Resonance of the Stars: Bleak Horizon

The sweltering heat of the desert bore down on the cloaked man as he made his way through the empty desert.

Dhaon was not a well known planet, out on the outer stretches of the Sonarqa Nebula, but that didn't mean it was unaffected by the ruthless tyranny that the "Red Faction", as they had become called, had enforced upon the galaxy.

Deep into the dunes the lone man travelled, braving the
blistering winds and unbearable heat, until he finally found shade in
the form of a cave, hidden by the ever blowing sand filled winds.

Once in the cave, Lucas removed his hood, his eyes no longer filled with the
kindness and understanding they had once known, but with an anger, a
seething rage, quietly building and preparing to erupt. His face was
marked with small scars, and his hair now covered his forehead, barely
reaching over his eyes, making a small visor over his glasses.

Lucas sighed as he walked over to a corner of the cave, Kyuba had been keeping watch over his resting companions.

Lucas chuckled as he pulled a bottle of water out of the bag he brought back and tossed it to the designated watchman.

"Drink up, you're gonna need it."

Lucas slumped down in a corner and sighed as he thought of what had seemingly happened overnight.

"Two weeks....Two goddamn weeks ago we were traveling the galaxy, training,
fighting back at oppression! Now look at us, hiding out in a cave on a
backwater planet at the ass-end of the galaxy."

The rebellion was dead, the resistance was all but destroyed.

The attack on the Zigrav was not a chance incident, the attack had been
planned for some time, and across the galaxy, simultaneous attacks had
occurred, destroying every cruiser the resistance had at their disposal,
however with the loss of the Zigrav, everything came tumbling down.

Without a chain of command to lead, the resistance would certainly fail, and
any forces left would have dispersed and gone into hiding, much like
Alpha Squad was doing.

However, as far as they knew, they were the last forces of the Resistance movement.

The Sole Survivors.


----------

Zero sat up and looked at Lucas.

"Lucas i have an idea" Zero started. He waited until he had Lucas' attention.

"What if...What if we..." Zero took a deep breathe.

Zero stood up and stared at Lucas resolutely.

"What if we go to the one place they would NEVER look for us? Back home to Eden 13."

Zero stared at Lucas and waited.

----------

Lucas sighed as the idea spun in his head.

"Going home huh....?"

The idea of going back to Eden thirteen was not a pleasant one. He had very
few pleasant memories after Zero left, and his mind wandered once more.

"I don't know about that. How would we even get there? More space travel right after our last disaster?"

Lucas' mind shifted to the battle which changed all of their lives.

Lucas looked around him as the Faction mechs were aimed spot on at the small group of wounded fighters.

"We have GOT to get out of here!" Lucas shouted as he began to rapidly type
at his controls. Missiles began to fire from Xander's shoulder panels
as it danced about the battlefield avoiding enemy fire as best it could.

"Hold them off as best you can, we have to make a hole and get out of here!"

Lucas began to focus his assault on one point in the enemy line,
occassionally being pelted with minor gunfire, jarring him in Xander's
cockpit.

"Everyone form up on me! We have to make a hole in the perimeter!"

Lucas shook his head.

"Resonarks aren't meant for long distance transit, we'd need a ship."

----------


Murmurs flooded Michiko's half asleep ears. All of which meant nothing until "...Eden 13....." Her eyes sprung open, but
she remained perfectly still. Eden 13 was remarkably close to her own home world.

Battle experience was now a moot point. All she had
was the present, nothing more could be guaranteed. Formulas and
strategies fluttered through her mind softly at first, but became more
complex as her pulse quickened. None of these could be enacted now. UGH!
All she had was NOW! Hmmmm... maybe not NOW now...soon? The best course
of action was no action, but surely the right moment would present
itself in a glorious burst of unexpected opportunity. Perhaps that was
the fatigue talking... of course it was the fatigue talking. Caught in
this whirlwind of indecision, Michiko drifted off into an authentic
slumber.

Michiko's dreams brought her no solace, they threw her back, back to the dense fog that was making the horizon seem so bleak.
************
Lucas's order of retreat what woke her from the recuperative state
she'd entered before the onslaught. What happened after that, was pure
instinct.

Aurora's opal exterior turned from white to black,
Michiko's body was in a power debt. The result was blood being burned as
a poor substitute for it's regular fuel. Beyond desperate, Michiko had
Aurora latch onto the nearest mech she could find and began draining
it's power in a frenzy.

It was an indescribable rush. This was a
first for Michiko. She'd always healed and given power....to receive it
was intoxicating. Everything in the cockpit and exterior was going back
to normal.

She could have stopped there, but she didn't. Not
until she heard the screams of the pilot. By the time she did disengage,
the screams stopped. That's when she discovered she'd made a terrible
mistake... the enemy mech she indiscriminately latched onto was the
captive she spared only hours ago.

A boy, just a boy... she thought in morbid mental whispers as tears welled up.

*************
She turned uncomfortably in her sleep.


----------

Kyuba drank from the water sparingly, he ate and drank little these
days. It seemed that even the unshakable Kyuba was affected by the loss
of their home , the Zigrav. He may not have liked anyone on the ship,
but he did have a sort of attachment for the place. He pushed the
thoughts out of his mind and focused on his mediations. He barely heard
the mention of Eden 13 when he once again felt the familiar state of
mind. He centered himself and decided to review the last battle.

Kyuba saw the flash as his home was destroyed and felt a deep rage consume
him. He barely even felt Michiko slide from his grip as his rage
consumed him. He let out a howl that shook the inside of Kiri'Tas and
blasted across the radio frequency's of all the pilots in the area,
friend and foe alike. "YOU WILL ALL DIE BY THE BLACK HAND OF DEATH
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH."
Kyuba pushed forward hacking and slashing everything that got in his way.

Kyuba's face look completely peaceful as he sat in his meditative trance, all except for his mouth on which hung a hungry grin.

----------

Zero looked at his friend sadly knowing he was right. Then he saw how
restless Michiko was in her sleep. He saw the slight grin on Kyuba's
face and knew what he must be thinking of.

He too thought back.

Watching the place they had called home for a few short months explode brought an odd feeling to Zero.

Anguish? Despair? No neither of those.

He felt rage and an incredible sense of 'holy crap i saw this coming'.

In the craziness of it all Zero found himself laughing. Unbridled hysterical laughing came forth from his own mouth.

Zero was just on auto pilot as he and the other blasted a path through the many enemies to find a way out.

Yet there was some peace in Zero's heart. Some how he knew this place was not their end.

He whispered to himself .

"We are going to get out of here it is not yet our time."



Zero shook his head of the memory. He turned back to Lucas.

"So what are we going to do?"

----------


Lucas watched as his teammates began to crumble into madness and chaos around him, and quickly assumed all would be lost.

This train of thought was soon interrupted by a volley of shots by the
Faction forces, which racked Lucas's body with pain, and sent his head
bashing into a monitor in front of him, and back into his seat.

At this, the monitor exploded upon impact with Lucas's skull, and burning
hot sparks rained down onto his face, burning into his body.

Disoriented and distracted by the pain, Lucas stopped typing, and was lost in the
delusions and assumed hallucinations of entering death's doorway in the
face of certain doom.

"You must not die here this day, mortal."

Lucas heard this voice booming and powerfully echoing over the dimmed and muffled sounds of gunfire around him.

"Huh...?"

"You and your ilk have much left to do in this world. You must live, and be victorious."

Lucas began to blink, trying to focus his eyes on the blurred image before him.

"Who...are you...?"

The voice merely chuckled.

"Until we meet again, mortal."

And at this, Lucas began to regain conciousness, and looked down at the
keyboard he had been using to command Xander, and realized it was acting
out subroutines all on its own.

"X-Xander....?"

Looking into the other monitors, Lucas saw that Xander was still quite active
and battleready, taking on an entire wave of mechs with no aid
whatsoever, decimating the forces and eventually setting up a new
command.

Almost entirely on instinct, Lucas saw the controls
brighten and heard a hum in the back of his mind, and began to viciously
type away at the controls, initiating a new program he had never once
seen or heard of.

The missile packs in Xander's shoulders
immediately returned to the shoulderblades, and were instantly replaced
by what appeared to be two gigantic lightning rods, generating
electricity and energy between the two reaching in an arc over Xander's helm.

Lucas typed even faster, his brain now running on processes
even he did not understand, and eventually he hit a single key, and the
entire system began to glow.

"Initiating failsafe command:
Omega" Was all Lucas heard from an animatronic voice within the system,
and the rods began to charge up viciously, until in a blinding display,
the entire platoon before Lucas was utterly annihilated, leaving a clear
hole in the defensive line as the remaining forces were left dazed.

Lucas, quick to regain his bearings, shouted to his team.

"Alpha Squad, on me! We're moving out! Retreat!"

Lucas shook off the last of his dazed memories of the battle in the asteroid
pass, and focussed once more on his current predicament.

"We need to get off this rock, we need to find somewhere we can go. We can't
hide forever, but we can't make ourselves known too soon. The Red
Faction thinks the resistance dead, this is to our benefit, as it makes
the birth anew that much easier. However, they know our faces, and they
know our powers. We can't be on the frontlines right off the bat. We
need a new face, a new front to act on our behalf." Lucas tapped his
chin as he sat in thought.


----------


Kyuba frowned in his meditation as he was reminded
of his sudden and utter disappointment. Suddenly the enemies before him
disappeared in a blaze. He was immediately snapped out of his rage and
almost flew into another one when he realized it was Lucas who stole his
killing opportunity. He heard the retreat command but couldn't resist
adding a little quip to his acquiescence. "You are lucky i respect you
this much but next time be warned...i have killed men for lesser things
than interrupting my blood lust Lucas. Consider me sparing your life
payment for you saving mine. We are even..." Kyuba awoke in a foul mood.
"So...when are we getting off this rock...I hunger for battle."


----------

Lucas sighed.

"Hold your blood fueled rage a bit longer, Kyuba.
We still have to figure out a transport, and we still need to resolve
the issue of a new face for the galaxy to see. Until we get a bit more
situated, we need to stay under the radar."

At this, Lucas stood
and began to pace in thought. He was sure there were people out there
who would be perfect for this role, the trouble being he was unsure of
how to FIND them.

----------

"Excuse me sir," Michiko sat up. "but perhaps he won't have to wait to
satisfy his need." Unable to make eye contact, she scratched at the
ground. "Have you noticed the plumes of smoke in the distance?" The
smoke seemed extremely far away but was reachable in half a days journey.

Lucas seemed puzzled. "Where there's smoke, there's
people...." she picked up a clump of grit "I would imagine these people
to be quite unfriendly... We've been taught how to handle stubborn
resistance." Michi crushed the grit in between her fingers as the wind
eerily blew the resulting dust away." There was a pained expression on
her face as she contemplated her next sentence.

"There would be leftovers...." Tears streamed down her face while she struggled with her
speech "Skin..." she choked out. "New faces...." she whispered in
agony. "I can't do it myself! I can't kill any of them!" her voice
dropped again. A long silence passed. "Kyuba can though." Michi uttered
without emotion, looking over to meet Lucas's gaze.

Lucas looked into the distance and sighed, losing himself in thought, before he finally turned to stare at Kyuba.

"Kyuba, you're with me. We're going to scope out that smoke, find out who's out
there. If they're hostiles, we take them out, if they're friendlies, we
leave them in peace. Are we clear?"

----------


Kyuba smiled as he looked at the horizon and the smoke. His mind had already formed the thoughts Michiko was saying....It is truly a pity she has such barriers against those feelings of hers...she would make a great killer.

Kyuba was woken from his reverie by Lucas's words. He smiled even more as he
removed his helmet his long silver hair fell around his handsome facial
features, features he cared little for, because all things fade with
death. Still the devilish smile he turned on Lucas was intensified by
his deep penetrating eyes.

"Make no mistake, I follow your orders...but if one so much as even twitches the wrong way he dies."

Kyuba stood and walked out of the cave leaving his helmet behind. His silver
hair and white skin seemed to glow in the sunlight. Armed with his black
battle suit and his scythe he truly looked like a messenger of death.


----------

Lucas nodded in confirmation, not at all phased by Kyuba's appearance due to seeing his picture in his file.

"Alright, Zero, you're here on guard duty while Michiko gets her rest, we should
be back by sundown, anything goes wrong, there's flares in the back of
the cave. Any questions?"

----------

Michiko stood up "A statement rather sir," her fists now clenched. "No
one deserves to lose their family....if you must dispose of
one....please spare the rest a lifetime of misery by offering them a
noble end as well."

----------


Lucas stammered at this request, not entirely sure how to answer, and looked to Kyuba for a response.


----------

Kyuba couldn't tell which he loved more...the look of utter helplessness
and shock on his leader's face or the very interesting request by
Michiko. Kyuba walked back into the cave and stared Michiko right in the eyes.

With a voice as cool as ice and as sharp as a razor Kyuba
responded, "There is no more noble a death then falling to the hand of
the goddess. Have no fear of that they will live or die together."

Kyuba then grabbed her shoulders and pulled her even closer.

"But know this....one who cannot bear to kill themselves has no right to give that order."

----------

Lucas regained his composure and grabbed Kyuba's cloak, pulling him off of Michiko.

"That's enough, Kyuba! Let's not waste our energy on each other when we should be focussing on our opponents!"

Lucas dropped Kyuba's cloak and began to walk out of the cave, watching closely behind him to see what he would do next.

----------


Zero shook his head and walked up to Michiko and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Its harsh but in a way he's right but at the same time the fact that you
even suggested such a thing shows a darker side to you." he said as
kindly as he could.

