War of Drekis

-----Bright lights of magic steamed into Lexington’s forehead, etching into his skin the mark of the Swiftrune; he became one with the wind, swirling and blasting his way through the Raisa streets as the Saramach guards stepped in his path. They braced themselves against the approaching tornado that had surrounded Lex’s body, even drove their gaunt heels into the pavement to hold their ground.
----- They howled like wolves as Lex made a pass, causing a powerful gust to overtake the entire squad; ten undead were forced to drive their gleaming swords and flashing spears into the land for support but still they were flung from their posts. Their long, oozing tongues lashed out as they hit the ground and quickly rallied to their feet; the armor that loosely covered their emaciated bodies clamored as they shook about and raised their blades. They shouted something in a language Lex had never encountered before—a battlecry of some kind no doubt—and with little calculation began to swing at the swirling winds.
----- One strike after the other severed the waves of air, but each sword passed like a feather in Lex’s enchanted eyes; he moved in close to stare at the empty sockets of their eyes, saw the patches of churning flesh that meekly clung onto their ghoulish exteriors, and scowled directly at them before they could even see him coming. Their armored helms of animal bone covered the top of their heads, but their entire face was uncovered, and with his swift fists he struck the closest beast not once but thrice in his second pass.
----- The others were bewildered to see their comrade’s skull crushed in; they shouted wildly in confusion, seeing nothing but the lingering breeze that carried the trash and rubble of the city into the distance.
----- Lex could feel his heart racing, beating faster and faster. Within his veins he could feel the pulses passing one after the other, like bulges cascading through his arms. He had never kept the Swiftrune active for such a long time; he had used it in the past mainly to enhance his traveling speed, and even in cases when it had been used for combat he had always done away with his opponents within minutes.
----- Here, though, he felt a passion for ripping the Saramach zombies to pieces. For every Khazan soldier he saw that fell before their bloodied swords and axes he was determined to kill twenty more, and so far he had fulfilled that desire. How much longer he could hold the Swiftrune engaged was, unfortunately, a mystery to him, and he was beginning to feel that it could expel at any minute now.
----- Shinsuke was constantly yelling behind him, a distant voice shouting for him to leave the Saramach behind and race for the Southern entrance of the city where the remainder of the Raisa defense force had gathered. It was there, he had been promised, that he would surely find Lara…but such an anger had already swelled up inside of him; the very notion of almost losing her to their bizarre weaponry made him sick to his stomach.
----- But despite his vengeful roar he was indeed proceeding to Raisa’s south door; he had left Cortelloni and Shinsuke far behind by now, blazing through the streets and engaging every Saramach that he could find. Already the undead had made great progress in spreading through the inner districts—Shinsuke and Michael, for all of their careful treading, had in fact been overtaken several times by the creatures, which seemed to carry themselves over land at an alarming rate, probably through magical means; he knew that Shinsuke and the infamous Ragemaster were capable of taking care of themselves—and unless he made an attempt to destroy the Saramach here and now they were only bound to reach the south side before long.
----- The remaining nine that he currently tackled showed signs of a tactical change; they suddenly got into a tight circle, standing back to back, helm to helm. One of them let out a hiss, a horrible sound like a drowning snake, as it caught sight of the impacts in the ground that Lex’s footsteps were leaving behind. Their gangly jaws dropped and from those hollow orifices spewed forth a green gas that spread out like thick, eye-scorching smoke. He saw the vapors coming and tried to avoid them, but he was moving too fast, already a thought away from colliding with the ghouls once more. The gases had become a cloud that engulfed the surrounding area and it quickly became like a sea that buried Lexington under its weight.
----- He could feel his skin burning, itching with pain. The vapors passed into his eyes, his ears, his nose, and at once his senses exploded with a maddening sting. He covered his eyes and braved the deadly nebulae, determined to still rush through their ranks. The smell of decayed flesh snuck into his burning senses—he was close! But how close? With nothing to lose he lashed out with his fist and touched nothing; his shoulder rammed into one of them and he staggered about, using all of his concentration to keep himself from toppling over—for to do such a thing at this speed could mean certain death.
----- His face was completely wet now; soaked as if he had plunged himself into the oceans. His muscles ached and seemed to let out a sigh of relief as he began to slow down. He had no idea how close he was to them; after the impact they had been disturbingly quiet, perhaps trying to take advantage of his blindness.
----- “Damn you,” he muttered under his breath. He flexed his muscles, ignoring the pain as he forced the fading light of the Swiftrune to reignite, “Just one more…one more time, I’ll kill all of you…”
----- The vapors still surrounded him, refusing to be beaten back by the swirling winds, but despite their persistence he wiped two fingers smoothly over his stinging eyelids and cast the Sightrune. Its ethereal senses gave him a second sight; he could now perceive the smoldering heat of their bodies and even the ghostly radiance of their magical equipment.
----- “Hold on, just a little longer,” he said as the Swiftrune began to disappear. It flickered slightly but held on, allowing him to push through the deadly cloud that sheathed his enemies. They hissed and prepared themselves as he came, but he was already in front of them before their swords were even raised. He extended his arm out, stretching his fingers out and forming a knife-hand.
----- “Take this!” he shouted, although the ghouls would likely have been struck down before ever hearing his words. Another light appeared, this time over his knife-hand, the Bladerune which glowed brighter than all the others. The strain of activating this weapon pushed him over the edge, causing him to slow down to normal speed almost in an instant. But he was already there, already less than a step away from the nearest of them. He was already looking at it face to face, seeing a glint of alarm in the ghastly mug as he swung his arm into its chest. His fingers had become like blades, and the ghoul was cut cleanly through; both its armor and its rotting body fell lifelessly into the rubble. Three more fell down as the shockwave caused by the supersonic strike created huge gashes in their seemingly frail bodies and sent them flying backwards. By the time they landed their body parts had pulled apart like snapping ropes and they shattered upon the ground.
----- Four had been taken down with one swing, but five remained and he had taken his final step. His heart felt like it would explode and his muscles flattened; the light of the Swiftrune was gone, not even a faint trace of its etched presence remained. His eyes opened to view the world in normal sight once again; he could see that his strike had thrown the gaseous cloud away from him, but the other five ghouls were unmoved by his efforts and stepped forward to take his head with one quick swipe.
----- Crossing his arms over his head, Lex made a desperate attempt to invoke the Guardrune; he prayed that its power would appear, prayed that he had the strength, but he felt as empty inside as his enemies hollowed skeleton bodies. No light appeared…his powers had abandoned him! The blades came down, all five at once and each aiming to take a different piece of his flesh.
----- But the strikes never came. He felt the pressure of their approach against his skin, could even feel the chilling cold of that ethereal steel against his neck, but the attacks had stopped a second too soon. He lowered his arms and looked at his enemies, unwilling to accept that they could have any mercy in their forsaken hearts, to see that they were frozen; their faces perpetually sculpted in a moment in time, they were now encumbered by thick blocks of ice that his eyes could barely see through.
----- Looking around the ruined city, he could see no sign of anyone else around. Even the Saramach creatures which had been everywhere around him had mysteriously disappeared. The sound of heavy breathing caught his attention and he spun around to see Shinsuke standing several meters behind him with his hand extended. There were still icy vapors trailing off from his hand and even his breath was visibly chilling. With a sense of relief the young Sentinel took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, letting his shoulders expel all of his tension.
----- “Shinsuke…” Lex said weakly. He tried to stand but his muscles didn’t respond; there was a pounding, crushing feeling in his chest and he suddenly had the urge to take in his own deep breath. As his chest expanded he felt as if it were the first breath he had experienced in a good hour; a little of his strength started to return—step by step he raised himself off of the ground and ran his fingers through his damp hair.
----- “Are you alright?” Shinsuke asked, almost surprised by Lex’s condition.
----- Lex nodded as he stood bent over with his hands on his knees. He continued to pant and let several drops of sweat fall from his nose before speaking, “I’m fine, just that…I’m not used to keeping so many of my rune magicks up for so long. I kept killing them, knocking them down, they wouldn’t stop coming; I ran for the south entrance like you said, but everywhere I turned they were appearing.”
----- “They float a little above the ground,” Shinsuke remarked, “the Saramach, they fly around like mad birds.” He appeared to be a little wounded, though not gravely. His shirt was torn around his right shoulder and there was a small cut across his cheek; there was a thin sheet of ice covering the wound that had partially melted away already.
----- Michael loomed in the background, slowly walking towards them in a nonchalance manner; he looked exasperated, but was physically untouched. There was a sly smile on his face as he observed Lex’s handiwork. “Well, looks like you’re not just talk after all.”
----- “I take it you guys had your share of encounters,” Lex spat out towards the former Marauder, “so tell me, just what does the city look like now?”
----- “We got into fights almost one after the other,” Shinsuke explained as Michael caught up with them, “it was an aggravating experience, but for the most part they were no problem. We weren’t alone either, there were many soldiers and other heroes who had not yet made it to the rendezvous point; sadly, not all of them survived.’
----- ‘The city is in pretty bad shape, but I think it’s salvageable, which is one piece of good news. I’m not sure how we’ll take those galleons that are still parked on the beach, but once we reach the south end and meet up with the rest of the military remnants we should be able to storm back in and take control, there really aren’t that many Saramach left in there.”
----- Cortelloni looked back at the galleons which had not moved an inch since the whole land battle began, “I still don’t know why the sons of bitches got off the boats in the first place. If we can take their ground forces with only the stuff that survived that first onslaught then why leave those protective shields?”
----- “It’s almost like their leading us to the south end on purpose,” Shinsuke added, “but I don’t see what they gain from that. If their true purpose was to destroy our vehicles and mounted defenses then, for the most part, they succeeded. Unless…”
----- “Yeah,” Lex muttered with a disgusted expression, “I sensed it to, when I was using the Sightrune to enhance my senses; it was brief, and so faint, but it felt like the Drekis legions.”
----- “Wait, wait!” Cortelloni shouted, “What the hell are you two saying here!?”
----- Shinsuke looked towards the South blankly, “I’ve felt them for a while now, ever since they’ve been moving from the desert, but in all this fighting I didn’t realize that they had gotten so close so fast. The Saramach have herded us right into the path of the Drekis army; this whole attack was probably just to soften us…”
----- “Or sandwich us in,” Lex added.
----- “And this means…” Shinsuke said softly.
----- “That the Saramach and Drekis are definitely working together now,” Lex finished the thought.
----- “Just fucking great,” Michael said as he threw his arms up into the air, “Well you guys can keep theorizing about this shit all day if you want to, but I say we start moving again!”
