparently we are crashing your honey moon by some old guy and a bunch of rag people." Oh he was laying it on thick and he was sure Kyuba would make him pay for that last bit, but he had to get him back for that rookie comment. He was not going to just be demeaned in front of the rest of the team flat out of the gate with no retaliation. It wasn't in him to just take that.

Naro was pleasantly surprised the death priest wasn't going to kill him. He was the type that had no qualms about putting all his eggs in one basket if the reward was great enough. Although he wasn't immune to the guilt of how his death might affect his daughter, but he justified it away every time. It was for the greater good. If he sat back and let things happen, she certainly wouldn't have much of a future, no one would.

"Fair enough, but before we go, you're all going to have to change." Naro stroked his strong jaw. "Everybody find a cultist and get naked!" He yelled. A joyful cry went up from the miners. "Woooooah fellas, it's not THAT kind of party. I'm actually a tad disconcerted at your response. Let me be more specific, everyone find a cultist, get naked, then trade clothes." He rolled his eyes and winked at Kyuba and Arkon as he disrobed shamelessly and tossed his clothes in their direction. "Poor guys, a little too much time spent in the mines. "

Once everyone was changed Naro took back his staff, hopped on the nearest mining mech and set out towards the city.

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"Your vitals are starting to look good. Though your blood pressure is still too high. Don't do that, please sit still." She pushed Lucas back down on the bed and drew some blood, completely absorbed in the task at hand.

He groaned as he forced himself to lay back in the bed. How he would love to just get up and move, be active, too much time had passed already from the sound of it, and they were no closer to completing their goals.

"I was drugged, Kyuba, sounds like Michi and I both were...Last I remember was coming out of the tunnels, now I'm here. Michi's running tests on me, she's all worked up. But we're ok, we're alive.....You took on a new member of the team?"


He was confused, to say the very least. In the middle of an operation, how could Kyuba possibly have had the time to recruit a new operative. Not to mention the fact that one of his own was missing in action did not sit well with him. Too much had happened while he was out. He'd been careless, it wouldn't happen again.

"Relax Michi, I'm not dead, remember?....Arkon, you said your name was? You might want to take the situation in hand a bit more seriously....I'm still waking up, and I'm still not entirely sure where I am."

Arkon shrugged at lucas' worry even though lucas couldn't see it. "relax guy. you've got extraction coming to get you and your girl as we speak. Apparrently we are being led to you by some guy who's family is the ones who found you. Your currently at there home I'd imagine. They seem to know about you guys. He knew Kyuba by name and title before he even said a word. He isn't stupid enough to betray us with his lackluster equipment against an army of psychopaths. We currently have Kyuba's men moving our base of operation cause we were found and drugged. We just got out of the drugging minutes before we contacted you. So every thing is fine and taken care of. You'll be outa there in no time man. Just relax and let the doc fix you up. Not much else you can do if your as bad off as you say anyways right. So just relax and save your strength. You're gunna need that for all the fights we are gunna be getting into after all." he said nonchalantly over the link.

As they made their way to the city Arkon was on guard for anything. He trusted that these guys weren't stupid enough to attack them, but the enemy might see them as easy bait and try to get the jump on them. He was ready to summon nephilum at the moments notice. Just cause you can relax doesnt mean you have to leave yourself open after all.

Kyuba felt his temper flare at the impromptu nickname bestowed upon him by his newest comrade. He felt a handle in is hand at the word kicked and the blade against the neck of his enemy at the word twice. Arkon...remember...I chose to let you live. He lowered the Scythe and continued to walk as if nothing had happened. His men followed his lead knowing that is was safer not to ask questions. The miners were left looking a bit perplexed for in their eyes they only saw the actions of the death priest and not the words behind it. We will be with you shortly. There are things to discuss.

After miles of travel through the arid landscape the group stopped behind an enormous sand dune not far from the city. They were tired and thirsty, but the worst of it was not yet upon them. Naro lithely jumped down from the mech he was riding, long dusty cloak flowing behind him.

"All right boys, start burying the equipment." He shouted to the disguised miners. "We've had time to hash this out before approaching you, so feel free to stop me with suggestions or questions." He addressed Kyuba and Arkon in a whisper. "We're going to misdirect the occupation...again. To get in we have to convince them the cultists are escaped prisoners of war. Your forces are better equiped for an assault on the city than my lot. They'll have better chances in the desert. Once we're in we have a little time to plan the next move. With Brun's satellites offline and commandeered it's going to take him longer than usual to get the intel he's accustomed to acquiring. The miners will siphon off some of the occupation into the desert. You all already did an excellent job of whittling them down, this is basically icing on the cake. Our main objective once in the city is to take out the remaining forces in the temple." 