He didn't want to be insensitive but damn if this weren't and awkward backwards situation. Zero sighed.

"As a whole this is a friggin SNAFU but we don't really have a choice. So
you and i will hold the fort here and well talk if you want."


----------

Kyuba bowed deeply to Michiko, smile still upon his face and turned to
walk with Lucas towards their destination. When they were out of sight
of the cave Kyuba broke the silence between them by saying quite an odd
statement for him.

"I am sorry for how rough I was with our
dear....sweet...Michiko but you know as well as I do that she had a dark
side to her, one she needs to control or else it will control her. Make
no mistake if it controls her and she loses control of her Resonark you
must complete your duty as leader...but if you are too...whats the
word...noble? Yes lets go with noble...If you are too noble to go
through with it well...you have already seen my willingness to handle
things for you."

Even though Kyuba started out as sincere as was
possible he could not help but jab at Lucas's hesitation when it came to
violence and to himself in all seriousness he wondered not for the
first time if Lucas truly had the constitution that was required for the
darker side of being a commander...But then again Kyuba...That is why
you're here isn't it? Kyuba shook himself from his thoughts and waited
for Lucas's answer.

----------


Lucas's expression grew dark as he continued to walk.

"Make no mistake Kyuba, I am well aware of the choices I will have to make as
a commander, but unlike you, I have a conscience. Michiko is in the
midst of recovery right now, do you honestly believe that now is the
time to be giving her such grim warnings?"

Looking off to the horizon, Lucas's eyes betrayed no emotion as he continued to speak.

"You just let me take care of all the big decisions, you're just here to
kill, or isn't that what you agreed upon when you entered my squad?"

Lucas's voice was rigid and cold, while inside he was still unsure of himself.
The Zigrav disaster had hardened Lucas's mind and outlook on the world,
and he realized he would have to make more important decisions. Still,
it would take some time for him to be completely cold and callous to the
morals he once held.

Kyuba frowned slightly at the thought that he was just a killer but he
pushed that aside for a different day. He suddenly put his hand on
Lucas's shoulder and looked at him with a grim expression. "Yes....you
do have a conscience...make no mistake that is a good thing...That is
the one reason you are the leader of this group your conscience keeps
you to your morals...I know what you are thinking but that is not the
way to go about things. Keep your morals close to you and live your life
by them, they are the only things that differentiate you from a
mindless animal who kills for pleasure...they are the only thing that
separates you from me...I never had a choice in the matter but you
do...you don't want to be like me...

Kyuba smiled his evil smile
once again although there was a tinge of something in his eyes that was
gone as soon as it was there, a tinge of something that Kyuba would
never have been thought to have...was it regret...no not possible.

Kyuba turned and kept going leaving Lucas in silence to contemplate his own thoughts.

----------


Lucas sighed and continued to contemplate his
musings as a leader. A leader needed to be able to make such vicious
decisions as to kill a hundred in order to save a thousand, but it was a
role he had never felt comfortable filling.

Then, he looked up in realization.

"The galaxy needs more than just an idealist, Kyuba. We will need to recruit
more than just the good hearted and the noble, we need soldiers,
bodies, those willing to fight and die. We need the ruthless, the
cutthroats, the scum of the galaxy too. Those kinds won't listen to
someone who would compromise a mission rather than compromise his
conscience. I can't be that person just yet, I have the charisma but not
the will."


----------

Kyuba smiled again as turned to address Lucas's latest statement;
walking backwards as he talked. "What do you think I am here
for...Religion aside I can bring your soldiers under control. They
respect the strong of fist, you be strong of mind and heart and use me
as you see fit. I have no problem cracking skulls of a few to keep the
many in line under your control, but that is for another time we near
our destination what are your orders?

----------

Lucas chuckled and remembered what their assignment was.

"Alright, we scout out the perimeter and find out what we're dealing with here,
then, depending on what we find, we deal with it accordingly."

Lucas ducked down and dashed off towards the cliffside in order to get a better look at their targets.

----------

Kyuba pulled his cloak around him and was glad to note that night was
falling, his dark garb would help him move into a better position. He
sent a mental signal to Lucas that he was in position and that he thinks
they should wait till nightfall to take any action and then settled in
waiting for the reply.

----------

Lucas nodded as he heard Kyuba's signal.

"Roger that, I'm going to do a bit of scouting ahead, I'll let you know what I find."

Lucas kept to the shadows as he continued to sneak around the cliff edge,
until he came closer to the source of the smoke and could get a better
view of what was going on.

"Hm, it seems like a basic camp from here, normal people, not much to look
at, nothing suspicious so far, I'm gonna move a bit further in."

----------


Kyuba also moved into a better vantage point and
saw much the same as Lucas. Night was falling fast and nothing of note
had happened so far, and he was getting bored. Suddenly one of them
stretched and moved out to the camp. One is moving away from the group. Moving to intercept target.........peacefully


----------

Lucas nodded to himself acknowledging Kyuba's report.

"Roger that, keep safe, report back on what you find, and be back here before
dark, we need to be ready to investigate the camp the minute we're under shadow"

With that, Lucas turned his attention back to the
camp, where he saw a tent drape rustling, almost in a non-existant
breeze. Quickly adjusting himself, Lucas ducked behind some nearby rocks
and kept watch of the drape, waiting for new subjects to enter the scene.

----------


Zero looked over at Michiko. She seemed sad. he spoke up so she could hear him.

"You know your not a bad person right?" he sighed.

"What you suggested was...necessary at least its the only thing we can think of so its necessary."

Zero rubbed the back of his neck.

'Something to talk about think think think ah hm maybe' Zero thought then spoke up.

"So how do you personally think we should continue the rebellion?"


----------

Blood dripped from Kira's knife as he walked away from the corpse of the
man he had captured and tortured. It seems that these men were bandits,
perfect for Michiko's gruesome plan. He radioed his findings to Lucas,
"These men are cutthroats and thieves, they are wanted for murder on
several counts including some children. I'm going in Commencing
communications silence." Kyuba mentally severed his connection to Lucas,
he needed to focus after all, and wrapped his cloak around him becoming
nearly invisible in the night. He slid down to the clearing and broke
the Watchman's neck. "Its too bad we have to keep them in one
piece...this could have been fun....oh well maybe Michiko will let me
help skin them...maybe i should leave one or two alive for the
process..." Then realizing how that would look to the other Kyuba
decided against that particular action and started to move quickly and
quietly through the tens brining swift and silent death to the
inhabitant's. He was truly an avatar of death this night.

Lucas frowned as he heard Kyuba's report.

"Killers? Even killing children? What about the ones that are here? Are they all
killers? Damn, I don't have time to sit here and worry about who these
people are anymore, I have to take action now, or we're all going to be
stuck here."

Lucas crept down into the camp and slowly
made his way towards the tent he had been watching. Within, he heard the
sound of moans and the sound of objects striking together, a sound he
immediately connected to a whet stone sharpening tools.

Lucas silently crept into the room, and saw a tall man standing with a blade,
sharpening it with a whet stone, as he had anticipated. The room was
coated in blood, and he still heard the pained moans of someone in the
room. They sounded like a child on the verge of passing out from pain.

Lucas, now infuriated, pressed his glasses close to his face, reached into his
cloak, and rolled behind the creature he barely considered human. He
pulled out a knife, and swiftly placed it against his neck, latching his
own arms around his adversary's in order to prevent him moving.

"Not a move, or I slit your throat right this minute."

The man grunted and quickly curled forward, throwing Lucas over his back, and to the other end of the tent.

"Should've seen that one coming...Ugh..." He looked up and saw something that horrified and disgusted him.

A young boy, no older than ten, was strapped to a metal frame, bloodied
and bruised. He was already missing an arm, and he was clearly going to
pass out.

"That's it...." Lucas slowly stood, gripping the knife tightly and re-establishing the mental link with Kyuba.

"Kyuba...End radio silence. Tonight, this place burns. Eliminate any opposition, be
aware of possible hostages, I have a tortured child here beside me. Show
them what your goddess can do." Lucas lept at his opponent and prepared for a swift stab to the heart.

----------


"No...." Michiko said unsure of herself.
"I....I..." Tears were brimming, they'd almost started their way down
her cheek. "I don't care about the rebellion. I left someone Zero! I
left someone at home, in the hands of MURDERERS! I don't know if he is
alive or dead, I don't even know his NAME!" She squeezed her hands
together as if she were praying, then got up and started to pace.

"I'm a horrible person...." the weight of the guilt was unbearable. "I can't
believe I LET THEM TAKE HIM!" Her head shook, and she kicked pebbles
with every step. "He was a baby!!! The only link left to my life, my
people, MY EVERYTHING!" She stepped in the direction of a large pointed
stone. "and to think....I too have become a murderer....Never mind
fooling myself, I had to change, I knew all along really. A soft, no, a
weak heart doesn't have a place in any of this." Her foot started to
bleed from subtly kicking the pointed stone.


----------

Zero's eyes widened. he understood a little.

He walked over and pulled her to him. If only to comfort her a little.

"A soft heart is what keep those like me and Kyuba grounded.
Were demons. Those like you and Lucas are angels in our mist." He said softly petting her hair.
"Lucas and i have lost almost everything for this its our only path." He shook his head. He rubbed her back to calm her.

"Why don't you tell me your story. I'll help you. I promise" he started.
"First things first. Who is this 'He' and what is his connection to you?
Also who are these mysterious 'they' that have him?"

----------

Kyuba smiled at Lucas' comment, he had essentially given Kyuba free
reign. Kyuba cared little for the injured children, he cared little for
anything besides killing...and a small soft spot for his
companions..which irked him more then a little but that was neither here
nor there. Kyuba shook himself from his thoughts and removed his scythe
from its holster on his back.

"Well I had better look the part
eh?" Kyuba said to himself as he cut open the chest of the man he had
just killed. Steam rose from the wound as the cool night air met the
still warm life blood that slowly seeped out of it. Kyuba dipped his
hand in soaking it in the pool of blood. The warmth made him smile as he
removed his blood drenched hand and smeared it across his face, drawing
intricate runes on his face and then on his hands. When he was done his
visage was that of madness and death incarnate. From that moment forth
until the killing was done he was no longer Kyuba...he was no longer a
man...he was nameless, souless, he was a true avatar of Shiira the
goddess of death, his will was her....his body was hers. Together they
were death itself.

The avatar of death walked to the edge of the
tent and kept walking straight through as he sliced a hole in the tent,
not even slowing down. Her cut down all those who opposed him. It's
role was clear, kill everything that wasn't a women and child, and it
intended to do just that.

As it systematically and brutally cut
through each of the bandits it started to smile, then it started to
laugh so loud that not only could everyone in the camp hear it but
Lucas' also heard it double through the telepathic link. It's voice was a
combination of Shiira and Kyuba...it was the voice of death.

----------

Michiko pulled back at first, but then gave in to the comforting. Her
foot was still kicking the stone. She could sense Zero's intents were
noble, but she wasn't sure if she could share the whole story yet. "My
nephew." she whispered. "I can spare you everything else, it's much too
long a story. The important part is, something bad happened, and my
nephew may still be alive." she cringed at those words The important part is,
it was all important, all very important, but she held back her urge to
communicate this. She couldn't speak the names of the men and women
responsible for her planet's new regime.

----------

"Your nephew. i see." Zero shook his head and pulled her away so she
stopped kicking the stone. He knew there was a lot more to that.

"I'd be willing to listen to the whole story. We probably have a while
before those two get back." He still hadn't let her go and wouldn't
until she told him more.

"Your lucky in a way. My entire family is dead." He shook his head.

"Ok telling you that can't be helping. Tell me what was this bad thing that happened?"

"If you want i'll tell you pieces of my story first?"

----------

Lucas grimaced at the sound of his companion's laughter. He knew Kyuba
needed a short leash at times, but now was not a time to worry about his
control. He needed to take down these adversaries, and he needed to get
these hostages out of a precarious situation.

As he thrust at the bandit with his blade, he sidestepped Lucas, sending him flying to yet another end of the tent.

Lucas caught himself and skidded to a stop, pushing his glasses closer to his face and sighing.

"This is getting REALLY old. Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

Lucas reached into his cloak and swiftly pulled out a standard issue military
pistol and aimed directly for the bandit's chest. He quickly began to
fire, but the man was clearly very agile, always one step ahead and
dodged almost every shot, occasionally being grazed.

"Well I wasn't expecting this..."

Lucas blinked and quickly grabbed another magazine from his cloak, but when
he looked next at his target, his vision had changed.

Lucas' glasses had lit up with diagrams and equations, target beacons and
markers, and his eyes were now effectively looking through a targeting
computer.

"What on earth...?"

Suddenly, Lucas heard a voice.

"Let my eyes guide you, mortal. Let me see for you, and base your actions off mine."

Lucas was shocked, and it was clear on his face.

"Xander...?"

"Fire, now!" He heard the voice say, and immediately, Lucas pulled the trigger at the point marked in his glasses.

In the blink of an eye, the bandit had jumped yet again, but this time, he
jumped directly into the line of fire, with a single bullet puncturing
his heart, leaving him to slump over and die.

The glasses quickly returned to their normal state, and Lucas dashed over to the child, who by now had passed out.

"Thank goodness, he's still alive."

Lucas quickly cut the restraints and laid the child down on a blanket beside him, examining his wounds.

"I can't do this alone."

Lucas shut his eyes and opened another mental link, this one much more faint and distant.

"Michi, Michi do you copy? This is Alpha-1. I have a child here, severely
wounded, arm is completely gone and he is losing a lot of blood. I need
you to guide me through treating the wounds, copy?"