----- “Agreed,” Shinsuke said, “We still have to find the others—perhaps we can find a way to get out of this if we work together.”
----- As the group began to move again there was a series of clacks and booms in the air; in a puzzled daze they circled around to find the source of the disturbance which seemed to resound throughout all of Raisa. Cortelloni thrust his finger towards the clouds, but the others had already caught sight of the screaming fireworks; arching through the sky, there were four, five, then six missiles zooming out from the borders of Raisa. Just as their smoke trail faded there was another series of booms that were coincided with small tremors. Flashing lights appeared in the distance as the missiles landed, followed by the deafening quake of cannons and artillery.
----- “Damn,” Lex uttered as he nearly stumbled under the tremors, “so they’ve already started!? Shit…look, if I use the Swiftrune—its possible for me to transfer my rune powers to other people momentarily; If I activate a Swiftrune on each of us we can get there that much quicker.”
----- “So we can all move like a bunch of tornadoes?” Michael said skeptically. “Hold on, I thought your stupid rune-stuff had tired you out back there, what’s with the sudden gung-ho approach?”
----- “Hey, we don’t have time for your negativity!” Lex retorted. With his index and middle fingers extended he touched his forehead and began to draw the letter of the Swiftrune. Light swirled around his face, etching the letter across his skin as if it had been burned into it.
----- “Cortelloni has a point,” Shinsuke interjected, “I know you’re strong, but you overexerted yourself by using that magic for too long, you yourself admitted to this—so do you think you can really do this without severely hurting yourself?”
----- “Maybe, I don’t know. Quite frankly I don’t care, I’m willing to take that risk.” The Swiftrune was already drawn upon him; his body slowly began to waver and vibrate as air swirled around him.
----- Shinsuke looked into his eyes and found a great determination in his gaze. There was still no hard evidence that he could pull it off, but he could see something about him…an aura that showed that he believed he could. “Very well…that’s your choice, let’s go.”

----- By the time that her head had stopped throbbing, Lara had nearly torn her hair out with a scream of frustration. The pain of her physical wounds was starting to subside, but with each weapon-induced quake her skull would tremble like a brittle window. It was an excruciating experience, one that made her lose track of time and place.
----- Lara had not even noticed that there was now a man kneeling over her; a gentle, warming face that greeted her when her eyes found the strength to open. At first she thought it was Lexington, giving her that knowing smirk that annoyed her so much—and yet somehow that was exactly what she desired to see. She began to call out his name, but before the first, faint syllable could jump from her lips she realized that it was a complete stranger who hovered over her.
----- “It’s alright,” the man said as he helped her sit up. “Your injuries were a bit worse that you initially thought; I think you tried to do more than you could. But don’t worry now…I’m a healer—with Captain Khazan’s Sentinel forces here. I’ve taken care of your physical wounds.”
----- “Wounds…I,” Lara looked around and recognized the grim scene of soldiers ducking behind the rubble of Raisa. She saw Natsumi close by, shaking her head while she kept her hands tightly clasped. The shikigami around her were unusually quiet while they observed their wounded comrade.
----- “The city…” Lara continued, “What’s happened, how long have I been out?”
----- With a shriek Natsumi practically threw herself into Lara and bowed her head. “I’m so sorry Lara…I, tried to help you but…you wanted to get up and I let you, but then you fell down, and,”
----- “That will be enough of that little girl.” the man said calmly. “You were the one who came and fetched me, remember? You’ve done everything you should have so far.”
----- Lara stood up and looked at the battlefield ahead. The Drekis army had moved very little, but the craters in the distance told of many weapons fired from the Khazanian front. “What’s our status? The combat seems to have stopped for now.”
----- The healer nodded as he waved his hand in the air at something, or someone. “There was a minor engagement. The mechs that survived the galleon’s offensive fired some heavy artillery into their ranks, and the soldiers managed to push back an initial advance of those Deminites, but right now it looks like the eye of the hurricane—look, here comes the Captain now.”
----- Captain Khazan descended from the skies and touched the ground with a heavy thud. There were marks of ash and various scratches across his tough exterior, but despite the scars he walked briskly and breathed steadily. “Everything alright here?”
----- “We’re fine Captian, I was just healing some of the wounded.”
----- “Good job Rawlin,” Captain Khazan remarked as he turned his attention towards Lara, “It’s you! Thank God…I was worried about your group when I saw the tower go down. Are Lexington and the others safe?”
----- “They’re still inside the city!” Natsumi broke in, “We have to send some people to go in, otherwise they might…” The ferret Shikigami suddenely scaled her neck and sat upon her head, breaking her thought in the process. The inquisitive creature turned its head towards the sky and took a few quick sniffs, then pointed its nostrils towards the north where the wind was increasing.
----- “Actually, I believe they’re right over there,” Lara interrupted, nodding her head towards a series of small tornadoes that were streaking their way towards the southern wall.
----- Natsumi was still panting and shaking, but she wiped her watered eyes and released a small sigh of relief. “You mean, are those…”
----- “Yep, that would be Lexington’s Swiftrune alright, I’d know it anywhere.” Lara explained. The three whirlwinds streaked into the area as soon as she had pointed them out; each of them decreased in voracity until the spiraling winds disappeared altogether, leaving the blurry image of a human being in its place.
----- Lexington was the first to emerge, followed closely by Shinsuke and a rather perturbed looking Cortelloni.
----- “God Damnit, what kind of freakish movement was that?” Cortelloni yelled as he straightened out his clothes. “Remind me to never let you do that to me again.”
----- “You have to admit,” Shinsuke shrugged, “it was rather effective.”
----- Lexington was barely standing, his body showing signs of continuous stress and battle. Sweat covered his eyes, and the light of the Swiftrune was somewhat burned into his skin, leaving a branded mark even as the rune disappeared.
----- “Lex…” Lara muttered—having nearly forgotten that she had received treatment, she reeled back in surprise when the word flew out in an energetic pitch.
----- Though he looked as if he could collapse at any moment, Lexington sprung towards her when he heard his name escape from her familiar tongue. “Lara! Lara, Thank God! I didn’t know if you had made it...” he mouth flapped open as if to continue, but his body suddenly shook and he began to gasp for air.
----- Lara grasped his arms as Lex’s head fell upon her shoulder. “Lex…Lex are you alright? Speak to me…”
----- “The fool’s alright.” Cortelloni interjected. “He just overdid it, that’s all. The guy just needs to know when to quit.”
----- “I believe that,” Lara laughed as she rubbed her hand through Lex’s hair. “And here I was flattered that Captain Khazan was so worried about me, but I guess you care too.”
----- “What are you talking about, of course I do.” Lex replied, finally gathering enough strength to lift his head up. “I could never stand for anything bad to happen to you, you know that. You do remember that promise don’t you?”
----- “Which one?” she said playfully. “Oh yes, that one. But that was such a cliché heroic promise.”
----- “That may be, but you know how I am with my promises.”
----- She gently touched the marking on his forehead, tracing the lines of the Swiftrune that had been left there. The markings still burned with power, and puffs of smoke rolled off of his skin as her wet fingers pressed against it. “The Swiftrune, why is it…?”
----- “Oh that. I guess it’s a side effect of using the Swiftrune for too long. It is a little embarrassing I guess, but kind of cool all the same.”
----- Lara rolled her eyes with a hint of amusement, “Please! Hey, where is your bandana?”
----- “Ah, I forgot,” he reached down and pulled the crimson accessory from his pocket, “I took it off when I thought I had lost you.”
----- “That was awfully foolish of you,” she said, taking the bandana and tying it around his forehead. “There, and it even hides the burn mark.”
----- Cortelloni took a step forward and gazed out at the horizon of Drekis troops that blocked their escape. “Well, this is a touching reunion and everything, but did you two stop to think that we all may die in the next ten minutes?”
----- “Now, now, Michael, things aren’t nearly as bad as they look.” Captain Khazan responded. “We may have taken some heavy damage in the beginning, but since then we’ve been able to hold the Drekis legions back well enough.”
----- “Sure you have.” Cortelloni mumbled as he spat into the ground. “Don’t you realize that you’re surrounded? The damn Saramach are right behind us, ready to sandwich us in so the Drekis scum can advance.”
----- “We’re well aware of this,” another voice interrupted. An elderly gentleman walked past Cortelloni and stood next to Captain Khazan, not once ever locking eyes with the ex-Marauder. “We’ve been painstakingly aware of that ever since we fled the interiors of the city. Please do not insult the intelligence of our military Mr. Cortelloni.”
----- “General Alvion!” Captain Khazan announced with a salute. The Sentinels and the other heroes saluted in a similar fashion while Michael folded his arms and spat at the ground again.
----- The General had pale white hair that was mostly collected along the sides, and in Cortelloni’s eyes he had the homely countenance of a mullet. His sharp, commanding eyes were the only redeeming feature on what appeared to be a feeble man who paraded around in a decorated military uniform.
----- It was rare for Cortelloni to think highly of anyone based on appearances alone, but he was quick to note that the man moved hurriedly despite his aged frame, and possessed a loud, stern voice in spite of his wrinkled throat. “Our position may look grim, but rest assured we have not lost this battle, not by a long shot. We were forced to evacuate outside of the city, but that seems to have been the Saramach’s primary goal. Once we got outside of the range of those damned weapons they have on those galleons they stopped their barrage, but it appears that their only targets were our mobile weapon platforms.”
----- “It was all about weakening out defenses,” Captain Khazan elaborated.
----- “Precisely,” Alvion continued, “and they’ve succeeded in softening our location, but they haven’t softened out soldiers! Altogether we still possess about half of our original compliment of Mecha. A large number of our brave soldiers have also managed to meet us here at the rendezvous point.”
----- “So you’re saying we stand a chance?” Lara asked
----- “A chance,” Alvion replied, almost insulted, “I think we are in a position to win this battle if we fight doggedly enough. Once our troops are reorganized and our tactics finalized, we’ll take this battle to the Drekis legions ourselves!”
----- “A suicide rush.” Michael muttered.
----- “It’s no such thing!” Alvion contended. “Rushing the Drekis hordes is better than waiting here and being…sandwiched between them and the Saramach, as you so elegantly put it. We probably can’t avoid fighting a battle on two fronts, but regardless, if we can kill off most of the Drekis minions before the Saramach converge on us, we’ll take away their advantage.”
----- “And how do you plan to do that with such certainty?” Cortelloni said, shrugging and smirking as if anticipating the General’s answer.