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Another voice snapped Michiko out of her work. "What's this? Who's this!? Some random guy on the link??? " Her mind then sifted through some of what he ears had already heard "We're just ok with this? Some guy you found in the middle of nowhere is joining up? This...seems tactically unsound. " She raised her eyebrow. 

"And you need to shut up, just because you didn't die doesn't mean you won't now from some complication." She pointed her finger at Lucas and scowled uncharacteristically. She was unusually edgy. None of this sat well, the entire operation was falling apart with her planet hanging on a thread.

When Zach woke after being captured he couldn't believe his eyes. The Tree he was leaning against was familiar. He looked up and sure enough there was his house. He was home but how? 

"Do you really think this is real?" Zero's voice caused Zach to jump to his feet and look around. The voice was too real. The chuckle that followed was to close for comfort.


"Behind you." Zero spoke almost next to Zach's ear. Zach spun and struck out but found his fist easily caught by his double. 


"How are you here? How am i home? What the hell is going on?" Zach snapped while wrenching his hand from Zero's grasp.Zero snorted derisively.


"A psychosomatic drug has caused this hallucination. It seems in our case it brings forth our worst nightmare. Can you guess which is whose?" Zero's question gave Zach pause. 


"You being out is mine obviously so us being home is yours. But why and how do you know whats going on?" Zach asked confused. Zero just smirked and shook his head. 


"Your pathetic if you don't know the answer to that. I'm the darkest parts of you including the part that hated this place with a passion. And i'm guessing a bit wildly but i think the training that created me included enough similar drugs to allow me some resistance. Yet your week mind would still be susceptible without my assistance." Zero sneered and then was suddenly behind Zach and slamming him down. Zach grunted when he made contact with ground. 


"What the hell are you doing?" Zach snapped through grit teeth. Zero's respondiong laugh sent shivers down Zach's spine.


"I'm going to take advantage of this to break you" Zero pulled a suddenly appearing needle in front of Zach's face. 


"This is the first of many where should i put it? Hmm i think i'll start here!" At the end of his words Zero stabbed the needle into Zach's back. Zach began to scream and twitch. Zero continued his administrations and Zach knew the pain wouldn't stop. Once he stopped screaming Zach just continued to twitch as his muscles spasmed.

He sighed as he laid back in the bed, almost seeming to sink into it with a frustrated groan. He didn't like the situation anymore than Michiko did, of course he didn't like having command decisions made for him when he was the one in charge, and taking on newcomers without being consulted and without any sort of background check. But making a scene about it this early on wouldn't do them any good, and he needed to hold onto what few cards he still had, and his reactions were one of them. Right now, their situation was so unusual and dangerous that reacting too quickly could be even more hazardous than simply watching the events unfold.

"Michi calm down...You're acting like I actually DID die." She was frazzled and it was clear, he'd never seen her so panicked, whether it was because of their situation or something else he couldn't discern, but she was shaken and bordering on anger, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her so worked up.

"I don't like it either Michi, but we have to play this close to the vest for now, we can't act weak or panic, especially not at a moment like this. We've got to hold it together, at least till we figure out what we're dealing with and WHO this kid is." It was moments like these that the personal connection between handlers was beneficial, and something he'd never forgotten. While a group link was important, being able to communicate personal thoughts to one another without the entire party knowing was something vital to keeping the operation running smoothly, and he knew it. Even if the person he was communicating with was treating him like an invalid that needed extreme medical care.

Zach woke up still twitching and completely blind. Or so he thought then he realized he was blindfolded. Against the protest of his twitching body he tried to move and found himself bound. He heard an amused chuckle.

"It seems the subject is awake. Go get Picker and tell the Lt. General the crimson forge's little toy is awake." A gruff voice said. There was immediate movement as another set of boots left the room. Zach felt and heard the other body move closer.

"We're lucky the dust didn't kill you. From what we know Lord Noir wants you for something." The voice said. Zach grit his teeth.

"I suggest if you want to live you tell the Picker what he wants to know." The voice said quietly as the sound of boots came down the hall toward the room. Zach knew what would come next. Torture, a lot of it. he hoped he was ready for it.

Arkon was probably the only one in their little band of guys who didn't seem shocked that kyuba threatened him with his scythe against his neck. He heard out his message and let kyuba respond to who he could only assume was the team leader before he spoke through the link to kyuba alone. "Kyuba, I get your powerful in your own right and your role here is the heavy hitter who takes no crap, but just remember this. If you could have killed me then you would have killed me on the battle field during your black out rage. I'm here solely based on my own strength. Your 'mercy' to let me live has absolute zero to do with it. Cause in that black out rage? you not only tried to kill me, but the whole planet with a black hole and yet I still live. You do not scare me. I am not your underling. The next time you try to threaten me for being nice to you despite your several attempts to make me cower and inflict harm on me, I will put you down hard enough where you will not make that mistake again. Now lets try to move forward as teammates and professionals. Cause I honestly have no desire to fight you again but I will if I have to if thats what it takes for you to cut the crap and stop this dick measuring contest you got going on with me. I respect you and your power. I advise you do the same for me." he said with a cold look back at him, then just completely 180's and smiles cheerfully and continues to walk on.