----------

Michiko heard Lucas's nearly inaudible message. She temporarily shoved
her past into the back corner of her mind, and gently broke out of
Zero's comforting arms. "Lucas, this is Michi," concern filled her
voice, both for Lucas and the boy. She decided to run in the direction
they'd set off in, attempting to achieve a clearer connection. "Listen,
if the limb's been amputated you need to find some water to gently
rinse debris the wound. After that, if there's anything left to put a
tourniquet on, I suggest you do that, if not find a clean cloth and
apply pressure until the bleeding stops. Lucas I'm coming to help,
things have apparently gone awry and I wish you had contacted me sooner"
Michiko was surprised at how quickly she was able to control her
emotions when given a purpose. "Zero!! Come on, I'll explain on the
way!"

----------

"Well shit" Zero said as he followed Michiko.

"Whats going on?"

He had a sinking feeling and it was getting worse.

'Blood has been spilled.' something whispered. He shook his head and felt dizzy for a second but kept following Michiko.

----------

Lucas nodded in confirmation.

"Roger that Michiko, I'm cleaning the wound as we speak. I should be ok for
now, but just watch yourselves coming in, this place is NOT going to be
safe when you get here. Over and out."

Lucas immediately grabbed a nearby ceramic bowl and pulled a bottle of water out from his cloak.

"REALLY glad I decided to bring a bottle with me tonight."

Lucas made sure the bowl was empty and poured the water into the bowl. He
quickly wet his hands and began to delicately remove any outstanding
debris from the boy's arm, then tore a piece of his cloak off and tied
it around the boy's arm.

"Hang in there, help is on the way..." Lucas whispered as he held the boy's arm and pressed down as hard as he
could to apply pressure.

"Help is on the way..."

Lucas entered a state of high adrenaline and began
to scan the room for sources of heat, cursing himself for leaving any
remaining energy packs they had behind in the cave.

"Come on, come on...There has to be something I can do..."

At this, Lucas took off his glasses and wiped sweat from his brow, then slowly looked back at his glasses and grinned.

He quickly snapped off one of the pieces to his glasses and began to rummage through items in the tent.

"Come
on come on..." As he continued to search with one hand, Lucas began to
feed energy being supplied by Xander into the thin piece of metal,
slowly warming it.

"Flint...Tinder...Here we go!"

Lucas
quickly grabbed the two materials and began to strike away at them,
generating a small flame, placing the thin metal strip atop the flame.

"Alright, if we don't have a laser on hand, this will have to do."

In a matter of a minute, the metal, while being charged with Xander's energy, began to glow a bright red at the tip.

"All yours Michi!"

“I may need you here to assist me further Lucas.”
Michiko answered. She had paid attention to Lucas’s disguised intent,
and was also bit concerned about Zero’s manner. “Zer…I mean Zach, did
you need a new shirt? It may get cold.” Looking through the items he’d
just handed her, she found a suitable long-sleeved garment. She tossed
it in his direction “It doesn’t look like your size, but it’ll do.”

Almost
immediately Michi turned her focus to Lucas, in an attempt to spare
Zach from feeling self conscious. “Sir, I don’t know how long we planned
on being here prior to these incidents, but there’s no telling how long
this boy will need to heal. I recommend we stay put until he’s able to
move on his own.” A thought suddenly occurred to her. She leaned closer
to Lucas’s ear and whispered “What are we going to do with them?” Her
voice was heavy with maternal pity.

Kyuba didn’t smile, didn’t even blink as, in one
fluid motion, he stood up, pulled out a wickedly curved dagger, and
pressed it to Zack’s throat. Kyuba stared at him with his cold
emotionless eyes that seemed to stare straight into Zacks soul, judging
him in an instant. He then spoke in a smooth trancelike voice that was
slightly sharper and even more deadly than his normal voice, the words
oozed out like thick black poison, “If you really believe that…then kill
them with your own hand…if you can order the death of another…the least
you can do is look them in the eyes as you drag the knife slowly across
their throats….see the fear and confusion as they bleed out below
you….” He removed the dagger and placed it in Zack’s hand and then moved
to Zack’s ear and said, “The goddess is watching you…do it.”

Zach stared at his now empty hand and then to Lucas. His dead eyes bearing into Lucas' own. He cocked his head to the side.

"Wouldn't it just be kinder to kill them?" he asked apathetically.

Michiko stepped in front of the little girl. Her
rage boiled over like molten motherhood. She clenched her fists, digging
her long nails into the soft pads of her palms, almost drawing blood.
“Before you go you murderous fucks,”
she started in an eerily quiet tone. “I defy you to think of a more
heinous transgression than the sort of mercy you speak of. These spirits
of purity, these vessels of unknown potential…” She started closing the
space between them. “A religious fanatic and a confused shell of a man,
the judges of life and death, what an amusing concept” the last few
words where toxic.

“I’m not a completely innocent party myself
I’ll admit. Call me a hypocrite if it soothes your soul,” she pushed
Zach next to Kyuba. “but I’m telling you right now if either one of you
attempt, or even bring up the subject of merciful euthanasia as it
pertains to these children again….I will tap into your nervous systems
while you sleep, paralyze you, and leave you in a shallow mass grave to
smell the putrid flesh as you slowly decompose in unison.”

Not
satisfied that her point had sufficiently been made, Michiko
ambidextrously slapped the harbingers of homicide across their cheeks.
She was tired of running from her emotions and trying to become
something she could never be. These children needed a protector and she
had the means to do something about it this time. They would serve as
homage for the family she was too weak to protect. Now her life had
meaning.

Sophia looked over Michiko at her brother’s bedside “Hey Mister…” she squeaked “Can I sit there?”

Lucas immediately discarded his current thoughts and focused on the young girl behind him, turning around with a smile.

"Sure Sophia, there's plenty of room here for you."

He
moved over slightly so Sophia could sit closer to the young boy. He
almost wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything was ok, but he
had no idea what she had been through, and at this point feared that
direct contact this quickly would cause more harm than comfort.


----------

Kyuba continued to drag Zero out until he reached the small pond in the
camp. "Well here is as good a spot as any" Kyuba reached down and threw
zero into the pond. "Sink or swim...it's your choice." Kyuba then sat
down to watch...preparing himself to jump in if Zero didn't wake up...if
he felt like it of course.

----------

"Thank you." Sophia sat next to the bed and started singing softly.
Michiko stood trying to think of something useful to do. A growling
noise came from Lucas's direction. It was then she remembered they
hadn't eaten properly for quite some time. Food needed to be the next
priority. Not having the heart to ask Lucas to move she thought it best
to try and gather some food on her own. "Lucas, I'm going to take a look
around camp to see if there's anything edible. I'll be right back. If
you need me I'll be right outside the tent."

----------

Lucas nodded at his teammate and turned back to the young boy.

"You
know, you're brother is a very brave boy, really strong too. When I was
his age, I don't think I could have been able to survive what he just
did."

----------

Zach opened his eyes and came back to the realm of the living while
feeling like he was floating. Wait floating? He felt the cold and looked
and thrashed around shocked. Under water? Yep he was under water.

'What the hell happened?' he thought to himself. As he swam to the surface he noticed various fish in the water around him.

'hm at least we have a food source.'
he thought to himself. Wait why was he thinking about food when he had
almost drowned. He finally breached the surface and looked around and
saw Kyuba on the shore.

"You ass!!" He growled at Kyuba. He would
have continued his hate filled response except his stomach growled. He
shook his head and dragged the now sopping wet long sleeve shirt off and
then threw it and his boots and socks on the shore and dove back down.

He caught sever large fish and then came over to Kyuba on the shore with them.

"Your a bastard." he muttered. There was a little bit of life back in his eyes now. Not much but some. He held up the fish.

"I'm gonna bring these back to the tent." He said and walked back the way Kyuba had dragged him.

----------

Sophia frowned and stopped singing "People say that a lot about us."
there was an awkward silence "Are you a good man?" She asked with
innocence only a child could muster. Meanwhile Michiko searched the
area, the only thing she found was some type of meat jerky. She quickly
crossed that out considering what they'd seen of the dietary preferences
of the region so far. She'd have to resort to going a little farther
away to gather herbs and natural vegetables.

----------

Lucas looked at her for a moment in shock, then back at the boy.

"...I would like to say yes."

He
had always thought himself a good man, a defender of those who could
not do it themselves, but deep down he knew he was a strategist, someone
who analyzed a situation and gave the best outcome possible, regardless
of what it meant for either side. That was the role he was supposed to
fill as a leader, and he knew it would lead him to make decisions one
day that he was not proud of. With that kind of situation, he felt he
could not honestly say that regardless of anything he did, he was a good
man

----------

Zach came upon Michiko looking for food.

"Hey" he called out. He waited til she turned to him. Again he was shirtless and now shoe and sockless too.

'oops' he thought to himself. when Michiko was finally looking at him he held up the fish.

"Cook
these and use them to feed yourself, Lucas, Kyuba and those kids." He
said as he handed the fish to her and started walking away. He stopped
and looked back at her.

"I'm a monster. So i dont deserve food." he said and walked away.

----------

To a child everything is black and white. Sophia didn't understand what
Lucas meant "Should we be scared of you?" she said submissively.

Michiko
was glad Zach stumbled upon her before she had to go to all the trouble
of gathering herbs. The fish were fresh and sure to be very nutritious.
After listening to Zach's final statement she yelled out "Don't be
stupid! Everyone needs to eat!" She flung one of the fish at his head
and ran back to camp.

----------

Lucas looked at her, shocked.

"No! No, of course not! I would never harm you or your brother, ever!"

Zach rubbed the back of his head and picked up the fish Michiko threw at
the back of his head. He laughed a little. He followed her back to camp
as he pulled the drenched shirt back on and shivered a little.

'Cold'
he thought. He walked back into the tent and looked to the girl. He
clenched his teeth and got a pained look on his face. He walked toward
the girl and got down on his hands and knees and and said as sincerely
as he could.

"I'm sorry!!"

----------

"Ok then, it's a promise." Sophia smiled and contentedly went back to
singing her song. After a while Zach came in, she looked in his eyes as
he pored his sincerity out to her. When he was done she raised her
little hand, put it on his head, and said "What about him? Is he a good
man?" Michiko had the fish descaled and cooked in no time. She brought
the steaming plate in to Lucas, Zach and Sophia. She heard the little
girl's question. "Good enough." she answered flippantly for him while
motioning them over to a small clean corner of the tent to eat.

----------

Zach was shocked at Michiko's response and at the little girl's innocent
question. He looked at the little girl and smiled. He watched as the
little one walked toward Michiko.

He looked to Lucas and mouthed the words. 'I'm sorry'.

Zach stood at the tent flaps and watched the others go eat.

----------

Sophia's complete lack of understanding for the situation they were in
made Lucas smile, after all, some said ignorance is bliss, but for him,
it hit him at that moment that it took a look through a child's eyes to
see what really mattered in life. He was fighting for what he believed
in, and that was all that mattered. Whatever decisions he made, whatever
he did, he was fighting for what he felt was right, and he wasn't going
to compromise himself to do it.

Lucas took his cooked fish and
sat down again beside the young girl, noticing for the first time that
he was actually able to see his breath in the air. He had completely
forgotten how fast the temperature drops in the desert, and took off his
cloak and put it over the resting boy in front of him.

"How're
you feeling, Sophia? Are you warm enough?" He asked kindly, not showing
any hint of being effected by the cold in the air.

----------

Sophia responded with a convincing "Yes." and a smile. Though it was
clear to see she was freezing. Michiko rummaged through the things Zach
got them. There were 3 blankets.

"Here you are sweetie, you
don't have to hide the way you feel anymore, if you need help you need
to tell the truth." Sophia readily accepted the blanket and threw it
around herself "I wasn't cold, really..." she said stubbornly with
chattering teeth. "Here Moron," Michiko quipped as she tossed one to
Zach. "Last but not least, our leader." She set the last blanket beside
him.

"Now before you two say anything, I think I saw another
blanket out by the fire that I'm going to take. I'll be a few minutes
looking for it, enjoy the fish."

She was lying, there wasn't any
other blanket, but she knew she'd be fine as long as she sat by the
fire. In the back of her mind she was wondering what Kyuba could be
doing. She was still thoroughly pissed about before, unfortunately she
couldn't help being concerned for her comrade.

----------


Zach snorted and handed the blanket back to Michiko. He shook his head.

"You
need to keep warm and healthy your here to patch the rest of us up." He
walked over and put his dry cloak on top of the boy while throwing
Lucas' coat back to him.

"I'll go find mr.talk dark and murderous. I still owe him for throwing me in that pond." he said and walked out of the tent.