----- “As someone who is not part of the military, or even a part of Captain Khazan’s team,” Alvion said, stepping towards Cortelloni and staring into his eyes at last, “I believe that’s none of your business. You leave the how and why to me…as for the rest of you”—he turned and took one last, quick look at the heroes who had gathered there, then folded his arms behind his back and walked off—“all you have to do is fight with everything you are.”
----- “The guy’s a cocky old bastard.” Michael said as he watched the General merge into the ranks of soldiers who were gathering along the southern front. “I guess that uniform really goes to your head when you slither your way that far up the ranks.”
----- Lexington, now fully standing on his own power, tightened the knot on his bandana and scowled at Cortelloni, “How about concentrating that pissed off nature of yours on our good friends over there. Any one of them looks like they’d enjoy ripping that mouth of yours off.”
----- “So, you’re starting to get your spunk back.” Michael said. “Well, I guess you won’t be entirely useless to us.”
----- Captain Khazan lifted himself into the air and levitated a few feet above the ruined ground. From here he gave himself an unparalleled view of the Drekis army, which stretched out across the Cretalian Interstate freeway and poured down into the distant opening of the Wizard Woodlands.
----- Alvion’s soldiers were grouping themselves into large regiments, battle groups, and tactical squads who huddled together and discussed their plans of action. As the General’s commanding words turned their doubt into a desire for victory, the Mecha began to advance in front of the soldiers.
----- “It does appear to be the best option for us.” Captain Khazan said. “Shinsuke, how long until the Saramach catch up with us?”
----- “They move quickly over land,” Shinsuke replied, “so I’d say we have ten minutes at most before at least some of them begin to attack us from the north. Their forces are miniscule compared to what we face in front of us though.”
----- “Ten minutes…” Captain Khazan pondered. “Well, a lot can happen in ten minutes. This is war after all. I suppose the path is closed to us. All Sentinels will group with Alvion’s soldiers! We’ll lead the opening attack against the Drekis horde! You have only three concerns: First, protect every soldier’s life here on the field of battle; Second, destroy as many of the enemy lot as you can in the next ten minutes; and finally, do whatever it takes to survive this hell.”

----- Khazan City was the perfect image of a sprawling metropolis. Its shining buildings towered over the rest of the main continent, often piercing the heavens. Maria Halesinger had only seen one such city before in her lifetime; in her childhood she had grown up in such an industrial paradise on her home world, but even her young dreams couldn’t match the images that she was seeing now.
----- Of course, she had learned from her own experience that such wonders were often in the surface presentation. Beneath the gloss and flashing lights, there was pollution and organized crime to be found along the slums of Lowtown.
----- Hours had passed since the civilian transports had dropped her off in the heart of Khazan, but she had found little to occupy her time. She had believed, for a fleeting moment, that sneaking around the city would prove useful in one way or another. Imaginative scenarios had formed in her head of discovering secret Sentinel outposts or overhearing important military officials discussing their situation. However, the city had yielded none of these things to her. In the Lowtown she had found nothing but ruffians and slimy drinking spots, and in Uptown she found gossiping city-folk who carried on with their lives as if the war wasn’t a reality. The Science sector, much to her disappointment, had most of the more interesting locations closed off to her access; the Industrial area, meanwhile, was a place filled with business and corporate jargon, none of which proved useful to her.
----- The thought of fleeing the city and heading back to Drekis had crossed her mind, but somehow she found herself drawn to the newly expanded residential sectors of Khazan City. The quaint neighborhoods had been designed with the middle-class in mind, as far as she could tell. The establishments lacked the elaborate design and extensive landscaping of the Uptown housing, but at the same time they were much more inviting than the average Lowtown complex.
----- Maria could only assume that the smaller, more down-to-earth appearance of the Residential Sector was meant to be a place where the average citizen could live in peace, removed from the hustle and clamor of the big city. It was here that Maria believed she could get some insight into the people of Khazan; she wished to know how they thought and felt, what they believed and rejected, what they loved and hated.
----- In all honesty Maria was aware that her inquiries were often the result of her own curiosity rather than her duty towards Drekis. Within the ranks of the Drekis legions she held a position of a loyal follower, a being far above that of a lowly lesser-minion, though not quite as high as the Generals or their respective disciples and advocates. Still, her loyalty forced her to be a cold and manipulative individual—something that would occasionally force her into a fit of depression. She was a person with such strong feelings locked up inside of her, but in the Drekis Empire she was not allowed to express them.
----- Having clothed herself in the more common accessories of the Khazanian people, she walked down the quiet residential streets and took in the sights of young couples sitting on their porches while children played in their front yards. It was sad to think that all of this could be destroyed—that it would be destroyed…that it had to be. Seeing such things made her question her life, to wonder if she had taken the right path. This retrospective thinking inevitably brought back terrible memories, things that reaffirmed her original reason for joining Drekis’ crusade; still, she could never erase one unrelenting question: what if things had been different. What kind of possible worlds were open to her…or had been open?
----- As she came out of her deep thought, Maria realized that the houses around her had disappeared. Inadvertently she had strolled into the opening of what appeared to be a graveyard. The many stones that rose out of the ground were a tell-tale sign of a tribute to those that had passed.
----- Curiosity, or perhaps it was sympathy, persuaded her to walk further in and read the tombs. They were adorned with the names of those that she did not know—monuments of People decorated and remembered for things that she did not understand.
----- A small group of people stood around a particular grave, their eyes shedding water as they tossed floral objects upon the soil. She had never witnessed such a tradition among rituals of remembering the dead, and to see so many gathered around one grave in particular was an oddity.
----- “Excuse me,” Maria whispered, advancing upon the group. “May I ask, who this one is?” She looked at the tomb and recognized the Khazanian lettering, though the name itself was unfamiliar to her.
----- “You want to know whose grave this is?” a young woman responded. She was around twenty years old or so, and the only one who looked up from among the crowd. The others kept their heads down, and others still huddled around each other and began to slowly march for the exit.
----- “I’m sorry, is this a private affair?” Maria inquired. “I meant no disrespect.”
----- “It’s not that,” the woman replied, “it’s just that it’s unusual for anyone to ask such questions. Then again, I guess we can’t make the mistake of thinking that we’re the only people that have suffered in this war.” Her eyes were wet, but the tears themselves clung to her lashes and refused to fall down her cheeks.
----- “Yes…I suppose I’ve lost a number of friends since it began,” Maria said calmly. A small trinket around the woman’s neck caught her attention—a piece of jewelry of sorts. It was a long, gold chain with a pendant showcasing an emblem that she did not recognize. The woman was clutching the thing with her right hand, and Maria suddenly realized that she had always had it in her grasp since she had first spotted her.
----- “This grave is for my father.” the woman whispered hoarsely. “He was a soldier, in the Khazan military…served there for fifteen years—he was a pretty high ranking officer I think. He isn’t actually here, in this tomb I mean. He was in Xaelon, you know, when the war really escalated, and those things still control that area, so a lot of people with lost loved ones haven’t been able to give them a proper burial. He always wanted to be buried in Khazan City though…so here’s his place—a place I never thought I’d have to see.”
----- “I was here…visiting the grave of a friend.” Maria said. “I did not really have a family when this war started, so I don’t really know what it’s like to lose that kind of loved one.”
----- The woman nodded while she wiped her tears, “You know. To lose any loved one is painful. Some people are closer to us than others, but a life is a life.”
----- “Does that pendant mean something to you?” Maria asked abruptly. “I mean, I see you clutching it so tightly, so close to your heart.”
----- A small smile formed on the woman’s face, “He gave this to me not too long ago; a gift that my Mother gave to him when they were dating. It belonged to him, but he gave it to me before he left…said it meant that he was coming back for it—I’m sorry, I…I should go with the rest of my family.”
----- The woman left in a hurry, scrambling to catch up with the others who were already marching through the arches of the graveyard entrance. Maria knelt down besides the grave and looked at the name one more time. It meant more to her now than it had when she read it before, for now she could understand that he had been a father.
----- “Drekis,” she whispered to herself, “will your new world really make people happier? Will their freedom be worth the misery they feel in the process?” She reached under her shirt and brought out a thin pendant of her own. Deep within the sparkling, crimson jewel of the pendant, she could see the clouded image of two red heart-shapes near each other.
----- “Skye…” she whispered. She was someone who could not express her true feelings within the Drekis legions, and yet, all along there was someone there who had expressed his feelings to her.

----- The entire week had been a hectic ordeal for Regulous, who, as one of the higher minions in the Legion, was required to participate in all major battles with the Khazanians. The period proved to be restless, and the Khazan military and their Sentinels continuously launched attacks in an effort to liberate Xaelon from their control.
----- It was a futile endeavor that the Khazanians embarked on, for General Avalon had managed to beat back every advance they made. Some battles had been won, and others lost, but regardless of the outcome the enemy military could never advance far enough to reach the occupied cities.
----- Within the next few days the new hive at New Xaelis would be fully operational and they would no longer need to wait for reinforcements from the hive in the Champion Mountains. It was already a matter of time before their losses in the battle for Xaelon became inconsequential.
----- Still, Regulous welcomed the continuous battle, for within the meeting of steel blades and the clatter of fired guns he could prove his worth to Drekis. In fact, it was not Drekis, necessarily, that he needed to impress. Jon Avalon was a formidable general within the Legion, and to serve as one of his advocates or disciples would be a true honor.
----- It had been several hours since a battle had taken place at the ruins of the old Xaelis city, and the Drekis army had returned to Avalon’s post in New Xaelis after a rather unpleasant war of attrition. At the very least, the standstill had left the state of affairs exactly the same, and the Khazan military would be unable to launch another offensive for some time.
----- Within this small period of relaxation, Regulous had been called upon personally by Avalon to come before his presence. He imagined that this could be the time he had waited for, a time where he would be praised for his accomplishments, recognized for his superiority over the lesser minions.
----- He found Avalon at the newly constructed hive tower, a massive structure that rose out of the burned earth in the shape of a dark corkscrew. At the top, as per Avalon’s orders, had been constructed a disc-shaped platform that circled the exterior of the twisted spire. Upon this platform Avalon stood gazing at the unconquered lands of Khazan that lied before him, looking as if he wished to reach out and grasp it all in his hands.
----- Zegrin, who lay stretched out next to his master, stirred and lifted his beastly head to stare at Regulous as he entered. There was also the pet lion, Gellan, who laid down by his other side, and that contemptible nymph Kalia who sat there rubbing her fingers through the animal’s fur.
----- Regulous kneeled and crossed one arm over his armored chest, “My lord, I have come as you ordered.”
----- “Regulous Morikai,” Jon began, his back still turned to the elderly looking minion, “You have done well to assist me here in New Xaelis…though you are aware that your original orders never required you to serve me here. You were only to create diversions in the smaller towns in Xaelon for me.”