He listened to the plan before for he piped up "I thought we were going to where Luke and Michi are not to another battle field. And also if we are already disguised enough to get into the city as you say, why cant we get luke and michi first and get our team together again before we plan to siege the castle? That makes far more sense to me. Also makes you a lot less suspicious if you do what you said you would do first, then spring an attack plan on us to take out the enemy. If we do this, we do this after the team is complete, not a moment sooner. I don't know you, I don't trust you. Show us to our leader as you said you would." he was adamant and would not move on that thought process unless kyuba or the other members of the team decided to go with this strangers plan. But this plan for an attack was unmentioned and out of the blue. not to mention it derailed from what he initially told them they were going to be doing.

"Woah woah woah there drama priest and kid mind-freak, my good natured dirt munchers going into the desert to distract the enemy is a bad thing? Ok let's just go in with my now very cult-y looking miners, that'll be a real hoot." He held up his hand.

"There has been no change of plans, once we're in I will take you to your philandering comrades first thing, but we have to do it quickly. Heaven forbid we attempt to finish your mission." He rested his outstretched hand on his temples and rubbed. "Oh also, that's not my kid so although you're freaking out that poor single mom who's desperate clawing attempts to rescue her son have gone unnoticed, you're not doing too much to upset my apple cart. You guys are REALLY bad at polite conversation, been hittin' that dust too hard."


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Michiko WAS quite angry. Lucas was downplaying the situation to a very aggravating degree. Her face began to turn red as she listed to him. "WELL since you're so good at doing BOTH of our jobs Dr. Lucas I'll leave the rest to you and your unwavering immortality." She got up and walked outside, slamming the door behind her. She needed air, clean dust free air and Lucas would let her have it, uninterrupted if he knew what was good for him. His vitals were very close to normal, he did seem to be out of danger, but the audacity! 

Michi wasn't sure where she was going, she knew it wasn't safe to go too far. Once she'd walked for a few minutes her head began to clear and she wondered why she'd gotten so angry to begin with.

Kyuba snarled as he kicked his victim away from him leaving only a small cut and a wet mark in his pants. "That was a subjective philosophical point of fucking view but I guess they don't reach you about things like that in the mines," he spat back at the man he was quickly losing any shred of patience with. "We need to move NOW! Or else I will kill you and all your friends. It would be much easier to sneak into the area with just the two of us while my men string up your bodies as trophies of war. I suggest you cease the posturing and smart mouthing and get me where I demand to go...I am not a man of patience."

Arkon watched as kyuba proceeded to lose the last shred of both patience and sanity on the poor kid who pissed himself. Gee, for a resistance leader he didn't seem to really give a fuck about his soldiers, untrained as they were. He didn't really like that but not like he could do anything about that. Either way, Kyuba had a point. they need to get to the boss, and they needed to get there yesterday. "Either way, lack of care for your own soldiers aside, we will be going to lucas and michi. whether we get there with or without you is to be seen. But since they are staying at your families home i'd imagine it would be best for you to show up with us and be alive. Or you could stall more and we kill you and drop your dead body on your family as we take back our last 2 members and deal with you all later. So make your choice." 

Without further delay Naro did as he said and took the crew to his cottage. "Well here we are kids, home sweet home. You-" He never had a chance to finish his sentence as Kyuba simply pushed past him and into the cottage. He approached Lucas, who was still laying on the bed, calmly and knelt before the bed and saluted. "I report the mission was a success sir. The enemy will take quite some time to recover from this." 

"I can't believe our luck Terry, there she is right there!" "Yes Harry, right in the open...alone...easy to grab!" From their vantage point in the nearby brush Terry and Harry sat licking their lips as fortune fell right into their laps. "If we grab her we will certainly be promoted, are we sure it's her?" "Yes you idiot I'm sure. That is Michiko Hoshi"

With a sigh, Lucas forced himself to sit up and throw his legs over the side of the bed. He locked out any emotional reaction he could have, he needed to make sure he kept control of the situation once he'd gotten it back.

"Excellent, then it's time for us to get ready for our next move....Good to see you alive and well."


At this point, all that mattered was regrouping. Putting the pieces back together and finishing what they started. He didn't know the people who had taken care of him and Michiko while they were unconscious, but he wasn't going to put their lives in jeopardy by further discussing their plans in their home. Not until he had a better view of the situation, and there was a lot he'd missed.

"I need a sitrep, how long have I been gone, and what's happened?"