----------

----2 years ago----
A young girl stood in front of a large crowd as
she is sang aloud in an angelic voice. The audience stared with trance
like silence, especially one man who is kept an unnaturally close eye
on her every move. As she sang she is stared back at him with her jade
eyes looking into his black eyes shivering as she got a bad feeling
about this man The moment she finished her enhancing song the audience
erupted into applause mixed with comments about how she is just like her
mother who was famous for her hauntingly beautiful voice. Esperanza
Herandez is a young girl who has the gift to sing beautifully, making
everything stop in motion, to listen to what she says, for her voice
makes even the coldest heart tear. That day instead of talking to the
people who surrounded her, She kept on looking in the man's direction as
he talked to another man who she was also familiar. It was her father,
and he was accepting what looked like a large sum of money from the
other man.
The stranger man looked at her and the expression on his
face filled her with disgust. He started to walk towards her, each step
he took her caused her heart to pound faster for she knew that something
was about to happen. Within minutes he was standing tall in front of
her and they both slowly examined each other.
“Strong will...that shall be broken as each day passes by with me. You are to serve me and do anything I desire.”
Esperanza stayed silent, staring coldly into the man’s eyes.
“Sing
child...”, he stared into her eyes seeing the stubbornness. “So that's
how you are going to act...I see...I guess you didn't want to save your
people after all.” With a snap of a fingers he ordered his men to kill
everyone as a she watched. He saved her father for last, laughing as he
held a sword against his throat. “Any last words before he dies?”
She looked into her father's eyes seeing him feel guilty for what he has done.
“Esperanza...I am sorry....I should hav....” Blood splattered.
Anger
rose within her body, her hands clenched in tight fists. Even though
her father had bad judgment he was still her father and the moment this
man in front of her destroyed her people she knew she must avenge them.
Her body began to glow faintly pink and before she knew it she was
inside a resonark.
“A...ph...ro...di..te...please help me with
destroying this man...” With that the Resonark let out a sound that got
higher in pitch until the man could bare no more, his ears bleeding
profusely and then his head exploded.
That was the day she vowed to no longer use her voice for it was the very reason that led to their death.

----present-----

Esperanza
snapped out of her reverie, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She
was on a mission and she didn’t have the time to sit thinking. She had
followed the trail of her quarry to this planet and was sure what she
was looking for was here, but as she scanned the barren desert she was
starting to loose hope Stop that and focus she
thought to herself as she once again closed her eyes and reached out
mentally, linking her consciousness with Aphrodite’s and using her
telepathy to scan the area for life. Just when she was about to give up
hope she sensed a dark presence on the edge of her range. That must be Kyuba…Lets go Aphrodite.

----------

Kyuba knew there weren't any more survivors in the camp...Lucas should
have known that as well seeing as it was they who ran through the camp
first, so he decided to go as far as possible from the central tent and
sat down in the sand to take a nap. He was deep in a dream about killing
and skinning a certain annoying man that he was forced to travel with,
one with flaming red hair...when he was woken suddenly as he felt
someones mind touch his briefly. "This presence...is familiar", he said
out loud to himself as he stood up. He tried sending a warning to Lucas
but he was too far out of range for the resonance to work. "I guess I am
on my own..." Kyuba smiled..."More fun for me!" Kyuba summoned Kiri'Tas
and quickly sped off towards the presence. Kyuba brought Kiri'Tas to a
halt as he saw what approached. If he actually felt such weaknesses as
normal creature he would have fallen into a stupor at what he saw, but
even he had to admit it was a beautiful sight. What he saw was a
Resonark that looked almost human but calling it human or machine...or
even mere Resonark would do it justice. It looked like a goddess as it
floated above the sands towards him....It was clad only in a thin veil
pink veil that covered her ample breast and buttocks as well as her
crotch, but the rest of it was bare, the pale white skin shining in the
sun.
Kyuba frowned as he realized who it was..it was Aphrodite
another Resonark that was not assigned to the mission and who's
whereabouts were not located even in the top secret encrypted files he
was able to hack his way into back on the main ship. "So...you choose
now to show yourself eh?' Kyuba asked over an open line between the
Resonarks. When he received no reply he charged in and attacked swinging
his scythe in a forward arc towards it's mid section. "IF YOU WONT
ANSWER THEN YOU WILL BE TREATED AS AN ENEMY DIE FOR THE GODDESS SHIIRA!"

----------


Esperanza saw Kyuba coming towards her. We meet again Kyuba...
Esperanza heard his response but she didn't reply. She knew it would
irritate him if ignored. She watched as he was about to strike her and
decided to finally communicate with him. Hello
Kyuba. DO you really think you are capable of defeating someone who
outranks you? You are a fool by doing so. Besides...why would you attack
your savior?


----------

Kyuba froze his attack mid swing as he heard...no felt the voice inside his mind. Esperanza...I thought you were dead... Kyuba backed of his attack and jumped back some ways away. Suddenly he was hit with a flashback.
-1 year previous-
"Damnit",
Kyuba screamed as yet another bullet tore into Kiri'Tas and the
neuro-sensors transfered the pain to his corresponding nerve. Kyuba was
fresh out of training and was on his first mission,it was not going
well. Out of the 300 members of his squad he was the only Resonark
pilot,,,he was also the only survivor. Kyuba looked out at the void of
space which was filled with enemies. He would take these lives for his
goddess...even if it cost him his own life. Kyuba charged in killing an
enemy with each swing of his mighty scythe but for each kill he received
10 new wounds and soon he found himself with only the use of one arm,
the other hung limply at his side. "Well Kiri'Tas this is it...prepare
to activate Sequence Zero...we shall take all of these bastards out with
us....prepare to meet the goddess." As Kyuba charged straight into the
group of enemies, Kiri-Tas began to glow black as energy seeped from it.
Suddenly each of the enemies exploded in a wave of sound that nearly
burst Kyuba's ears with its high pitched frequency. When he finally
regained his senses he noticed that Kiri'Tas had deactivated the self
destruct sequence and that floating in front of him was an unknown
Resonark of exquisite beauty. Kyuba felt a presence brush his mind and
he immediately knew that it was the pilot of the other Resonark. "Who
are you to give me orders..." Kyuba screamed over the open mic. The
reply he received made his already pale face blanch even more. This was
Esperanza Hernandez...the child prodigy...and she was his new commanding
officer...

Kyuba's memory suddenly jumped forward 3 months from that incident.

Kyuba
had risen through the ranks until he was near even with Esperanza and
today was the day of his test of rank. If he passed this he would
finally be even with Esperanza who he had rivaled with from the day she
saved him.
Kyuba exited the simulation room in a fit of unholy fury.
"I COMPLETED THE MISSION. I COMPLETED IT IN THE FASTEST TIME EVER BUT I
FAIL BECAUSE I SACRIFICED THE LIVES OF MY CREW? THEY SHOULD BE HONORED
TO DIE FOR THE MISSION! THIS IS BULLSHIT!' Kyuba had failed his Captain
exam because he had sacrificed the lives of his crew to complete the
mission. Failing this mission meant that Kyuba was unable to go on the
high ranking mission with Esperanza...the mission was a suicide mission
and Kyuba still had a debt to repay..
No matter how much he protested
he was still denied the right to go on the mission and was forced to
watch as Esperanza flew off to her possible death..."That was my chance
to die for glory...my chance to kill in the name of the goddess....",
Kyuba told himself. Later that same day he received notification,
communication with Esperanza's team had been lost, they were presumed
KIA. Two days later he received new orders to join his current crew. He
relished the opportunity, for the HUB ship had databases filled with
information on the entire fleet...even top secret files. When he dug
deep enough he discovered that Esperanza was not KIA but actually MIA
presumed alive. That was all he could find on the matter.

-Present-
Well maybe not dead...but i was certain you had been captured...tell me...why are you here?

Me dead? Kyuba you should know better than that...That year...wasn't as expected....It started when.…

---3 months ago---

Esperanza
waited for her crew mates to arrive. She examined each crew member who
was about to join her on the dangerous mission. She couldn't read them
well, for at the time she was more concerned on the mission, and if she
made one mistake it would be the end of their lives. That was why she
made sure that Kyuba couldn't pass the test for she knew if he did it
meant death amongst her men.

Alright
this is it we are on an important mission to search and kill off the
enemies that are in our way. You all will listen closely on what I say
for that is your only way for survival. They all nodded agreeing to her orders, their fate was in her hands.

Departure
began and everyone sat in silence, seeing as it was more of a funeral
than a mission. Esperanza couldn't do much to put them at ease for even
though she knew there was little chance for survival something else
nagged at her mind. Something was bound to happen the moment they
reached their destination. Esperanza checked their course one last time.
This course is off…, thought Esperanza.

Seeing
the mistake for what it was she tried to quickly fix it before launch
but was stopped as she was struck on the head with a hard object and
blacked out. She awoke tied up and gagged, and she could overhear one of
her captors talking about not doing this for she was only a child.
Esperanza closed her eyes as they turned in her direction, seeing that
she was still out cold, they began talking more about how this was the
only way to save their people. Upon hearing that she remembered her
tragic past.

It's a lie...they
will do the same thing that has always been done. The moment they get
what they want that's when they will strike. Don't be fools. Untie me
and it will be like this event never happened. I don't know how you
faked this mission but I will make sure you won't be in trouble. I will
go with you and help you save your people.

They looked
uncertain for they heard numerous rumors about her past and how vicious
she was when messed with. Seemingly a mere child, those who got on her
bad side soon learned that she was not to be trifled with. But as they
looked into her jade eyes they knew they could trust her for her words
seemed truthful. They untied her and took her to the planet that was no
more.

Told you they lied to
you. In the end they destroyed your home. They leave no one behind
alive..I kept my word as to help. And for all of you not getting in
trouble....I lied about that...you see the moment you decided to be the
enemy to my crew is when you became mine. As always people get fooled
over my appearance.

Esperanza looked at their frightened
expressions. It happened fast so that they didn't see it coming. All
three men laid lifeless on the floor quicker then the eye could see she
threw three shards at each impaling two in the heart and one in the
brain through his eye. For the first time in the longest times she spoke
aloud.
“No te metas conmigo....”
She went back to the controls and commenced the self-destruct.

----Present----

That
is what happened Kyuba. In the end the mission was a lie and I went
back in discreet to tell of it being a fraud...As long as the enemies
think I am dead I have no problem going around freely.... Kyuba.... they
fell for that trap...I knew by the time we reached their planet it
would be destroyed. It was the same as two years ago. If you were there
you would be proud of what I did to those men. Even if you did go ...I
knew you would be out to get me as well...After all that would have been
a good time to end my life along with them. Then you would no longer
have a rival. I wonder…how much you would have enjoyed killing me? As
for me being here...I already told you, I have been sent here to save
you.

----------

Kyuba laughed at her final question…”So it was you who caused me to not
go on that mission…you knew they would all die so you made sure that I
would keep living eh? You really think that I want you dead?” Kyuba
exited Kiri-Tas and stood before Aphrodite removing his skull helmet.
His silver gray hair tossed and turned in the windy desert. “How much I
would savor it…sending you to The Goddess…I owe you a debt…a life for a
life…until then you are safe Esperanza…” Kyuba bowed awkwardly to
Aphrodite. He then stood and gave her one of his vicious psychotic
smiles and said. “Even when I repay my debt…I will have to surpass you
first…before I kill you…When that day comes I will take my sweet time
sending you to the goddess…piece by piece…but until then you are safe.
Come…my crewmates await.” That being said Kyuba hopped back into
Kiri-Tas and led the way back to the camp. Once he was within range he
sent a message to Lucas telling him what had happened and to meet them
outside the camp. When he reached the outside of the camp he unsummoned
Kiri-Tas and motioned for Esperanza to do the same.

----------


Even if you did
kill me...would you really enjoy it? Knowing that I won't make a
sound...Kyuba you will always be a fool...I know that someday it will
happen but not in your hands....Someone else is out to get me the moment
it's discovered I am alive...

Esperanza was in shock when
he mentioned there were others. She would have thought that Kyuba would
have killed off his crew mates the moment they have served their
purpose.

What is keeping them
alive Kyuba? Do you also owe them a favor? Typical...you have finally
gone soft on me Kyuba...to think that what I did would make you proud...

Esperanza
followed Kyuba outside of camp. She as well unsummoned Aphrodite
revealing her small slender body full of old scars and some that are
new.

So where are these crew mates of yours?

----------

Michiko did not want to leave the children, but wasn't keen on taking
them to meet a stranger either. Reluctantly she told Sophia to stay in
the tent and to come get her only if her brother needed help.

Stepping
out into the cold air was a bit of a shock, but not as much of a shock
as what was standing beside Kyuba when she arrived outside the camp. It
was an enchantingly beautiful young woman. Stunned and somewhat
confused, Michiko was speechless.

----------


Lucas got up and smiled to Sophia.

"I'll be right back, ok? We'll be right outside."

He
quickly walked out of the tent, and was stunned to see Kyuba standing
before him with a young woman beside him, bewildered at the palpable
tension between the two.

"Kyuba, who is this?" He asked in confusion, cocking his head to the side.


----------


Kyuba turned to Esperanza as she voiced her questions in his head. He shot back silently, Silly
girl...they serve a purpose...the mission...which is why they are still
alive..the only person who will kill you is me..whoever it is that is
after you will die a gruesome death. And as for me being proud of
you...I am you have grown in your ruthlessness and I am truly
proud....captain...but while we are here Lucas is commanding officer.
You will do as he says...unless it comes between the mission of course. Kyuba smiled at Esperanza and then turned to the others glaring at them coldly.


----------

Zach got back to camp to find Kyuba, who he'd been searching for, back already.
With a woman by his side. Zach was about to speak up when he heard Lucas speak.

Lucas had asked the question he wanted to so he just stood next to his friend.

----------

Esperanza looked at Kyuba and before she could respond she turned to the direction of a man's voice, seeing a woman next to him.
Your crew mates I assume. Why them? They don't look strong...then again looks can be deceiving...
She smirked at Kyuba and then turned to the two showing that she had no interest in them. As she was staring at them coldly.

----------

Kyuba smirked as he heard what Esperanza said, at how little she knew.
He turned to address Lucas's question. "This is Captain Esperanza
Hernandez, Pilot of the Resonark Aphrodite, The Sirens Call. She seems
to have tracked us down and is the only surviving member of a suicide
mission. I believe she will be joining us until we reestablish
communication with the resistance." Kyuba smiled at the looks form his
companions. "She is also mute but can communicate through telepathy. Say
hello Eszy."