----- “Yes, I understood those orders.” Regulous replied. “However, I believed that I could serve you better here, and so it was of my own volition that I came. I would like to think that my presence has been a benefit to you my lord.”
----- Kalia giggled playfully while one of the cloth strands around her arm stretched out and rubbed against her face. “You mean you’d like to think that you’ve made a good impression on our dear General. Sadly, Regulous, I really don’t think your presence was ever necessary at all…ah, too bad.”
----- Regulous sneered at the woman and reached for the hilt of his sword, “Do not think that just because you hold such a gracious position that I won’t…”
----- “Enough Regulous!” Jon shouted. “And you Kalia, stop picking fights within our own ranks.”
----- “I was just having some fun,” Kalia shrugged as she winked in Regulous’ direction.
----- “You have done all you can here.” Jon continued. “You are no longer needed in Xaelon. Your new orders, Morikai, are to meet with Shadow Wing’s army. He moves from the Champion Mountains and will soon be passing along the southern border of Xaelon. You will meet with him there and join his ranks.”
----- The news was shocking for Regulous, who in all of his time with the Drekis Empire had tried to serve Avalon’s army in particular. “But my lord, surely I could be of some use in defending the borders of Xaelon from enemy attack.”
----- “I need no such defender. Once the hive is fully operational I can create three lesser minions for every one that a Khazanian kills. There is no need to worry about our occupation of Xaelon for the moment. Shadow Wing, however, will be facing a much more difficult State-Kingdom. He heads for Axia, a State-Kingdom with its own private military, and a strong one at that. It had been my hope to be the one who would lead the charge against that particular land, but it seems that Drekis would wish me to stay here. In any case, you will be of better use to Shadow Wing.”
----- “But Shadow Wing’s army should be able to…”
----- “Regulous! I am not feeling particularly magnanimous at the moment. After all, I too have been denied the ability to go where I want. Shadow Wing will steal the glory this time. So under no circumstances will I listen to your tiresome objections. Now get going—Shadow Wing does not tolerate unpunctuality.
----- Regulous stood, trying not to stare at the snickering Kalia who recognized his disappointment. “Very well, I shall do as I am ordered.” He bolted towards the tower, ignoring the shrill comments that Kalia was throwing out as he left.
----- “That man doesn’t know how to have any fun.” Kalia laughed. “Oh well, at least with Shadow Wing he’ll be with an equally humorless person”—she rubbed her fingers through Gellan’s mane and whispered some incoherent baby talk into the lion’s ear as it whimpered slightly—“Oh, the poor thing seems so upset lately.”
----- Jon turned his attention to the lion and noticed the depression in the beast’s eyes. The creature was lying there apathetically, and whimpering aloud as if it sighed with a heavy heart. “Gellan…he usually isn’t so melancholy when she is away, but then, there is also that connection they share. So is Maria sad then? I wonder…”
----- Regulous lost track of their conversation as he descended the spiraling stairs in the interior of the tower. The lesser minions he encountered seemed to recognize his burning anger and immediately avoided him—some even leapt from the stairs, preferring to fall several stories than to meet his wrath head on.
----- He had failed to reach the heights of praise that he desired, that he deserved. Decades of faithful service to the Generals, and not once had they recognized his potential. He did not deserve to be cast among the mindless Deminites, and he was dissatisfied with being a mere diversion, a tool like Morlos Gao or Maria Halesinger.
----- But all was not lost. He may have failed to meet the expectations of Jon Avalon, but it didn’t really matter which General came to favor him. Shadow Wing…perhaps he would see his potential, and make him his new disciple!

----- In her twenty seven years, Nora Shire had never been to Khazan; worse still, it appeared that she was the only person aboard the ship who had never set foot upon the Nexus of all Realities. Khazan was famous for many reasons; it was the ultimate tourist attraction in the universe—the destination of a million vacationing families in any given year.
----- Her life, however, had not been so fortunate as to be deserving of a vacation. She was an exemplary officer of the Galactic Defense Forces, and when the higher-ups said exemplary they usually implied an excessive devotion. It was true that her services had rendered her social and personal life all but non-existent; aside from the faint memory of her childhood years, she had always spent her waking hours working, training, and working even more.
----- The encouraging advantage of her devotion—which her compatriots had often illustrated with such flattering words as ‘obsessive’ and ‘unhealthy’—was that she had ascended the GDF ranks quickly. At twenty seven years old she had already attained the rank of Captain, a remarkable feat by any standard, though also remarkably marred by her lack of commanding responsibilities. Her ship, the Shezranade, was only one among a fleet of forty vessels. The true responsibility of command rested upon the High-Captain who served aboard the lead ship. At the very least, she felt that she had proved herself worthy of competent command over a single vessel and its crew, which is why, she could only assume, the High-Captain had allowed her ship to arrive at Khazan first.
----- It was the first time that her ship had ever been separated from the fleet, for in the GDF it was often considered imperative that assigned groups be treated as single units, always moving and acting as one. They had certainly followed that philosophy during the War of Oblivion’s Fall, but since then the GDF commanders had begun to move away from such regulations, as they were, after all, more suggestions than actual orders.
----- Regardless, it had been a new experience to command her ship outside of the task force, and to Khazan no less!
----- The Shezranade had been in orbit of Khazan for days now, idly docked at the monumental Star of Khazan, an orbiting station of innovative design. It was an impressive thing to behold; the Star of Khazan was a giant, streaming asterisk, a mammoth oval-shaped structure with a number of constructed rings which revolved around it in almost every conceivable direction. This peculiar design, coupled with the engaging flashes of lights around the outer hull, had allegedly made the station look like a shining star when viewed from the surface of the Nexus—hence, the stations name.
----- They had been docked at the station for far longer than she had originally intended, and likewise far longer than she had cared to. Every necessary task had been completed within the first day of arrival: she had filled out the paper work of foreign landing; she had contacted Vice-President D’Larthi upon arrival; and she had met with a representative council to explain the GDF’s intentions to the Khazanians. By all means she should have set foot upon Khazan soil with thousands of troops already, but the rest of the fleet had failed to arrive.
----- After having slept for an inexcusable amount of time, Nora forced herself to return to the mundane visage of the main bridge, where she found her crew occupying their time with trivial activities. Engineers and officers dabbled with Yo-Yo’s, read books, or sat back in apathy while time marched on.
----- “I see everyone is remaining productive.” Nora said sternly. “Though I can’t really blame you, we haven’t had any official orders other than to wait here for further instructions.”
----- The Shezranade was a Celestial-class ship, a warship built entirely for battle, though it was quite accommodating considering its function. The ship was over three kilometers long, a great deal of which was used as carrier space for the troops that were prepared to go into battle against Drekis. Despite the heavy compliment of passengers, for the most part the ship had two important crew groups, the bridge crew and the engineering crew that kept the ship running.
----- The bridge was arch-shaped, with an identically shaped platform in the center of the wide chamber. The main door flowed into this platform, where a small stairway on either side led to the lower parts of the bridge that outlined the higher platform. The captain’s seat was positioned at the edge of the higher platform, allowing the commanding officer to have a complete view of the pit crew below them. Within the pit were four major console desks: the communications console; operated by Ensign Eagleton, the primary Aviator Helm; operated by Lieutenant Van Armstrong, the secondary Aviator Helm; maneuvered by Lieutenant Farora Singer, and the Sensor Console, monitored by Lieutenant Te’goor Krauser. Behind the captain’s chair on the platform were two final positions: on the right was a standing console, void of any chair, where gunnery officer Mellina Strife operated weapon coordination; on the left was the first officer’s chair which was occupied by Lieutenant Commander Fandor.
----- “We have still not received any communication from the main fleet,” said Lieutenant Mellina Strife with her unchanging stoic expression. “For the fleet to encounter something that warranted their immediate attention is quite possible, though I would think that Captain Abrieus would send us something to inform our crew of such a dramatic change in the plan.” Mellina was a tall and slender woman with aqua blue hair and large eyes that matched. She had one tone of voice in all of her speech…a single tone for happiness, for sadness, for love, and for hatred. Such was the nature of her people, the Aurahn, who represented only a small portion of the great racial diversity that was the Galactic Defense Force.
----- “Of course he would.” Nora said, narrowing her eyes at the gunnery officer. “Abrieus may be a little unconventional, but he would never be so careless.” She walked towards the center of the bridge and fell into the captain’s seat restlessly. Her muscles ached and tingled as she stretched out along the reclining chair. It had been important for her to get some sleep, but she now found that resting had made her body rigid.
----- “We did receive some communications from Khazan.” said Ensign Eagleton, who seemed to be occupying himself with data streams that zipped across his computer and bounced off of his thin glasses. “They’ve been wondering when we’ll take the actions we discussed in the meetings.”
----- Nora twisted a strand of her rose-colored hair around her finger and looked down at the view-screen image of Khazan passively, “Oh my, I suppose we’re not making a good impression on them are we. It is a little embarrassing that we promised support and then make them wait for it.”
----- “I don’t suppose we could begin the operation without the others?” asked Lieutenant Commander Fandor, a sharp grin on his face. Fandor was a Sligian, a humanoid with dark brown skin and ears that closely resembled those of a vampire bat. The glint in his long, slanted eyes was menacing, and when he showcased such a grin his sharp teeth were just barely exposed. There were still people among the bridge crew who found Fandor to be incredibly ominous, but despite his affinity for combat he was perhaps the nicest, most caring individual in the crew.
----- “I see that eagerness in your eyes commander.” Nora replied. “However, it would be foolish to do such a thing. With our ground forces alone we would never stand a chance against whatever Drekis has down there. We need all of the ships from the taskforce here before we can begin.”
----- “Last transmission from Abrieus came from Fasolt Sector. That’s about two hundred parsecs from here.” Lieutenant Van Armstrong reported. Armstrong was the model military man, a person who put duty before anything. He always took every event seriously, and no matter how hectic his surroundings were he never failed to speak in complete sentences. “They could traverse that distance in ten minutes, so something must have gone wrong.”
----- “We can’t afford to go looking for him ourselves.” Shire said, stretching her finger out to untangle the strand. “Eagleton, send a message to the nearest HQ outpost, tell them about Abrieus’ being MIA and have an investigation launched immediately. Normally I would trust in the High-Captain’s decisions and abilities, but with Drekis involved, I’m prone to believe that the worst has happened.”
----- “Sending message now.”
----- “Alright, well until then I guess we’re stuck up here.” Nora remarked. “Let’s hope Abrieus and the rest of our fleet makes it here safely.”
----- “Captain,” Lieutenant Singer said with a raised hand.
----- “Yes Lieutenant, what is it?”
----- “Sir, may we have permission to land upon Khazan, sir. I am aware that we cannot begin our mission, but perhaps if we simply go to Khazan City to meet with their officials.”
----- Nora smiled and shook her head, “I’m afraid we’ve been ordered to stay in orbit until Abrieus gives further instructions. Believe me, I’d like to get out of the ship as well, but orders are orders. I can understand why you’d want to visit your old home though.”
----- Singer fell back into her chair with a nod, obviously dejected. She had originally come from the Nexus of all Realities—Khazan was her birthplace, and had been the birthplace of ten generations of her family. Prior to joining the GDF she and her family had relocated in order to avoid what Singer herself had called “the constant war between heroes and their enemies.” Nora had always seen a sense of longing in the young woman, a desire to return to Khazan. After all, she had not moved away because she had wanted to, but because her family had deemed it to be an unsafe world for her to grow up in. It was ironic, then, that the energetic brunette had signed with the GDF on her eighteenth birthday.
----- “We could always link our view-screen with one of the Khazanian satellites.” Eagleton suggested.
----- “And what would be the point of that?” Armstrong asked.
----- “To get a closer look at the surface of course,” he replied, “Khazan is one of the largest planets in the universe, so there would be plenty of interesting things to look at while we wait. In fact, in another half hour or so we’ll be able to see the KOMBG Weapons satellite over that horizon right there.”
----- “We’ve already seen that satellite five times since we docked at the station.” Armstrong groaned. “Do you never tire of looking at such trivial things?”
----- “They aren’t trivial; they’re monumental achievements of technology…with all due respect sir, a practical guy like you must realize what the GDF could do with…”
----- “Wait!” Te’goor shouted abruptly with his deep, growling voice. Krauser was the quiet one in the group, the one who never talked except when spoken to or when necessary. Consequently, when he opened his mouth, everyone stopped to listen. He was a Vornessian, a short, stout man with four burly arms and hair like an ape. “There’s been a hyperspace transport, but it’s not our fleet. I’ve got sixty confirmed vessels, five different classes and types among them.”
----- “Where did they come from? Their location!?” Nora cried out.
----- “I couldn’t track where they came from. They’re in orbit of Khazan right now, about fifteen hundred miles off of our port side.”
----- “Putting image on viewer,” Singer said. The pristine sight of Khazan fizzled out to be replaced by the dense collection of space vessels that now orbited the nexus.
----- “Their weapons are engaged and fully powered,” Lieutenant Strife reported, “It would seem that they are prepared to go into immediate battle. No indication of anything being targeted.”
----- “Those ships aren’t accepting our communications either.” Eagleton interjected.
----- “Go to Yellow Alert.” Nora ordered. “Stand by to go into battle, but don’t get too excited yet. I don’t think those ships are here to start any trouble.”
----- “It is disconcerting Captain,” Fandor added, “that they would appear out of no where with their weapons charged. No competent commander would let their ship waste so much energy if they didn’t plan to launch an offensive of some kind.”
----- “I know, but there is something familiar about those ships. I recognize the design from somewhere…I think they come from Khazan.”
----- “You’re right Captain.” Singer said calmly. “I don’t have to check the database to tell you that those are Dollarcorp ships.
----- “Dollarcorp!” Fandor sneered. “You mean that corporation headed by that power-hungry Khazanian! How can the Khazan government allow such a man to procure a heavily armed fleet like that?”
----- “He has more than just a personal fleet,” Singer explained, “and that’s just a small portion of his fleet too. I think they’re usually stationed around the outskirts of the Khazan system…not sure why they’ve returned to the nexus in such a hurry. If Marc Dollar’s involved, then something bad is going on. That corporation of his has been engaged in some shady deals—I remember there was always some story about him and his business on KNN every night.”
----- “Well, Dollarcorp ships probably have no intention of posing a threat to us.” Captain Shire exclaimed. “Still, I’d like to have some idea of what a gathering force of arms is up to. Krauser, can you determine what they are orbiting over?”
----- Krauser issued some confused expressions as all four of his arms quickly scanned over multiple touch-screen windows which came up with layered pages of text and imagery. “Can’t really see the relevance. They’re orbiting over an area called the Saedeen Coast isles—not quite over the larger areas of the main continent. Wait a minute, there’s something else. There is an island that’s…hovering in mid-air—it’s above the Saedeen Isles, steadily moving in the direction of…Khazan City!
----- “An island floating in the sky?” Nora said.
----- “That has to be the Fallen Island.” Singer uttered. “Dollarcorp has had some connections with their lot before. I never really understood how far their connection went, I was too young at the time…still, I can’t see why their fleet would be taking an offensive position above the Fallen Island.”
----- “That is,” Nora remarked, “unless something big is about to happen there.

----- Drekis stood, or rather floated, in complete darkness. He had shed off all notion of form, instead becoming a fluctuating object that bubbled like liquid and pulsed with liveliness. This was the closest thing he had to sleep, existing as a formless thing that remained idle, allowing thought, spirit, and body to flow together in harmony. Yet even in sleep his mind broke from this intended flow and roamed freely, peering over his dominion with sight that transcended the physical level. He could see his gathering minions and feel their festering emotions. They yearned to leave for the Fallen Island immediately, but such burning desires would have to wait for when the time was right.
----- He could also feel the movement of Shadow Wing’s army, marching through the burning fields of Zel’Mier and Xaelon as they stormed towards Axia. Thinking of Axia immediately brought her to mind—that woman who he had not seen in ages. Memories that he believed to have been successfully eradicated crept back, reminding him of the path that he had chose, and of the life he led before that day. Some of the memories could have even been painful, but in all honesty he could never let go of them completely. The path of chaos was a dangerous one; it was destructive like the void, but could also lead to creation. It was a path that lingered between light and darkness, a path that went beyond good and evil. For that reason alone, it was important that he held onto the memory of where he came from. Chaos, in all of its anarchy, had one certain thing, and that was its origin.
----- “There still seems to be some conflict within you.” a voice boomed. “Drekis, do you really think you can do this when you yourself are not sure of the reasoning behind it?”
----- Drekis descended to the ground and morphed into his draconic form. With a snicker he turned his head to greet the gleam of light that had invaded his chambers. “Every Chaotic being is conflicted. But I am too strong to allow those conflicts to affect me. Sphere, Sphere, of all the Avatars of Fate that ever existed, none have bothered me so much as you.”
----- “None that came before me could bear witness to what you do now. I alone have the opportunity to see you either succeed or fail in what you have tried to accomplish in a thousand lifetimes.”
----- “You must be honored so.”
----- “Not particularly. Remember that much of my obligation goes against my will. It is more out of duty, than of curiosity, that I must confer with you.”
----- “Do not think me so short-sighted Sphere. You watch me constantly from your plane of existence, but your constant visits to my chambers are only because of your curiosity. What happens here on Khazan ultimately effects what role you will have to play in the coming universe; you can’t help but be interested.”
----- “Indeed. Interested to see what happens when a fool thinks he has the right to change all of existence. Your goals go far beyond anything I attempted to achieve, and even I must now concede that my ambitions did not lead me to my intended destination.”
----- “I will succeed where you failed.” Drekis said, stretching his arm out. “Here on Khazan is where everything shall return to the beginning, and take a new direction. You should be happy Sphere, you should support me—you know don’t you, that you would be freed of your tiresome responsibilities. There would be no more need for an Avatar of Fate. Perhaps…then you could achieve those ambitions that were denied to you.”
----- “Fate cannot be tempted Drekis.”
----- “Because Fate should not be tempted, because that is an inherent part of Fate. But in my world…in my universe, there will be no need for Fate. Fate shall no longer exist, and you will no longer need to adhere to any doctrines.”
----- “Do you truly believe that a universe without fate can exist? When my predecessor fell, it was imperative that another take his place. Otherwise…”
----- “Otherwise the universe falls to Chaos. Am I right? Is that not what everyone fears? Yes, they fear it, because gods and mortals alike fear the unexpected. They feel so calm and collected when they know that everything happens for a reason, when they know that things happen because they’re supposed to!”
----- “Whether or not Fate should exist was never to be decided by the likes of any mortal, Drekis, not even you.”
----- “I am no longer mortal…”
----- “Nor are you a god…”
----- “But I shall be. Once this is all over. Then you shall see. Then everyone shall see.”
----- A moment of silence passed between them, but then Drekis, peering out of his dark chambers to look upon the deminites that were howling in the endless caves below, asked “Tell me Sphere, if you had the ability, would you oppose me?”
----- “You ask…if I was not the Avatar of Fate?”
----- “Indeed, or if being a part of Fate did not limit your direct actions.”
----- “I suppose, had I never been exposed to what Fate entails, then no. I do not know if there would be any reason for me to stop you. In fact, as the Avatar of Fate, I don’t know if it is necessary that I should oppose you now, but I must tell you that the world you dream of is folly. You speak of Fate as if it is the enemy, a force that harms the very universe, and that Chaos is the only way to avoid it. But Drekis, even you know that there is another…”
----- “I strayed from that path a long time ago Sphere. Mortals do not have enough will in their feeble minds to let that path save them. That much…I know.”
----- “But you know he will think differently. Both of them will, and they will be the ones to oppose you Drekis. You may think yourself free of Fate’s influence, but you must realize that no matter what direction this War takes, there is only one way for your goal to be realized, a single fight that you are destined to have.”
----- “Does Fate always have to think of every dilemma with a single horn? There will be no need for such a fight, because before this war is over I will break him…I will show him the shallow nature of human beings and their like.”

----- After living most of his life in Khazan City, Tim was unused to the quiet nature of Axia Prime. It was hard for him to believe that the large capital city could be so peaceful, especially during a time of war.
----- Raea walked arm in arm beside him, enamored by the archaic architecture that made Axia so unique. They toured the sights for hours, asking locals for suggestions whenever they couldn’t decide where to go next. Axia Prime was surrounded with water that flowed through the city in the form of many different streams and rivers. Most of the streams were man made, having been constructed to form “roads” where small boats ferried their passengers from one location to another. There were as many of these river roads as there were streets, and consequently as many people who traveled by boat as those that did so by car.
----- “It’s nice that you can look up into the afternoon sky and not see any hovercrafts racing by.” Raea said with a laugh. “I guess it’s a welcome change to be away from Khazan City.”
----- “Yeah, but we are city folk in the end.” Tim reminded her. “No matter how nice it seems now, I bet the two of us couldn’t stand the perpetual quiet here for very long.”