----------

The cold stare this young lady projected made Michiko uneasy. She was
exceedingly glad she hadn't brought Sophia along. "Miss Michiko!" came a
small voice from behind. Grasping the irony, Michiko pressed her palm
to her face.

Sophia came bounding up shouting "Something
happened! Come quick!" she tugged firmly on Michiko's arm, then looked
up at Lucas. "You come too!"

Not knowing what to think, Michiko followed Sophia as fast as she could back to the tent, with Lucas not far behind.

Lucas looked back to Kyuba and Esperanza and sighed.

"We can
continue this later, at the moment there are pressing matters." He
quickly turned back and followed Michiko and Sophia back in the tent,
crouching down beside their sleeping patient.

"How is he holding up?" He asked Michiko, concern clear in his voice.

------------------------

Zach looked at the woman quickly before following Lucas into the tent. He sat a bit away just in case he was needed.

"What's wrong with the kid?" he asked trying to sound concerned. His emotions weren't completely back yet.

------------------------

Esperanza stopped staring at them coldly as Kyuba introduced her to
them. But then she clenched her fist when he said out loud an irritating
nickname given to her by him.

Dont call me that ever again...I am not one to be made fun of Kyuba. Better watch yourself.

Putting
her attention back to his crew mates she walked up to them slowly,
looking up and down at them trying to see why he is teamed up with them
when she knew Kyuba could easily do missions on his own. Perhaps it
could be how he did the missions for he had thirst for blood. Whatever
it may be she didn't find any use in them for she only wanted to rescue
Kyuba. But she had no choice but to greet them.

Good evening to you both...I am guessing Kyuba has been good to you...since you are both still alive...., she said as she followed them into the tent.

------------------------

Michiko was completely oblivious to the greeting and got straight to
work. She extracted then inserted one of her necklace wires into the
back of the boy's neck. "His vitals are...." she closed her eyes in
concentration "still on the weak side, but VERY good considering the
trauma his body's suffered. The production of replacement blood is much
better than that of an average human being."

Confused at Sophia's
urgent beckoning, Michiko asked "What happened Sophia? Why was this so
urgent?" The little girl's eyes were the happiest they'd been since
she'd been found "He MOVED!"

Thrilled, but suddenly aware of the
extra company, and remembering what was said, Michiko managed an
awkward "Good evening to you as well." She would let Lucas handle the
last part of the question, as she didn't feel like recalling being at
Kyuba's nonexistent mercy.

------------------------

Lucas smiled and sighed in relief at the explanation Michiko gave, then he turned to Sophia.

"He moved? That's great!"

Lucas
was well aware of what was insinuated by Esperanza's comments, but he
was more focused on the children beside him right now, and merely
replied to her greeting before going back to Sophia and her brother,
positively beaming at the thought that the boy was going to pull
through.

Lucas ran a hand through the boy's hair and smiled,
feeling a bump on the top of his head, he looked closer and saw a small
lump, almost like something was underneath the surface of the boy's
scalp.

"Michiko, what IS that?"

-----------------------------

"Huh...? It didn't show up on my scan, it must not be biological."
Michiko examined the area. "Sophia, come stand by me please." The little
one complied.

Sifting through her hair in a fashion similar to a
lice check, Michiko made a startling discovery. "She has one too...."
Sophia squirmed out of Michi's grasp and started to pout.

------------------------------

Lucas quickly sat down beside Sophia and gave her a concerned smile.

"Sophia,
do you know how that got there?" He was greatly concerned, but he was
not about to frighten the young girl to get his answers.

------------------------------

Zach stood up after having fallen asleep and walked over to Lucas. He whispered to his old friend.

"Whats going on?" he whispered quietly.

"What did you find on the kids thats wrong?"

------------------------------


Sophia rocked back and forth on her feet. After a
long while she muttered "Yes...." She avoided Lucas's gaze for as long
as she could. Finally she hesitantly looked into his eyes. "The bad
guys... took us...awaaay." her sentence turned into a wail, but she
continued on. "They told us to be good or else," she sniffled. "we were
going somewhere. They said if we did anything wrong we'd die! " Barely
coherent through her sobs she cried "I don't know where mommy and daddy
were, why didn't they stop them?!?!"


-------------------------------


Lucas realized he hit a sensitive point and quickly moved in to hug and comfort the girl.

"It's ok, Sophia...The bad guys won't hurt you anymore...I promise..."

He knew that at some point an explanation would be needed, but clearly now was not the time.

Upon hearing what the child said Esperanza started to feel pity towards
the young girl and made a link to her so only the child could hear.
I
know the feeling child....thats why I killed the man who ruined my
life. The one who took everything away from me. You should take
vengeance as well instead of crying.

----------------------------


Zach shivered as he heard the little girl talk. He
is sure he's shocking the others when he steps up and pulls the girl
from Lucas' arms. He pulls the girl to him and for once instead of a sad
dark aura he lets out warmth.

"It'll be ok." he said in a
whisper. He pulled back a little to look the girl in the face. He gave
her a small warm concerned smile.

"I see it in your eyes something i've felt before." He shivered and pushed the memories back.

"We'll protect you. You saw me protect Michiko before right?" he asked the girl and waited for her to nod.

"I'll protect you from men just like i protected her." He pulled the girl back to him.

"I
wont let you go through anymore pain. I wont let you feel what i have."
he said determined. Maybe just maybe with this he could remember what
he fought for.


--------------------------


Listening to the man comforting the girl. She couldn't take it any longer and did the unthinkable.

"NO! Take revenge! Dont listen to that fool...revenge is what you must do," Esperanza blurted out.


--------------------------

Lucas turned and faced Esperanza, his calm and lax demeanor now replaced with a cold authoritative aura.

"You
clearly don't understand how we do things here, Captain. Vengeance and
uncontrolled anger is what drove the resistance to the point of
annihilation, and make no mistake, we are at that point. We were
careless and foolhardy, and didn't think clearly before taking action.
These children have seen enough bloodshed and hatred at their age, I
don't need you tainting their minds with anger and vengeance. Either
stand down or I will MAKE you."

---------------------------


Esperanza stared into Lucas' eyes showing anger.
She doesn't back down on a challenge which was what it seemed. She held
her posture.

It worked for me.
For my revenge is what made me successful. That child there was hurt. I
know the feeling...besides she is more interesting than you three.

She was looking at the child seeing potential.


----------------------------

Zach looked down at Sophia.

"Little one do me a favor and cover
your ears ok?" he asked and waited til she did. When she cover her ears
he placed his hand over her's to make sure. Zero spoke in a shockingly
calm voice.

"Let me guess you've taken vengence for something done to you?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer.

"So you took vengence and its helped you? HA if so your just as mad as Kyuba." he said cooly. He shook his head.

"Vengeance
isn't for everyone some people are fine afterwords and others break.
These kids dont need vengeance they need healing and then a safe place
to stay. So if you want to get them to take vengeance i'll send you to
hell." he finished loudly.

-------------------------------

Lucas held an arm out to his side, blocking Esperanza's view of the child.

"Stay away from them, Hernandez, or we will have problems. This is your last warning."

Lucas
was tired and aggrivated, but above all, he was determined to protect
these children from the taint of hatred. If that meant standing against a
fellow resistance member, so be it.

--------------------------------

Kyuba hissed and stepped in front of Esperanza. "You will address her by
her Rank and Title with respect....Captain...You speak to a Captain
First Class of the Special Forces Division....or do I need to remind you
that if she feels it necessary she can pull rank on you. Show some
respect and keep your dogs in line.", Kyuba uttered calmly but with a
voice filled with venom, his last line referring to Zachary. "I have
warned you many times that you need to keep the mission above all
else...if these children get in the way of the mission then they are a
liability we cannot afford...I shouldn't have to remind you....billions
of lives...or these two children...when it comes down to it will you
have the conviction to stand by whatever decision you choose? If it
comes down to it would you kill any one of us that stood in the way of
your decision? These children are by no means innocents any
longer....those bumps on their heads are slaver chips. They log exactly
where the slave is at all times and if the slave tries to run or remove
the chip in any way they explode. The only way to remove the chip is
with a special transceiver which are usually kept at the slave hubs.
Esperanza and myself will go take care of the slavers...Lucas you find
the transceiver, Michiko....get to work on the skins, you should know
they only have a small window of freshness...Zero....watch the
kids...you might actually learn something from them...i doubt it but
maybe some humility will come from it.", Kyuba tossed Michiko the cube
with the bodies and then turned and left the tent without a word.
Leaving the others stunned in silence.

----------------------------


Lucas glared daggers at Kyuba as he walked out of the tent.

"We
will discuss this later, Kyuba. Though it would do you well to remember
the chain of command in this squad. I am in charge of Alpha Squad's
missions, do not forget that."

He quickly went over to Sophia and smiled.

"I'm sorry about that, are you ok?"


-----------------------------

Yes, but those people are crazy!" Sophia replied wide eyed. "I don't
know what they were talking about." She looked to the cube Michiko was
holding. "What's that?"

Michiko stuttered "Oh, um... nothing,
don't worry." as she slipped it into her pocket. Before anyone had a
chance to speak again, the boy softly stirred in his sleep. "He may be
close to waking up!" Michi stated happily.

Lucas looked at the boy and sighed with relief.

"Well that's good." He said with a smile.

Slowly, the boy stirred and made some mild grunts and moans, until finally something audible was heard:

"Mommy..."

------------------------------


"RAUL!!!!" Sophia shouted as she rushed to The
boy's bedside. "I was so scared" She teared up, but didn't sob this
time. She was trying to be strong for her brother.

Michiko
watched while a flurry of emotions overtook her. Sophia grabbed her
brother's hand. "I thought for sure they were going to kill us, but
look! Now we're ok!" Her expression was one of forced cheer.


------------------------------


Raul whimpered ever so slightly at the physical contact, still in the grasp of sleep.

Lucas smiled softly and gently placed a hand on Sophia's head.

"It's alright, nothing else is going to hurt you, I promise."

-------------------------------


Sophia believed Lucas when he promised no harm would come to them. She could sense he was genuine. "He's going to miss his arm."

The
girl's heart wrenching prediction took Michiko's breath away for a
moment. It was then she decided to find a way to make Raul's loss much
easier to cope with. That would have to wait, for now Michi would just
enjoy the relief that was meandering through the tent, she knew it would
be fleeting.


-------------------------------

Lucas smiled and rubbed her head, but then gained a much more concerned and curious look.

"Sophia,
what happened to you and your brother? Why are you even here?" He was
very curious as to why children would even be this far into the desert,
there wasn't a town for miles.

-------------------------------


Now that she knew Raul was going to be fine,
Sophia was much less upset and ready to talk. "They were taking us
somewhere, we were in a transport, and all of the sudden these men," she
looked through the entrance of the tent "attacked us."

"It was
really scary and Raul tried to protect me, he yelled at the men and
threw things." Sophia's head fell in shame. "I tried to make him stop, I
put my hand over his mouth, but he pushed me down hard, and I hit my
head. It's my fault he got hurt..."


--------------------------------



Lucas looked at Sophia in understanding and pity, then wrapped her in a hug.

"It's ok...You were very brave, I'm sure your brother is very proud of you."

He thought on everything she had just said, blinked, and looked back at the young girl.

"Sophia, who are 'they'? Who was taking you?"

--------------------------------

Lucas...it would do you well to
remember that my rank is one below yours which gives me the right under
Section Alpha of the Resistance Code, that if you compromise the mission
for...personal reasons and poor judgment then I can invoke the right to
strip you of command. i suggest that if you don't want those walking
time bombs to go off you get off your high horse and listen to common
sense. Or is that to much responsibility for you? Kyuba shot back through the link making sure everyone of the pilots could hear it.

---------------------------------


Lucas resisted the urge to frown, making sure he kept himself composed for Sophia's sake.

"Get
over yourself Kyuba, the resistance is all but dead. We're all that's
left, do you honestly think you could rebuild this entire army by
yourself? We need to work together if we're going to survive this, and
that requires getting all of the details first! For all you know it
could be something other than a bomb! Work on doing your job, and I'll
do mine. In the meantime, do not order my team about as if they are your
cultists, I'd rather see us succeed than dead in a ditch somewhere, and
I'm pretty sure the rest of the squad would agree!"


---------------------------------

Kyuba smiled at Lucas's answer...Typical... he thought to himself I
personally am not the one that needs to get over themselves Lucas, I am
only doing your job for you, Michiko has only a few hours before those
bodies go to waste...but if you're to busy trying to assert your
leadership instead of practicing a bit of humility that is fine with me.
We lost one flag ship...yes it was the entire hope of the resistance
but it wasn't THE resistance, unless you have already forgotten your
training...and basic protocol if a mission is compromised and we cannot
return to base we are required ABOVE ALL ELSE to find the nearest
resistance base. Beyond that if you wish to keep your head up your butt
until those children are discovered missing and you all go boom that is
fine with me., Kyuba thought angrily to Lucas, then more calmly added, I
joined the resistance because the enemy has no respect for death. They
mindless kill and slaughter...I act as the reaper...the death...It is my
sacred duty as well as my duty to the resistance to silence this enemy.
Esperanza and I will go find a way to shut off these chips...and keep
the slavers off our backs...do what you feel you need to do. If you tell
anyone...especially Zero Chance the retard pooch that I said this last
part...i will rip every bone from your body while you still live and
breathe. Kyuba cut the connection before Lucas could respond and then linked himself to Esperanza. Oh
Eszy...dearest..come with me before you entertain any more thoughts of
making Michiko's head explode...contrary to popular belief...we still
need her. I have something more fun for us that involves lots of
exploding heads. Kyuba smiled his wicked smile and put his skull
helmet upon his head. Today he would bathe in blood in the eyes of the
Goddess Shiira.

"There were two kinds of men." Sophia answered Lucas "There were the
kind with guns, then the ones that killed the kind with guns." Michiko
was not expecting two different groups in the equation, she had assumed
only the cannibals were involved. "Well what about the first kind, the
men who had guns, how long had you been with them?" Sophia squinted her
eyes in serious thought before she responded "For as long as I can
remember."

-----------------------------


Lucas quickly put his arguments with Kyuba aside and focused once again on the young girl.

"What were they like? The men with guns? What did they do? Do you know who they were?"


-----------------------------


Sophia was bewildered by all the questions, but
knew Lucas was only trying to help. "Well, when we were really small
they were ok to us. When we got older, they started trying to make us do
all sorts of things. I don't know what they did all day, but they would
go off somewhere. Raul and I never wanted to do anything to get extra
attention."

-----------------------------


Say what you may but that child is scarred...she will have nightmares each night...

Esperanza
ignored Zach's response deciding that she need not bother answering,
for what she had done was none of his concern. Even if she did answer,
what would be the point? He had already figured it out on his own. She
blocked him out, not wanting to hear his speech for her opinion wouldn’t
change. She was more focused on helping the child but seeing as Lucas
wouldn’t allow it she decided to stand down.

As you wish Captain...I wont hurt the child if that's what you are thinking. I will only kill those who betray me.

Upon hearing Kyuba’s defense of how she should be respected, she turned to his direction.

It's
fine Kyuba. You need not worry on my status. As he is the one in
charge. After all You should know better that I am now dead.

Esperanza decided after that it would be better to say nothing and quietly observed everything that happened.
When she heard Kyuba’s plan she accepted for she felt the need to blow off steam through mindless slaughter.

I will let that one go for now....Kyuba.....


-------------------------------


Lucas sat in thought about the possibility of those that Sophia and Raul could have traveled with before.

"Did they say anything to you? Anything strange or memorable in particular?"

Lucas
had nagging feelings about these people, and he wanted to be certain he
could figure out just who it was that would travel with these children
in transport.


--------------------------------

"Nothing strange, just the thing's they've always said about us. Like
about how we are meant to fight the resis... resu... residents or
something. They used the word potential a lot too." Sophia yawned and
waited for the next batch of questions.

--------------------------------

Lucas' eyes opened wide as he pieced it together in his head, and looked at Michiko.

"Resistance!" He exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"They were meant to fight the resistance...Were they part of the Faction?" He asked himself.

--------------------------------


Michiko nodded, she was just as surprised as
Lucas. Gathering that the questions were over for now she walked over to
Sophia and said "I think it's time for you to get some sleep." Sophia
nodded.

"Lucas and I are going outside for a minute, Zach is
still here for you if you need anyone. We should be in shortly." There
were a few things to discuss and the radio link had to be kept open in
case Kyuba or Esperanza needed to get in contact.

Once outside,
she wasted no time in getting straight to the point "What does this
mean? Apparently they aren't slaves. Are those things in their heads, ID
chips, or tracking devices? What's our next move?"


---------------------------------

Lucas sat in thought for a moment, then looked at Michiko.

"I'm
going to go inside and run a scan on the chips, in the meantime, you
might want to get ahold of our resident berserker and let him know we
may not need to go on a rampage."

---------------------------------

Zach smiled kindly at Sophia.

"Why dont you lay down with your
brother?" he said. Sophia nodded and laid down beside her brother. Zach
began to hum a lullaby. When that didn't seem to help he began to sing.

He would sing till the girl slept. Then he'd give his worries to Lucas and Michiko. As well as his idea to help the boy.

Seeing that the area was tense. Esperanza decided to go out and follow Kyuba. She created a link between her and Kyuba.
What's
the plan? Do you really think that you should worry about these
children? You know they will slow us down. I will not baby sit them.

----------------------------------

ou won't have to baby sit them. We shall leave that to Lucas and the others.
If
they wish to babysit children then let them...for now our goal is to
reach the nearest resistance outpost and fond out what is going on. But
first...we need to find where the deactivation device for those chips
are. Esperanza...can you find the nearest location with a large
concentration of humans? Kyuba walked to the edge of the camp and then switching to normal talk he added, "We need to destroy that place."

------------------------------


A large
population of humans? I can only sense them as far as 25
kilometers...but that's with Aphrodite. Alone I can sense about 5
kilometers.
Esperanza summons Aphrodite and enters.She looked
at the radar to see if there were any other humans within range. Seeing
none Esperanza increased her range until a small distortion appeared on
the edge of her map.
Aphrodite needs to move closer to the source in order to seek out more but I am getting something. Shall I go ahead?

-----------------------------------


I shall come with you. Kyuba summoned Kiri'Tas and followed Esperanza towards the destination.
We cannot fire until we ascertain whether or not they are hostile and
our targets. Land at the nearest point that you can get a good reading.
Then we take it from there. Kyuba tensed with excitement for the
destruction they were about to cause. It had indeed been a while since
he could just let go and kill to his pleasure.


------------------------------


Kyuba...I see you
don't want me to have fun on my own but I don't need Aphrodite once we
get to the destination. I can fend for myself after all.
Esperanza directed Aphrodite to move 10 kilometers further. The radar showed a large population.
Kyuba got it. Go 5 kilometers more. Should we go without our Resonark once closer?


-------------------------------


Fine...you can go
inside and kill them until you find the deactivation device. I will
remain outside and deal with whatever heavy weaponry they have.
Kyuba tensed and relaxed his muscles repeatedly as he willed Kiri'Tas
forward. When they got within 2 kilometers he pulled his scythe from his
back, a virtual one appearing in his hands inside the piloting chamber.
Esperanza...wait two minutes after I
go then enter through the chaos. Good luck and have fun...don't die...or
I will have to kill everyone on this miserable little planet to sate my
rage...on second thought Kyuba shook his head dispelling the image of him rending the very planet in two. Nevermind just wait two minutes and then go. I will join you when I am done.


--------------------------------

"Kyuba? Lucas has advised to fall back, I repeat FALL BACK! The
circumstances have changed." The urgency in Michiko's voice was
straightforward. While waiting for a reply she took out the box of
bodies. She was growing more nauseous each second it sat in her hands. This was a really bad idea. she thought, getting a mental picture of the task at hand.

Michi
ran about 50ft from the tent and let the bodies fall before her. They
were stiff and the skin had an odd texture. Had she no respect for life
she would wash her hands of the whole matter right this instant.
Unfortunately the moral part of her brain wouldn't let her forget she
was the mastermind of this putrid affair. She took out a scalpel,
holding it inches away from one of the faces...

---------------------------------


Esperanza waited two minutes for Kyuba's signal
although she hated waiting but she had no choice for this was not her
mission. Looking in the direction of where the people she sensed
something.
No it couldn't be...
Esperanza
saw a figure who she recognized. She had not seen him since the day he
left before the devastation that happened to her. It was indeed him. Her
brother Miguel.


----------------------------------

Zach looked down at the kids and saw that the girl had fallen asleep.

'Well she's asleep now.' Zach thought to himself.

'It would be kinder to kill them' a silky voice said.

'Shut UP!' Zach growled within his mind.

'Might as well tell Lucas my idea' he thought ignoring the other voice.

He stood up and walked just outside the tent. He looked around and didn't see anyone.

"Lucas! Michiko! Anybody?" he called over the dunes and waited.

--------------------------------

Michiko dropped the scalpel. She'd never been happier to hear Zach's
voice. The bodies would have to wait yet again. Her relief soon turned
to panic as she realized something might be wrong with the children.
Fueled with adrenaline, she ran like a professional athlete towards
camp.

Out of breath, ready for anything, and expecting the worst,
she ambushed Zach with one question after another "What happened!?
Where are the children!? Are they hurt!? Why weren't you with them!?
Where's Lucas!? Why wasn't he with them!?"

After shoving past
Zach it was plain to see both children were sleeping peacefully. Michiko
glared "Don't EVER do that again!" The corpses flashed through her
minds eye. She shook her head in an effort to stop remembering what he'd
saved her from. In a softer tone she asked "Never mind that, what was
it you needed?

Lucas ran into the tent at this point, pale as a ghost in fear that something may have happened to the children.

"What happened?!"

Lucas
berated himself a bit for getting sidetracked with attempting to
identify landmarks in the area instead of immediately returning to the
tent, but his tension was immediately dissolved when he realized that
the children were safe and asleep.

"Oh thank goodness...What's going on?"

------------------------------

Zach was still putting up his arms defensively. He put them down when Lucas showed up.

"Sorry
you two." he said shaking his head. "I didn't think you two would
freak. i thought you'd know the difference between me looking for you
guys and me calling cause there's a problem. Also if there was a fight
you'd hear that before i yelled."

Zach shook his head. He was digressing.

"I
wanted to talk to you two about the kids." He said looking back at the
two children with an oddly soft look. He shook his head and spoke
cautiously.

"Look i'm still sorry for what i said before. Um i
think we should take the kids with us. Also i have a way to help the boy
have a normal life. First yes i know this isn't something we should
deal with now but i wanna say it before i forget. Lucas do you remember
the tech and medical planet that was near Eden 13? um Toro, toroun, um
Tourou! Thats it. Well if i remember they developed a really good
prosthesis program that could help the boy. I just wanted to know how
you two felt about that idea."

---------------------------------


Hearing the name of her home world uttered out
loud choked Michiko up for a moment. Her voice was slightly cracked when
she responded "Yes, I'm familiar with this procedure." A few tears
rolled down her cheek before she could wipe them away and continue.
"It's actually a very good idea Zach, as a medical professional I can't
think of any reason not perform it." She frowned "Though I don't know
where we'll find the materials."


---------------------------------

Lucas smiled as he stepped forward.

"The metals and materials
should be easy enough to come by. If we can't find them on Tourou, Eden
13 was always a scrap stockpile, it should be easy enough to locate,
confiscate, clean and re-purpose any materials we need, and hell, this
planet is a desert wasteland, there's got to be SOMETHING here we can
sterilize and re-purpose into a tool we could use."

---------------------------------

Zach noticed Michiko's reaction.

'I wonder' he thought. He shook his head 'one thing at a time Zach'

"Well
how much metal would we need an what kind of tool would be needed?
Cause some of the guys i well, killed, before had some decent stuff on
them. Nothing super but lots of metal like guns and..." Zach trailed off
for a moment.

-flash back-

As Zach fought the odd men one of them suddenly punched him in the side.

'Damn
what force.' He shook him self and looked up to find the same man
charging at him again. the glint of the man's apparently prosthetic arm
gleamed in the light. Zach swung as the man punched at him cleaving the
arm and man in twain in one blow.

-flashback end-

"Wait
if we already had a metal arm would you be able to re-size it? ... or
repair it now that i think about it." He asked looking straight into
Michiko's eyes.

-----------------------------

Michiko's eyes danced "Yes we can definitely use that arm.I'd love to do
it right away, but I will NOT work on this boy again without anesthesia
of some sort." She bit her lip in thought "Hey, did we ever give this
camp a really good once over? I'm pretty sure there are things we
haven't fond yet." She picked a spot and started to rummage." She
motioned for the others to start looking too. "Any anesthesia will do,
even if it's something as primitive as ether."

Michiko was in
mid-search when smacked herself in the face for her own stupidity. "My
resonark has anesthesia, if I summon it and you put the boy down in
front of me we're set. First thing's first though, where's this
prosthetic arm?"

------------------------------

Zach nodded. And dashed off quickly. A few moments later he returned
with the arm which was sadly pretty badly damaged. Zach had also brought
some of the guns the men had.

"I'm hoping you'll be able to fix the arm with pieces of these guns."

He held up the arm which the end parts that would connect with the boy's nerves were in perfect condition.

"Thankfully
i didn't split the arm completely and i remember how a friend i new
once who had one of these was able to detach it from his shoulder."

He handed the split arm to Michiko.

"Well? can u umm salvage it?" he asked unsure of himself.

'Worse
comes to worse this doesn't work i'll see if Michiko can "Transplant"
my arm to the kid. Wait is that even possible?' Zach's thoughts wandered
while he waited for Michiko's assessment.

-----------------------------

Looking at the arm Michiko sighed, it would be more labor than she
thought, but it would do nicely. "Yes I think we can make this work,
although I do question whether or not it's ethical to give such a young
boy access to guns, but given the circumstances..."

In the end
Michi justified the addition of the guns, self defense was extremely
important with times being as they were. She set to work on the arm
immediately and in what seemed like no time at all it was ready. The
damage had actually made it a tad easier to adjust the size of the arm,
although the electronic aspects of it were a challenge to repair. She
handed Zach the arm, located a sharp piece of scrap metal and stabbed
herself in the gut. Aurora sprang forth as the final step in the
preparation. "Lucas, would you please go get Raul?"

------------------------------


Lucas, now concerned but aware of Michiko's process to summon Aurora, nodded.

"I'll be right back."

He
ran back into the nearby tent and slowly lifted Raul from his position,
holding him in his arms with the gentle touch of a parent, making his
way out of the tent before Sophia could awaken to ask what was going on.

Lucas softly and quickly brought the young boy out to Michiko and placed him down beside her.

"All yours Michi." He said as he took a step to the side.