----- “We’d be driven insane wouldn’t we?”
----- “Heh, you’ve got that right.”
----- Raea rubbed her head up against his shoulder as she watched a boat pass them by on one of the streams adjacent to the sidewalk. “Walking here with you…it’s hard to believe that a war’s going on right now.”
----- “I was thinking the same thing.”
----- “You’d hardly believe that we’d be leaving this calm, serene scene to go into battle—as early as tomorrow morning, this could all be a memory for us. Well, I suppose we should make this a night to remember then, how about an early dinner…I hear Axian restaurants are quite fancy.”
----- “Dinner, already!? I thought you wanted to go ride on one of those boats.”
----- She reached her arm around his neck and scratched the side of his head, “I know, but let’s save that for tonight. Who knows, maybe there’ll be a big full moon.”
----- “Ah, you’d like that wouldn’t you. Well, fine, I guess I don’t mind a heavy lunch.”
----- They strolled over the cobblestone walkways for some time as they searched for the infamous eateries. Countless diners and smaller establishments were found at every corner, but the true heart of Axian fine dining was to be found in a single street. Any restaurants of exceptional quality and inexorable prices could be found, one after the other, on either side of Candle Park Drive. Both of them had read many articles about the bistros of Axia in the Khazan newspapers—on a day to day basis the paper would never fail to include at least one charming review of a diner from Axia Prime—and yet it was a painstaking process for their foreign eyes to locate the prestigious block.
----- Together they reveled in the unexpected chaos of the event, laughing with and at each other as their journeys took them to dead-end corners and desperate marketplace sellers. Such an arduous task became a thrill, allowing them to carelessly throw themselves into the wind and expire the day without a glance towards time’s hands. The drenching sprays of an uncontrollable sprinkler system gave rise to a playful exchange in the middle of the serene neighborhood, and a special moment of childhood passed between them.
----- They entered Candle Park with damp clothes and wiry hair, and through each cockeyed stare that was received they shared a laugh that took them back to the craziness of the city life. The restaurant was chosen at random, where waiters hurried to ready an outside table for their dripping customers.
----- “If there’s any regrets I have,” Tim sighed as he pulled his chair up, “it’s the damage we’ve done to that dress of yours.”
----- “I suppose I should have known better…I am with you after all.” she replied, tugging at the shoulder-less outfit. “It feels so heavy now, but at least it will fare better than some of my other date uniforms…you know.”
----- “I’ll never understand why you go to so much trouble for me.” Tim laughed after pouring a full glass of water down his throat. “Seeing as how liberal and unconventional we are with our activities. But in any case, I kind of like the shade of Maroon it’s taken now…”
----- “You like how it clings to me without an inch of space…”
----- “I suppose I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.”
----- The sun began to set when their dinners were brought out. There were no telling signs of a full moon, but the stars were already beginning to move into place.
----- “Tim…” Raea whispered as she spun her fork around her plate.
----- “What’s with the soft voice?” Tim smirked. “Something on your mind?”
----- “I was just thinking. Do you really…want to go tomorrow?”
----- “What do you mean?”
----- “I mean, would you rather stay here for a while, with me. We don’t have to go, you know. Sentinels may have duties, but we’re not the military, we don’t have requirements like that. I could talk to Uberman, get some other people assigned to his team.”
----- “You scared?” Tim cut into the meat on his plate and slowly looked up at her. “No, you wouldn’t be. You’re worried. About me I suppose.”
----- “It’s doesn’t have anything to do with my faith in you, or anything like that, it’s just, I was wondering…”
----- Tim smiled as he wiped a textured cloth across his cheek. “Believe me, I’m not the one to recite ballads of brave, heroic responsibilities or profess the greatness of my abilities. Hell, I wish I could take your advice, I might have jumped at the chance to stay in a place like this, or go back to Khazan city—would have jumped right on that, just yesterday.”
----- “There something you’re not telling me?” Raea asked. “Why do you actually want to do this? You and I could still do so much for the Sentinels out here.”
----- “I know. The truth is, I’ve had…a conversation with the Queen.”
----- “Regarding the reason she had you brought here?”
----- “Exactly. I—well there’s reasons now, why I should go. I don’t think that really means I want to do it, it’s more a matter of—I have to, and I’m not sure if I’m happy with that.”
----- “You aren’t bound to any duty towards Queen Relissan.”
----- “It’s not that either. I’ve…the only way I can say it is that there are some personal things involved now, and whether I like it or not, I feel compelled to find some answers. It’s just my damned luck that those answers are probably out there, deep in the Endless Caves.”
----- “Something you can’t share with me?”
----- “Something I can’t explain to you, because I don’t understand it myself. I’d like to be able to tell you—I think this could change my life dramatically, so of course I don’t want to keep it a secret. But I just don’t know, and that’s partially why I have to go. There’s something there that…apparently only I can do. I need to find out if that’s true. And why.”
----- Raea looked up as a flock of birds quickly darted above them. “I had no idea that this could mean so much to you.”
----- Tim shrugged as a pitcher of liquid came between them, its contents pouring into their empty glasses. “I still don’t know if it does.”
----- “I guess I’ll have to be there with you then.”
----- “You’ll have to be?”
----- “We’re so pathetic when we’re lost, you know, when we’re apart. But when we’re together, even if we don’t know where we’re going or why, things seem to work out that way.”
----- “Yeah…that’s true. Why do you think that is?”
----- She shrugged as she took her first lukewarm bite. “Hope, I suppose.”

----- The first ten minutes of the engagement was a fleeting moment; barely a quarter of the Drekis hordes had rushed into the fray before the Saramach legions managed to join the battle in the Cretalian fields.
----- Entire squads maneuvered to fend off the ghoulish Saramach troops while the principle forces of the Khazanian army focused their attacks on the Drekis legions ahead. Explosions appeared as bright flashes in the distance while zooming sounds resonated in the ears of all who witnessed the heavy artillery flying overhead. Tormented fields gave rise to clouds of smoke which dissolved all sense of order in the conflict; soldiers stormed through the fog of war, burning their feet against the ash of melted highway roads just to push the enemy back a few feet. A horizon of grinning fangs greeted them as their eyes found the enemy through the blistering smog. Swords dived into flesh, energy beams cut bodies asunder, explosions sent dozens airborne, and the ground was never still.
----- Lexington stormed through the chaos, aided by the sightrune which guided him through the haze and separated friend from foe. The aptly named Reptillons came upon him, swinging at him wildly with gleaming swords as they cackled and hissed. One of the lizardmen lunged itself towards him, violently digging up the ground with the thrust of its muscular legs. The sword came down on target, aiming to slice into Lexington’s neck, but with one swift move he parried the blow with his bare arm; the light of the bladerune on his arm grew brighter as the enchanted weapon grinded its way across his limb.
----- A shrill cry came from the reptillon as a quick wave of his hand not only threw it back, but cracked and shattered the blade. Lexington hurled himself closer to the beast as tiny shards of its own broken weapon crashed into its scaly hide. A clean knife-hand swipe gouged the lizardman’s torso; boiling liquids spilled out as he collapsed before Lexington’s feet, weekly clawing at him with the last vestiges of life.
----- Another of their ranks was behind him, already in mid-swing to take revenge for its fallen brethren, but Lexington had felt the eerie presence. The swiftrune was already etched into his forehead, and as the blade came across him there was a sudden gust of wind that flew out in all directions. The reptillon fell back in confusion; it opened its eyes to find its prey but found nothing but severed strands of grass flailing in the air. Shifting eyes searched to the left, to the right, but not soon enough. Lexington came down from above, striking the beast with a hardened fist that snapped jaw and neck bone alike.
----- Other Reptillon’s joined the fight once they saw their fellow minions whirling to the ground, but even as more came upon Lexington there was a spread of gunfire which strafed across the battlefield. Khazan Rangers came pouring in to join the heroes who had led the offensive.
----- “Good, looks like we’re making some progress on this end.” Lexington spat out as the Reptillons in front of him were cut down by barrages.
----- A large mech brought its foot crashing down on a Deminite, driving its slimy remains deep into the soil while it released the last of its missiles into the enemy ranks. The hordes responded immediately, sending burst of fire and plasma at the soldiers. Several concentrated beams struck the mech, ripping it apart and producing an explosion which forced Lexington to his knees.
----- “Shit, nothing’s as simple as it seems,” Lex coughed out, wiping the cloudy grime from the right side of his face.
----- He jumped back just as Deminite fireball scorched the ground beneath him. The swiftrune activated again, propelling him towards the aggressor before another fireball could be conjured. He swung his bladerune arm down, slicing the creature in half by the time its claws had even begun to gather heat.
----- More of their kind rushed forward, splitting into separate groups that attacked either the soldiers or the heroes. Against the latter they employed great numbers, knowing full well that they stood no chance against the power of the nexus’ greatest champions. They attacked Lexington from all angles, but for each attack he swiftly disappeared and came behind them. One slice from his arm or a well-placed kick to the back of their jagged heads sent them to oblivion, but still they persisted…still they were endless.
----- The Swiftrune, at least, had not failed him in the ongoing battle. He had learned, in part due to his exasperating experience against the Saramach, that he could stop the swiftrune for short moments, allowing him to use the quick movements only when they were absolutely necessary. In this way he zipped across the battlefield, visible one moment to attract the attention of the Deminites from the other soldiers, and gone the next to avoid their broadsides and attack their flanks.
----- Despite the effectiveness of his new attack pattern, there were some minions in the Drekis ranks that did not fall for his tricks so readily. A deminite wolf followed his movements closely, and either by smell or some other ethereal sense managed to pin-point his exact location. Its ferocious pounce ignored even the swirling winds around him as it tackled him to the ground. A surprisingly strong paw held his Bladerune arm down while its fangs descended towards his face. His one free arm held the jaws at bay, but his muscles were slowly failing and the green glow in the mutt’s eyes brought an unnatural fear into his body.
----- The wolf-beast would no longer be held off by one shaking hand, but before it could taste blood the demonic canine was lifted into the air by some force. Bewildered, the wolf shot out green bolts of light from its salivating mouth in random directions, but before it could hit anything its neck twisted to the side with a gruesome snap.
----- “Getting a little careless there.” Michael stated as he hurled the lifeless thing into the approaching crowd of deminites.
----- “I take it you’re expecting a thank you?” Lexington scoffed as he pushed himself onto his feet and lopped off a deminites head.
----- “Forget it; don’t think I did anything for your sake.” Cortelloni retorted. “It’s just that, in this situation, you’re no good to me dead. ‘Course I don’t know how good you are to any of us alive either!” A dozen deminites leapt into the air to attack him, but with one sneer he stopped their advance in mid-air and scattered them about at break-neck speeds.