---------------------------

On Cue Michiko stuck out one of Aurora's massive fingers and put it just
inches from the boy's face. A soft ssssssss sound could be heard for a
split second. Only a tiny bit of anesthesia was required for such a
small body.

Now, positive the boy wouldn't wake up in agony
halfway through the procedure, she dismissed Aurora. She regretted
having to dig through the nicely cauterized wound to find the right
nerves, but necessity called for it. Everyone was living in the moment,
and by the end of the process it was impossible to tell how much time
had passed. "There," Michi said wiping the excess sweat from her brow.
"All most as good as new."

Zach smiled.

"Good" he said and stepped forward and gently lifted
the boy and brought him back into the tent. He carefully put Raul back
in bed with Sophia so that the little girl didn't wake. He stepped back
out and walked over to Michiko.

"You did good. You ok you looked a little sick while you were working?" he asked concerned.

-----------------------------

Kira heard Michiko's transmission and growled as he pulled his Resonark back behind the dunes. Lucas
better have a goddamn reason for us to be pulling back cause I swear if
it is to pull baby sitting duty or to sit in the god forsaken desert
doing nothing I will kill the kids and be done with it.", Kyuba
thought to himself as he moved back to where Esperanza was. He saw her
standing still staring across the desert at someone whom she seemed to
recognize. "Esperanza, we need to go back it seems Lucas has found something more important...maybe the children have already exploded. Seeing that she was ignoring him Kyuba banished Kiri'Tas and ran over to Esperanza. "Esperanza...whats wrong..."

-----------------------------

Michiko Smiled at Zach's concern. "Yes I'm fine, that's what happens
when a doctor has an attachment to the patient. It's good and bad." She
looked into the distance. "I think I'm going to have to go wash up," The
blood from the surgery was getting sticky. "I'll be right back." She
then proceeded to walk in the direction of the pond Zach caught the
fish.

-----------------------------

Lucas sighed as he went to double check on the children, then left the tent once more and looked at Zach before he headed off.

"I'm going to scout the area a bit, take care of the kids for me, ok?"

Lucas took off into the ruined camp to search for any materials that may have been left behind.

Looking
through the occasional blood-spattered piece of memorabilia, Lucas
couldn't help but feel a sense of dread at the number of lives lost in
this place.

"Ugh..."

------------------------------

Still looking in the direction of her brother Esperanza snapped out of her trance.
It's...my brother...that idiot is alive...
Looking
back at Miguel she still couldn't believe that he was well. Esperanza
was happy but at the same time she wanted to kill him.
Kyuba...should we take him? Or leave him to die? Your call.

------------------------------------


Kyuba looked from Esperanza to Miguel and as his
eyes fell upon him something on his chest drew his attention. Upon
Miguel's chest was emblazoned the crude symbol of all that Kyuba and the
resistance stood against. Esperanza...you
see what he is wearing right? He is part of the enemy and that means
this is no slaver base but the base of our most hated enemies. We must
leave here now before he calls in reinforcements. Throwing down a smoke bomb Kyuba grabbed Esperanza. "Lets GO!"


-------------------------------

Esperanza looked once more at her brother before being dragged away. She
knew that he was no longer the same brother she once knew but an enemy
she would have no choice but to kill. Shivering at that thought she knew
that Kyuba would kill him if needed. But it was not his battle it was
sibling versus sibling.
Kyuba...let me be...this is my battle it must be done. If I die then I die. Go warn the others

------------------------------------

As Lucas continued to look through the remains of the war-torn camp, he looked on the horizon and saw a large cloud of smoke.

Lucas quickly tapped his glasses and held tightly to the case in his pocket.

"Xander!"

He opened his eyes and the lenses in his glasses had once again become scanners.

"Magnify." He ordered.

As the image zoomed in, he saw none other than Kyuba, who was holding onto Esperanza and dashing towards the camp.

"Shit." Quickly, Lucas ran back towards the tent and sent out a psychic communication.

"Alpha Squadron form up on our temporary base of operations, we may have hostiles incoming, I repeat, form up on the tent!"
He ordered as he dashed towards the tent to formulate a plan in the
event that Kyuba had enticed something that was very angry and powerful.

-------------------------------


Michiko heard Lucas’s message just as she was
finished bathing. She rushed to get all of her belongings together, then
went straight back to camp. Not knowing quite what to expect, Michi
went over to Lucas. She could see he was deep in thought, as well as
flustered. Not wanting to interrupt, she took a quick peek at the kids.
To her surprise Sophia was awake. The ominous low rumble must have
disturbed her sleep. Michiko was tempted to go in and comfort her, but
she knew Zach would be just as capable of doing that. Instead she stood
quietly, waiting for Lucas’s plan.


-------------------------------


Kyuba grabbed Esperanza picking her up and
dragging her across the desert. Radioing ahead to Lucas he said, "Those
kids were not slaves...They were prisoners of the enemy. I repeat the
enemy is here in full force. Esperanza and I will summon our resonarks
and lead them away from the camp. We will meet up with you in an hour.
Until then stay down and try and keep those kids safe. Kyuba out."
Cutting the communication he summoned Kiri'Tas dragging Esperanza inside
with him. Turning to her he said, "Esperanza...now is not the time for
revenge and self sacrifice you will meet him again on the battlefield.
Until then I need you to survive so sit there and focus to see if we are
being chased."

Lucas sighed and pinched his nose in frustration as he listened to Kyuba's report.

"Ugh...How many of them?" He asked as he started mentally running through any records he recalled from the resistance files.

He
quickly pulled his scanner from his pocket and ran through the records
on it, checking the information pulled from the children's implanted
chips, double checking the information and hoping he was wrong.

"Kyuba,
you have to make sure they don't get over here whatsoever. These are
NOT just prisoners we're talking about, these kids were test subjects.
I'm going to get formulating on a plan, and we'll be providing you with
backup as soon as possible, copy?" He asked, sweat dripping from his brow as he realized the danger they were in.

-------------------------------


Esperanza focused on sensing any near humans. She
could not sense any coming towards them. She couldn't believe her
brother was one of them and now she had no choice. She had to kill her
own brother and being around Kyuba made her think of cruel ways of
torturing her brother if captured. If the team mates let her. Seeing
that they weren't being chased she reported to Kyuba.

It
seems that we went unnoticed Kyuba. Or they would have come after us.
We are safe for now. I give it about a few more hours or a day until
they find our location. After all the kids could be traced if they
belong to them.


-------------------------------


Kyuba heard Lucas's transmission and he also heard Esperanza's thoughts. Lucas....They
are not following as of yet but we will wait out here hidden in the
sand for the next 4 hours and if any movement comes we will draw them
away but we need a more permanent solution. They will track down those
kids...we either need to attack...or get rid of those chips...or the
children themselves...It is up to you. Cutting the transmission he settled down to wait burying Kiri'Tas into the sand. "So Esperanza...tell me about your brother."


-------------------------------


She looked Kyuba in the eye and showed anger.

That
brother of my mine left my family. He made my life miserable the moment
he left. I had to go work at a young age to be able to support the
family....my mother was ill at the time an when she passed away of
course my father was having a hard time handling her death. In the end I
had to work hard while trying to help my father put his act together
and remind him that I needed help. Never once my brother went back to
check on us. It was...well hell...I hold a grudge...he has to pay for
making my life hard and also for not being there to stop
something....that happened years after....I always have to do it on my
own....I fight for survival after all.

Esperanza clenched her hands into fists holding in her anger.

I want him to pay....for leaving me but also thank him for he made me stronger.


-------------------------------


Kyuba looked as Esperanza and couldn't help but
admire her thirst for vengeance, but he knew such things had a time and a
place. If you saw him once....you will
see him again Esperanza. Do not throw your life away so easily. There
is much more death that you will cause before it is your turn to join
Shiira's side. Kyuba released himself from the nerve connection and sat next to Esperanza. "Now...we wait."


-------------------------------

Lucas sighed as he looked at the young children, then at Michiko.

"I know these kids have been through a lot as it is..."

He turned his head ever so slightly, and his glasses glinted in the light.

"..But
what's the likelihood that we'd be able to get these chips out of them,
today?" He asked, voice now stern and collected, calculating, once
again befitting the role of a leader.

-------------------------------


Michiko frowned. She'd done more intense surgery
today than she'd done in months. She was definitely up for this, but had
reservations about subjecting the children to yet another trauma.
Michi knew Lucas must feel the same way.

"No." She thought "This has to be done now."
There really was no way around it, common sense dictated that it would
be better to put the children through this relatively minor procedure
now, than whatever else the unpleasant alternative might be.

"It's
a must Lucas. There's no other way. I'll make the procedure as stress
free as possible. I think we can even get away with local anesthesia "


-------------------------------


Lucas nodded, no signs of remorse in his expression, but his mind revealed the anguish at hurting these children even further.

"We
have four hours. At that point, if Kyuba hasn't seen any activity out
in the desert, he's coming back, and after that we have no diversion.
This has to be done, and it has to be done FAST."


--------------------------------


Nodding in agreement, Michiko went into the tent.
She picked up two syringes, a scalpel, and some local anesthetic they'd
acquired in their exploration of the area. She thought for a moment.
Hiding the supplies in behind her back she went over to Sophia to wake
her up. Her beautiful little eyes fluttered awake. "Hey there, Uncle
Zach wants to tell you a story." Michiko smiled and sat on the bed. She
then picked up the little girl and put her in her lap, making her face
Zach. Tell her a story, Michiko mouthed with pleading eyes.

When
Zach started his story She got to work. Michiko was so good with a
needle Sophia didn't feel a thing. "Don't get scared, I'm just going to
play with your hair ok?" Sophia nodded happily. Michiko stroked her head
a few times before she found the chip. Once she located it she brought
out the scalpel. Thankfully Sophia was too engrossed in Zach's story to
notice.

Michi was pleasantly surprised that the chip wasn't
buried as deeply as she thought. With relative ease she had it out
within a few minutes. "Oh no!
she thought. Unfortunately she'd forgotten to grab stitching supplies.
"Hold on just a second." She moved Sophia off of her lap, onto the bed,
ran over to grab the supplies, and was back before the blood had a
chance to trickle anywhere noticeable.

The stealthy stitching
also took very little time. Michiko would never admit it, but she was
very proud of what they'd just accomplished. Zach's yarn was coming to a
close when Michi suggested he and Sophia go take a walk to the pond.

Raul
was still sedated from his prosthetic arm surgery, so his operation was
not nearly as tricky, but just as successful. Michiko walked out of the
tent a bit sweaty from the excitement. She'd surely have to take
another bath at some point. She handed the chips to Lucas and smiled.
"Mission accomplished."


-----------------------------

Lucas nodded as he took the chips from Michiko.

"Nicely done
Michi. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dispose of these..." And
with that, Lucas walked off into the darkness of the night, headed away
from the vacant village and into the empty desert.

"Kyuba, it's done. I have the chips in my hand right now. I'm taking them to an isolated location and destroying them, copy."

Copy that coming back now. Kyuba
brought Kiri'Tas to the edge of the camp and unsummoned it. He walked
into the main tent and sat down exhausted. "The enemy is not very strong
in force...they are more a research base then a military one...but if
met in a head on struggle we would be hard pressed to survive...We need
to move now...Lucas...I mean it...You need to make a plan and we need to
go."

-----------------------------

"I am well aware of what we are dealing
with here, Kyuba. Let me finish what I am doing here, and then I'll
come back and deal with the issue at hand, or would you rather my
attention be divided when dealing with a tracking device?" He asked, mildly frustrated at the continued reminders that he needed to get his team out of their current location.

Finally
making his way a good several dozen yards away from the village, Lucas
scanned the chips one last time and placed them atop the sand, where he
took a small dagger from his waist and stabbed one, then the other,
watching the small light inside each one die out.

-----------------------------

ach sat with Sophia at the water. he was telling
her more about his and Lucas' past like he had to keep her distracted
while Michiko worked. the woman was a damn incredible surgeon but he
should have suspected that after everything.

He ended his tale of
Lucas getting lost in the woods and pointed out the beautifully colored
fish just below the surface of the water and Sophia said how pretty the
colors were he just smiled and agreed.

Meanwhile he broadened his mind to touch Lucas'.

'Hey whats going on exactly?' he asked his long time friend tentatively.



----------------------------


Kyuba scowled at Lucas's response, Even
if you destroy them....the enemy will see them go out....and track the
location....so you better have destroyed them far from the camp....
Kuyba then settled back waiting for what was to come. Wondering, not
for the first time, if Lucas truly had the ability to lead them out
safely....every moment they spent here...and every mouth to feed that
they added especially those unable to carry their own weight decreased
those chances significantly.


----------------------------

Lucas rolled his eyes as he wandered back towards the camp.

"Please,
Kyuba, try and remember I'm not an amateur. I took the chips as far
away from the camp as I possibly could while on foot. That being said,
get ready to move, because we can't stay long. Once we get situated and
everyone is ready, we're moving out and heading for the nearest town we
can find. We have to find a way off of this rock, and we have to get
moving again."

As Lucas quietly and quickly made his way
through the sand, he took stock of what his crew had with them and tried
to think of things to barter in order to find a transport. The
Resonarks were good for short distances, however, they were living
creatures as well, in their own way, and needed rest. They could not
travel the distances between planets such as the distances they needed,
and above all, discretion would be key.

"Attention
Alpha Squad, this is Alpha-I. I have disposed of the tracking devices
and am on my way back to camp. Prepare your belongings and get ready,
we're moving out asap, copy?"

-----------------------------


Zach's eyes widened at Lucas' command. He looked to Michiko and motioned to Sophia. He mouthed 'Don't hurt me for this'.

"Hey
Sophia look don't you think that fish is beautiful?" he asked while
pointing into the water. The little girl leaned forward to see what he
was pointing at.

Zach quickly struck a pressure point in the girls neck. He quickly grabbed her to stop her from falling.

He looked to see Michiko slightly upset and waited for her to say something.


------------------------------

"What did you do that for!?" Michiko grabbed Sophia from Zach's shoulder
and pushed him down. "The children probably walk very quickly! They've
been under oppressive military supervision for some time now!" She
fumed. She hadn't the slightest idea why Zach went ahead and did such a
thing.

------------------------------

Zach sighed. He stood up and dusted his pants off. He stared Michiko in the face.

"If
the two of them are unconscious we can take them in our resonarks and
not worry about them seeing us kill on the way out. Cause honestly i
don't think were just gonna waltz out of here."

His eyes softened as he looked at Sophia.

"They
don't need to see more then they already have. So if them being
unconscious when we fight helps keep them innocent even if only for a
little while longer then i WILL knock them out every time."

He
shook his head to clear it of an image of the little girl's eyes
darkening with hatred and losing her innocence. It wasn't a fun thought.

"Look Michi i under stand that she could move quickly but even so you and I are quicker."

Finished speaking Zero gently took Sophia into his arms again and started toward camp Quickly but without awakening the girl.

"So come on and hurry it up. I have a feeling we don't have to much time."

-------------------------------


"I..." Michiko was stunned, she wasn't used to
Zach being, so...so... she searched for the word... together. "You're
right." She sputtered after her speechlessness subsided.

"I'm sorry." She offered. It hadn't been fair for her to jump immediately to anger. "I'm ready to go at the command."


-------------------------------

Zach smiled warmly back at Michi as they went into the tent where Raul slept.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it okay?" he said cheerfully. He looked around then looked at Michi.

"You
know better what we should bring with us so get the essentials together
and then decide which of the kids you're taking and who I'm taking so
we can go cause I'm gonna use Kyuukenbi to kick up a dust storm and bury
this place."

He took a deep and put Sophia down next to her brother for a moment. Zach turned to Michi and saluted her.

"I'm differing to your command as the CMO of our squad Ma'am." Zach said in a monotone soldier voice.

Esperanza argued vehemently with Kyuba before
summoning her Resonark and traveling fast towards the base.
"DAMN-IT...Esperanza...get back here now...Ez? EZ?" Kyuba screamed
through their radio connection to no avail. "DAMN-IT." Kyuba summoned
Kiri'Tas and quickly chased after her as fast as he could but sadly he
was not as fast as she was. Kyuba saw explosions on the horizon and
feared the worst spurring Kiri'Tas to its very limits not caring that he
was overheating its core. Just as he crested the final dune his worst
fears were realized. Esperanza was fighting another Resonark and seemed
to be losing. Kyuba...I'm sorry... Suddenly the other Resonark blasted Esperanza's Resonark in the chest and it exploded in a shower of flames.

Kyuba
stared mouth agape at the scene before him. A million thoughts floated
through his mind but he noticed none of them. He started to shake as a
wet sensation rolled from his eyes. If he had the presence of mind he
would have realized that he was crying for the first time in his life,
but as it was he noticed not. The shaking quickly became convulsions as
his eyes rolled back into his head and he screamed in rage.
Simultaneously Kiri'Tas let out a great scream as if it too was adding
its own fury to Kyuba's. "I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL", Kyuba screamed on an
open frequency to all those within range as he charged into the base
straight at the enemy Resonark. He reached it as it raised its giant
bastard sword to block his scythe only to have it be rent in two as
Kiri'Tas's scythe passed through it as if it was paper severing the
Resonark from the waste down. The Resonark then immediately activated
its jet blasters and started to fly away into the atmosphere. 'NO YOU
GOD DAMN DON'T!" Kyuba screamed as he removed Kiri'Tas's cloak
revealing hundreds of black tentacles that screamed like a thousand
souls as they extended like lightning from the central body stabbing
through all things in the area living and non living. The tentacles just
missed reaching the damaged Resonark but Kyuba didn't notice, he was
too far gone in his anger. The tentacles began to pulse sucking the very
essence out of anything that it pierced that was living and crumpling
anything that wasn't. "YOU BASTARDS KILLED HER...AND NOW YOU WILL
DIE!!!!" Kyuba Jumped form Kiri'Tas still wearing his pilot's suit,
scythe in hand. Kiri'Tas mimicked his movements as he ran across the
camp killing everything in his path until he was covered in the blood of
his fallen foes. He the moved to the spot of Esperanza's death and he
knelt and he screamed in anguish and agony.

------------------------------

As Lucas continued to trek through the wastes, he saw blinding lights
appear as reflections off the ground. Upon seeing this, he turned
towards the sky and saw explosions, recognizable to him as ships or
mechs being torn to pieces.

Immediately, he panicked, fearing the worst, that his team's location had been discovered.

"This is Alpha-I over! Anyone, respond! Status update, NOW!"

---------------------------------


Kyuba felt the connection more than heard the
message and latched onto it projecting his screams of anguish through
the connection reaching each of his comrades immediately notifying them
of his location.


----------------------------

Lucas winced at the screams in the background and took off his glasses.

"Kyuba? Kyuba! Kyuba answer me!"

Met with silence, Lucas had no other option then to pull his case from his coat pocket.

"...Shit."

As he summoned Xander and sat in the cockpit, Lucas sighed.

"Alpha
Squad, this is Alpha-I. I'm heading in to cover Kyuba, I need cover,
ASAP! Get your gear ready and be ready to head out, the sooner we get
assistance, the sooner we get off this planet!"

And with that, Xander took off into the night sky.

"I'm coming Kyuba, hang on!"

-----------------------------------


Michiko was touched at Zach's display. "There's
really no need for that Zach." She said with a soft look. "Please help
me grab all of the food and medical supplies we can carry." She looked
over at the children while she worked, they were both so peaceful.
Thinking back, she remembered how gentle Zach had been with them and
smiled.

"Ok, I think we've got everything." Michi counted and
recounted the things they'd gathered. "I'm fine with taking either one
of the children, but Raul is fresh out of surgery. If he has any
complications it might be better for me to have him in my cockpit. Is
that all right with you?"


------------------------------

Zach nodded. He Lucas' transmission that they needed to hurry.

"That
leaves me with the little lady." Zach said simply. He put a bunch of
the gathered items outside the tent and then pulled his cloak off and
threw it.

"Awaken! Kyuukenbi!" He snapped quietly. The giant fox
formed quickly. He motioned and the resonark swallowed all of the stuff
he had put outside the tent.

Zach turned to Michiko with a soft look and handed her a scalpel. He bit his lip worriedly.

"Summon
Aurora and get the rest of the stuff, Raul, and yourself inside. I
wanna make sure you're prepared to move before i get Sophia and myself
inside Kyuu."

------------------------------

Tears flowed freely as Kyuba picked himself up off the ground slowly and
he started to walk in a direction. He did not know which..he just
walked, stumbled mostly falling down every now and again until he came
to an area in the desert that had rocks littered about. Slowly he built a
monument, an empty cairn. As he lay the last stone he stopped and
stared tears still rolling free. He whispered words so soft they were
carried away by the wind before they could ever be heard. After what
seemed like an hour he stood and walked back to Kiri'Tas stone faced
eyes dry. He climbed back into Kiri'Tas and took his place donning his
helmet as he activated the mental link that connected them all. In a
voice that chilled like cold steel against the flesh, a voice who's tone
seemed to suck all emotion out of the atmosphere, a voice so steady
that the listener would be compelled to think that the speaker had no
emotion at all, "Lucas....I have a
plan...,Esperanza is K.I.A., We need to get off the planet...I can get
us funding from the church...I have the means...if we are going to go
start a war...we need that funding and we need to get off this planet. I
will meet you at base camp after I clean up here...... And Lucas?.....I
will make them all pay..."

---------------------------------

Lucas pulled Xander to a halt in the skies above the sand dunes as he
listened to Kyuba's report. A tear began to swell in his eye. He may not
have known Esperanza, the only time they met they may have argued, but
she was a member of their alliance, and no brother or sister-in-arms
deserved a nameless death on a planet that nobody knew.

"...Affirmative
Kyuba. I'm returning to camp right now, take your time and do what must
be done. Don't worry, this isn't over. Our war is just beginning..."

Lucas immediately gave a swift turn and blasted towards the campsite.

"Alpha-Squad,
this is Alpha-I. Prepare your belongings and whatever we can carry, we
are moving out. I am returning to base right now, and we must prepare to
formulate our next move. We're getting off this rock.

Lucas
was prepared to give Kyuba whatever time he needed to grieve, however,
he knew Kyuba, and he knew it wouldn't take long, soon, the priest of
Shi'ira he had originally signed on working with would return, and
things would get very bloody, very quickly.

Zach's Directions made sense, so Michi got to work. First went through the site with a fine toothed comb to make sure that all of the important instruments were accounted for. Next She rounded up the meager food stores. Soon everything was piled in a neat stack. She'd chosen a location that would give Zach a wide berth so she wouldn't have to worry about smashing into him while summoning.

She carefully placed Raul next to their spoils and prepared to summon. Though Zach's expression of concern was a little unnerving. It was an odd feeling to be almost embarrassed to summon her resonark. Turning away before she drew blood, Michi brought Aurora forth. Raul and the rest of the cargo was neatly engulfed. "All right, I think everything is finally accounted for." She exhaled heavily. "We're ready."

Zach watched as Michiko entered Aurora. He turned and gently picked up Sophia. He walked towards Kyuukenbi. The creature was uncommonly still as if it understood his intentions. The beast laid down on the ground and opened its mouth wide its tongue became a ramp and its esophagus a long tunnel. Zach noted the strange entrance but reminded himself that he had little time to do what needed to be done.

He stepped inside and walked down the tunnel, When he came into his 'Cockpit' area he noticed a strange tunnel going deeper into Kyuukenbi a strange feeling told him that what he sought was at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there was an unusual pod just the shape and size needed for a little girl. He realized it was where a vixen's womb would be. He cocked an eyebrow. As far as he knew Kyuukenbi didn't have a gender. He usually refered to it in the male gender because it felt more natural but he soon began to realize that there was a lot more to the beast than he himself grasped.

"You'll be safe in here my dear and will sleep through any battles in this mother like warmth." Zach said as he put Sophia into the pod. He turned back and went to his console and sat down.

"Ok Kyuu lets go" he said to the resonark. Then to Michiko he said. "Ready to go. Lets meet up with the others."

Kyuba forced his legs to work as he re entered Kiri'Tas...he guided it to rise into the air and he pointed his arm at the remains of the base. "I will erase you from existence...every last one of you will pay.... your organization will crumble beneath my wrath and i will feed your souls to the goddess myself..." A ball of dark energy appeared in Kiri'tas's hand it seemed to attract more energy as the bodies of the deceased began to glow and beams of black light from each began to converge upon the black energy growing larger and larger. When all the energy was connected Kyuba spoke a single word. "Tolvar" At the utterance of the world the large energy ball immediatly shrank and condensed growing incredible heavy and charged with energy.

"I WILL ERASE YOUR ENTIRE EXISTANCE....YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME...SO NOW I WILL TAKE MY PENANCE....ENJOY OBLIVION....." He brought his arm back and lobbed the ball of energy into the middle of the base. All light seemed to drain from the area as if sucked into the center of the blast as the dark energy exploded outwards. Kiri'Tas began to float away just fast enough to evade the area of the blast. The explosion expanded to a certain point and then suddenly contracted in upon itself again sucking everything it touched in with it leaving nothing behind but sand. When it was finished it exploded again but this time twice as far and dispersed as normal. Everything became quiet and the desert was returned to normal except the light...the landscape for the entire area of the blast was permanently grey, no life would ever be able to survive in the area, Kyuba had desecrated it in his anger.

As he floated back to the group he grunted as he felt intense pain in his stomach, blood dripped from his lips as he coughed. So...this was the penalty for wielding the pure power of the goddess...No matter he would deal with it... As if in answer to his question large gashes appeared upon his back in spots were wings would grow which bled black. He knew those wounds would heal but he would be forever marked. He had dared to wield power beyond his means, he had flown to close to the sun and his wings had burned...forever marked as a reminder of his limits.

Ignoring the pain the best he could he silenced his thoughts and forced himself into the camp and saw that the others were ready to go. Alpha-2 ready for Ex-filtration...

As Lucas heard this response over the link, he did not look back, merely shutting his eyes and nodding, continuing to press on towards the camp.

"Roger that, Alpha II. Alpha Squad, status report and estimated time needed to finish preparations. We need to be ready to leave within hours, over."

Something had snapped, it was clear to any who heard Kyuba's voice. They did not yet know what had occurred, but one thing Lucas DID know is that this planet must be left behind post-haste so the next set courses of action could be taken, and the resistance movement could rise again.

Michiko watched Kyuba enter the campsite. Everything that had happened to him was sobering. As a doctor she worried for his health, but as a team mate she worried for everything else. Kyuba had always scared her with his talk of death, and his unwavering obedience to his severe goddess, but after all the things everyone had been through together, each one of the team had become important to her. Almost unable to disguise her grief, out of necessity she made a promise to herself not to think about any of this until she could be afforded the luxury of expressing emotion. So instead, Michiko focused on the sound of Raul's breathing. The rhythm was comforting, she'd missed this sort of simple sweetness. It was natural, and uncomplicated, while nothing about their stint here had been. "Alpha I, All preparations are complete. Alpha Squad is ready to move out pending your command." Michi responded.