----- “You want to see how useful I can be? Well then watch this!” Lexington raised his hands into the air, one over the other, and a new rune was suddenly etched into his front palm. With his arms still straight, he brought them down to point at the legions of deminites that were running towards them.
----- “What the hell are you…,” Michael uttered as a unexpected brightness forced him to cover his eyes.
----- “Soulrune!” Lexington’s voice carried across the battlefield for a single second. A pulse stretched out into the Drekis legions, spreading away from Lex’s outstretched hands to engulf a large mass of the enemy. Hundreds of Deminites fell to the ground as if struck by something, yet not a single wound appeared on their bodies.
----- “Not bad.” Cortelloni admitted. “Now why didn’t you do that sooner?”
----- “The Soulrune is taxing.” Lex huffed, his shoulders bobbing as he drew in air steadily. “It’s not exactly something that I can use all the time, not without repercussions, and I had to make sure I had no friendlies in front of me.”
----- “That’s all well and good, but why the hell are they getting up?”
----- Lexington’s heart nearly stopped as he witnessed the unthinkable. All of the deminites and Drekis minions that had been snared into the path of the Soulrune picked themselves off of the ground—they showed no sign of injury or pain, and continued their advance as if it had never been stopped.
----- “That’s not possible!” Lexington shouted, clenching his fists.
----- “Well obviously it is!” Cortelloni said. He took a step back as a small blast of flame struck his telekinetic shield.
----- “I don’t understand! No matter how strong they are, it should have attacked their…unless, those things don’t have souls…but that would mean…”
----- A stream of ice flew between them, knocking back several groups of deminites and freezing them in their tracks. The other deminites held little pity for their frozen allies as they broke and shattered their bodies to remove the obstacles.
----- “About time you guys caught up.” Cortelloni called out to Shinsuke and Lara.
----- “We’ve been a little busy.” Shinsuke said dryly as he launched two more ice beams. Several deminites conjured their collective flames into a massive pillar of swirling fires and hurled them towards the group. Shinsuke countered the scorching mass with a wide dispersal of ice. Both forces fizzled out in the collision, but when the steam lifted there were hundreds of soldiers gathering behind the Sentinels. “We’ve also beaten the enemy back to this point, but I don’t know how much longer we can go on.”
----- “Where’s the girl?” Lex asked as he dodged several flame bolts.
----- “Natsumi is safe with the Sentinels who went to cover our rear!” Lara shouted back, pulling out her peculiar tennis racket as the enemies came closer.
----- “How are they holding up against the Saramach?”
----- “Better than we are right now.” Shinsuke responded. “Not by much though. For all the minions we’ve killed there doesn’t seem to be any end to them. They’ll try to squeeze us in pretty soon…there’s just too many of them.”
----- “Yeah, well I don’t care!” Lexington barked. “They’re just a bunch of mindless and soulless deminites! And hell if I’m going to lose my life to the lot of them!” A small whirlwind flew out from his position as he dashed forward, meeting dozens of the charging enemy head on.
----- “His gusto is going to get him killed!” Michael shouted. Multiple fireballs flew directly into him, splashing against his TK field and spreading out in various directions. He lifted his hands and tried to manipulate their flames, tried to launch their own attacks back into their faces. The deminites seemed to enjoy his resistance, howling and screaming as their pyrokinesis kept the flames dancing around the ex-marauder. “Damn it all, they’re getting stronger.”
----- “There might be one of those creatures near by,” Shinsuke said as he froze a leaping Reptillon. The mindless minion crashed into a thousand pieces as it fell before his feet. “They’re called Hive Guards according to the files given to us by the GDF. They make the other minions stronger when nearby.”
----- “I’ll clear the way!” Lara cried, abruptly sliding past Shinsuke as she tossed a small tennis ball into the air. She brought her racket down hard, striking the ball just as it was enveloped in a radiance that burned like a miniature star. The tiny sphere boomed into the battlefield with the sound of a cannon shot, tearing through one minion after the other as it continued its flight. The sea of deminites parted to avoid the ball of death, leaving only the abnormal-looking Hive Guard standing in its place. The creature thrust out his chest to meet the projectile with its armored carapace, but the ball would not be denied by the toughest of hide. The outer shell was immediately cracked, allowing the ball to crush its innards and escape through its back. For a moment the Hive Guard stood, almost in disbelief, and watched through the gaping hole in its stomach to see the ball smash into the ground with thunderous force.
----- The deminites moved back as the ferocious aura around their bodies disappeared slightly. The Hive Guard fell down limply, and soon after there was a volley of shots that pierced through the deminites. Khazan soldiers and rangers rushed through the heaps of dead bodies to push forward.
----- “Using psychokinetic energy to empower a tennis ball…” Shinsuke stated. “A rather unique approach.”
----- “Always was my best sport,” Lara cracked with a smile, “although I don’t know if I’ll have enough firepower to take them all on.”
----- “None of us may have that much power…” Shinsuke admitted as he gazed up into the sky. Bio-fighters and Khazanian mecha soared overhead, exchanging firepower that littered the ground below with smoke and the depressing smell of gunpowder which singed his advanced senses.
----- A deminite flew out of the smoke screens, tackling a Khazan ranger to the ground and driving its claws into his face. The fury of another ranger was heard as the murderous deminite had most of its upper body torn away by assault rifle salvos.
----- “Don’t let the General down!” an officer yelled into the crowd. “Press forward!!”
----- Grenades were tossed overhead, sparking consecutive tremors and visible shockwaves that blew deminites to the ground. Thousands of soldiers formed a living wall that marched on, relentlessly firing on any moving enemy—and even those who ambiguously gurgled upon the field.
----- Smoke from the grenades clutched to the ground and spread out towards the rangers like the tide, and from this miniscule cover spewed various little monstrosities, each one no larger than a chicken. They ran faster than any two-legged creature ever should, easily coming upon the Khazan soldiers who were too busy shooting down the ominous deminites to notice the small critters approach.
----- Crocodilian jaws crunched down on mechanical body armor, severing circuits and breaking armored plates with little effort. Like rabid dogs they thrashed their heads from side to side, taking armor and sinew apart alike. Soldiers screamed as their legs were tackled and mauled; one soldier after another fell to the ground, alerting those behind them of the impending threat. Assault rifles were brought down to strafe the ground, but there were too many of the tiny beasts to shoot. They quickly stormed in and jumped into their enemies chests, tearing apart frail human bodies with the cleanly edged scythes that they brandished in place of hands.
----- “What the hell are those things!” Michael yelled, sending out a wave of force that smashed several of the critters into the ash-laden pavement.
----- “Never seen those ones before, maybe those are the reaver-beasts.” Shinsuke said. He caught a glimpse of more small creatures escaping from the smoke screens, each one launching a terrifying suicide run against the soldiers.
----- “Damn…” Shinsuke uttered as he just barely released a freezing beam that covered the ground in a thick, polished sheet of ice. The reaver-beasts tumbled and slid as their graceless feet skewered the slick surface. Soldiers immediately doused the downed critters with gunfire, making sure not to let any of them regain their stance.
----- “Reaver-beasts?” Lara chuckled. “That’s kind of a catchy name.”
----- An explosion from above suddenly jolted everyone on the ground; a burning mech plummeted in a downward spiral, smashing deep into the ground before finally exploding. The imminent blast sent large chunks of earth into the sky—weary eyes watched the darkening shadows as the flying bedrock returned.
----- Shinsuke raised his hands to shatter one of the falling hunks of land, but before the debris could complete its descent it was held off by Cortelloni. With an angry growl Michael quickly turned his head and willed the lump of gravel to crash into the Drekis legions.
----- Several Bio-fighters flew by, firing into the ranks of Khazan soldiers in passing. Small eruptions sent body parts flying about as the barrage continued; the mecha were beginning to dwindle, and no longer would there be any protection from the airborne enemies.
----- Lexington ignored the dire circumstances above and kept his concentration fixed on the deminites ahead. His Swiftrune carried him far into their ranks, deeper than any other ally had ventured. He found himself surrounded by the chaotic creatures, but even as their numbers grew so did his tenacity. He swung around and caught an unsuspecting deminite in the face with a roundhouse kick, then immediately did a back-flip to avoid a cowardly attack from another. He reached down and grabbed his attacker by the horns, carrying it into the air with him and crushing it face first into the pavement when he landed.
----- A pair of claws barely graced the side of his face, inciting the other deminites to come at him with random slashes. He darted from side to side, cutting off arms with the Bladerune and spinning around to meet new enemies. A quick slash with his knife-hand tore open a deminite’s neck as it tried to maul him, but it continued on despite its injuries, grabbing onto his legs as it fell and using all of its dying strength to hold him down.
----- “Let go!” Lex yelled as he kicked the corpse away, but it was too late. Multiple deminites were summoning jets of flame to engulf him, and without any time to escape the scorching rays he invoked the Guardrune. Energy gathered around his hands, forming into the image of a gallant knight’s shield.
----- The fires were easy enough to hold at bay, but as the deminites persisted he found himself trapped in place—forced to hold his ground against the burning attacks while a towering Devonox came upon him. Ugly beyond belief, the Devonox opened its irregular mouth, spewing forth drool that lathered his own footsteps. Its massive arms were raised, bearing claws larger than Lex’s entire body. However, before it could complete its attack it was flanked by a sky-rocketing object.
----- Captain Khazan had flown in with blinding speed, punching the Devonox’s face and sending it into the background. Fireballs immediately landed on the Captain, but for the most part their flames bounced harmlessly off of the hero’s skin. He rushed down to the ground and drove his fist through a deminite, not only ripping through its body but caving in the ground to form a crater that swallowed dozens of surrounding minions.
----- “As brave as you may be,” Captain Khazan said as he jumped out of the crater and landed at Lex’s side, “it was foolish to venture so deep into the enemy army on your own.”
----- “What choice do we really have but to go all out?” Lexington questioned. “We’re being pinched in from both sides, if we don’t push forward now we’re done for.”
----- “I know! And General Alvion knows as well, but let him handle the military tactics; we merely have to protect the soldiers! Even if things look grim now, we won’t give up! Not now, not after losing Xaelon!”
----- A blast stronger than any fireball that the deminites could create struck the Captain in the chest, blowing him back and driving his body through the flaming soil.
----- “Captain…!” Lexington rushed to his aid, but was immediately cut off by a second blast, one that shattered the ground around him and flung him across the battlefield.
----- Captain Khazan pushed himself up with weakened hands and looked down to see the cracks in his armored body. Small traces of blood poured down his torso, but the wound did not appear to be life-threatening. “Lexington! Are you alright?”
----- “Am I okay? What about you?” he replied, clutching one arm as he stood. “And just who the hell is he?”
----- The two heroes watched as a much different kind of enemy emerged from the smoke of battle. Unlike any of the monsters and gruesome beasts that they had seen in the Drekis legions, this man was altogether human. He was young and extremely delicate looking, with eyes that uttered a strange kind of boyish innocence. His thin body was covered by a white trench coat that was held in place by a tightly strapped belt around his wasted. The clothing was beaten and tattered, but they were not the tears of bullet holes or laser burns; rather, his clothes appeared slightly ripped by bladed weapons or animal talons.
----- “Why the hell are you firing on us!?” Lex hollered. “You’re attacking the wrong side!
----- “That’s not one of my sentinels.” Captain Khazan said, wiping the blood from his chest with his hands.
----- “So that’s it.” Lex sneered. “Alright, then who are you and why are you with those monsters?”
----- “My name?” The young man said, looking down at the dead bodies around him as if contemplating something. “My name is…Skye. And I am one of those monsters!” A blue aura engulfed his body that flashed and boomed like thunder. The solid ground beneath him began to melt away, leaving the young man to float in mid-air as the crater grew out.
----- “He’s a lot stronger than the other minions, he’s no ordinary thug!” Lex spat out as he found himself being pulled back by pulses of power.
----- “Horror has decided that you two are too dangerous to be left alive.” Skye said softly. More of the azure energy formed in his palm, swirling together into a steadily growing ball that appeared both beautiful and deadly.
----- It took only a mere whip of his wrist to release the attack, and even the advantages of the Sightrune failed to alert Lex of its coming. Flying out at the speed of light, the sphere hit the ground instantly, giving the two heroes no time to prepare for the blast.
----- Matter itself was dissolved, particles fell apart, and even the debris disappeared into the void of shining blue wisps. The detonation left only vapors to rise up from a fissure large enough to swallow a house, but the explosion itself had sent both Lex and Captain Khazan to opposite sides of the gap.
----- “That power’s too dangerous…” Captain Khazan said, lifting himself into the air and flying towards the young man with an outstretched fist. “He could kill a hundred people with just one of those attacks…we have to take him down!” His speed increased; in an instant he was in front of Skye, launching his fist towards the young face before another attack could be formed.
----- His fist struck the aura surrounding him and stopped; Skye barely moved as the power of Captain Khazan’s strike rattled off of the energy like it was an unbreakable structure. Captain Khazan threw all of his strength into his arm, digging the fist deeper into the battle aura in an attempt to make contact, but the constant battles had taken their toll on the hero. The aura did not yield, and instead Captain Khazan found himself hurled to the ground as the destructive energy burned his fist and suddenly expanded.
----- Lexington looked on helplessly as the intensifying light swallowed the Captain and flung him into the dirt. “I don’t have much strength left; I don’t know if I can use the Soulrune again after all of this. This guy…he seems different, he might have a soul, but can I…”
----- A familiar ice ray collided with Skye’s battle aura, encasing the young Drekis minion in a crystal prison. A casual wave of his hand and Skye obliterated the ice, his aura becoming furiously passionate.
----- Shinsuke and Cortelloni jumped ahead of Lex, their eyes trained on the new enemy. Lara came in next, swinging her racket down and striking a ball; the gleaming projectile slammed into the ground first and then ricocheted abruptly to fly towards Skye.
----- The aura dimmed slightly as the ball approached, but Skye calmly tilted his head to the side, allowing the ball to pass him by.
----- “Cortelloni, hold him still!” Shinsuke yelled as he gathered freezing elements into his hands.
----- “Don’t give me orders!” Cortelloni retorted. “Don’t you think I’ve been trying to do that!? I can’t get past that light, its blocking any telekinesis I try to use on him…the coward.”
----- “Coward?” Skye said curiously. “Yes, I suppose I am a coward in some sense. A sniveling…coward.” Smaller spheres of energy appeared at the tip of each of his fingers which he stretched out to point at all of the heroes.
----- “That will be enough Skye.” A deep voice called out. The circle of deminites who had kept their distance from Skye backed off even further as a tall man adorned in black armor strolled into the arena. His long dark hair covered part of his face, but Captain Khazan recognized his pale countenance.
----- “I know that one,” he muttered, “he fought in Xaelon when this whole mess started! He’s one of the generals.”
----- “General?” Lex said. “So then, I take it that you’re ‘Horror.’ The leader of this god-forsaken army.”
----- “Doesn’t matter who he is,” Shinsuke asserted, “You and the others take Captain Khazan back to General Alvion’s position, Cortelloni and I will cover you!” He motioned his fist as if to throw a punch, and at once the cold currents which encircled his hands flew out towards the armored figure.
----- Horror raised a single hand to meet the attack; a ball of fire formed amidst his fingers and blocked the ice beam. Hissing steam flew out as the ice was nullified, leaving an unscathed Horror to smile coldly at the Sentinel’s efforts.
----- “Why do I have to be the one to stay behind? I thought I told you…not! To! Give! Me! Orders!” Cortelloni sent out a violent wave of telekinetic force with each yell, ripping apart the ground in front of him as the abnormal concussions took off.
----- Each successive hit pushed the General back; the pleasing sound of broken bones filled the air as Horror’s left arm was bent backwards—part of his right shoulder snapped next, and his ribs appeared to cave in as a TK wave crashed into his chest with no resistance.
----- Horror smiled as his shoulder wiggled and slithered back into place. His chest and arm cracked as he stretched out his body and clenched his fist. In seconds there were no longer any visible injuries on his body.
----- “That doesn’t work on you I see.” Cortelloni remarked, pulling out his handgun. “How about we do this the old fashioned way!?”
----- A new image appeared in Michael’s head; rapidly his sight diminished and he lost track of his surroundings, losing himself in a flurry of blurry images that gradually came to light. His heart began to pound as he saw his parents, heard the gun shots. He heard the laughter of underworld crime bosses, cackling and huffing as they played with human lives. He saw the dark, lifeless streets, the polluted neighborhoods of lowtown, the bloodied knifes, and the terrified victims. Chaotic images poured in, stringing together to form some kind of coherent thought that made his head reel back in pain.
----- “What the hell…what the hell are you doing to me!?” Cortelloni yelled. His finger graced the trigger, but his aim fell to the floor, and despite all of his efforts he couldn’t raise the firearm. His trigger finger became loose, and soon even his ability to stand started to falter.
----- “Such pain.” Horror exclaimed. Another of Lara’s projectiles came by and ripped Horror’s arm off, but the General did not grimace or show any sign of care—his eyes remained on the struggling Cortelloni. “You’ve been through such horrors. Things that have defined your very life.” The severed limb lifted itself into the air and reconnected with his shoulder.
----- Cortelloni saw the death of his parents, saw them murdered in cold blood. It was the ultimate truth about life in the criminal underworld, the ultimate fate of those who worked with people that could buy human lives. “What right do you have to my past!? You have no right to judge me! None of that has defined who I am, I am…who I am, you know nothing of me…God damn it I am not the kind of weakling who lets his life be ruled by something like that!” The images of his parents disappeared; he lifted the gun and pulled the trigger in one motion.
----- Horror’s head flew back as the bullet drilled through his skull. “I see…I suppose I misjudged you. But it is an illusion that you hold on to, that you can separate yourself from the past that ultimately defines you. You’re not immune to it; you’re just stubbornly opposed to it.” He looked down at Cortelloni and smiled, completely ignoring the bloody hole in his forehead.
----- “You can fucking go to hell!” Cortelloni replied sternly, his eyes suddenly recognizing the Drekis minions that were encircling them.
----- “Too many of them, there’s just too damn many!” Lara cried.
----- “Raisa belongs to us now,” Horror said gruffly, “And so shall the rest of Cretalia, and Khazan, in due time.”
----- A tremendous shadow was cast over the valley. Deminite and human alike raised their heads and peered through the smoke of fallen mecha to catch sight of the unexpected ship. Neither side could recognize the vessels design, for it was like a giant, slender spider descending from the clouds. The haze of smoke gave way to the ships descent, and before anyone could react to its presence there came a shower of missiles that swarmed out from the vessel; the weapons hit the Drekis bio-ships with pin-point accuracy, blowing many of them into small, pulsing pieces that rained down onto the deminites and soldiers underneath.
----- Energy beams spewed out next in the form of lethal cutting beams that slashed their way through the Drekis legions. The assault was a blinding affair as the multiple beams swayed and circled around to engulf most of the battlefield. When Captain Khazan and the others could afford to look up, the ship was already overhead, hovering ominously in place.
----- A large saucer descended from the center of the insect-like cruiser; the platform approached the ground quickly and slowed to a stop only when it had skimmed the surface.
----- “What is this?” Lexington asked, looking at the platform suspiciously.
----- “Looks like an invitation to come on board.” Captain Khazan remarked. Without hesitation he boarded the platform and stood firm upon it.”
----- “Captain, what are you doing?” Shinsuke said. “We don’t know whose ship that is. We can’t…”
----- “It’s a chance to escape certain death!” he quickly replied. “They’ve worn us out…we need to regroup. And if we have any potential allies here, then I need to speak with them personally! Now all of you, get on board!”
----- “Better than dying here.” Cortelloni exclaimed as he threw himself onto the platform.
----- Lara, Lex, and Shinsuke jumped onto the saucer just as it began to ascend. Spiteful deminites began to throw fireballs at the escaping heroes, but the wrath of the mysterious ship’s beam weapons soon silenced all that attempted to hinder their flight.
----- Unmoved by the demonstration, Horror gazed up at the spider-shaped cruiser and pulled the bullet out of his skull. “Very well, go if you must. There’s no place on the nexus where you can hide from us.”
----- As the saucer neared the ship, Lex willingly collapsed onto his back and took in a deep breath. He smiled slightly as he covered his beating heart with his hands. “Deus Ex Machina,” He whispered.
----- Michael Cortelloni looked up at the underbelly of the spider; he frowned as he saw the familiar emblem—that tiresome skull. “No…” he said, “its much, much worse.”

----- The sounds of battle vanished when the platform reconnected. The heroes looked around anxiously, trying to quickly discern potential allies from potential enemies. They were in the ship’s docking bay, which was clear enough, but the design of the ship was unidentifiable. The bay was littered with a kind of mech that no one had seen before; they were similar in many respects to the designs of KOMBG weaponry, but they were modified heavily to rely on aerial movements and quick directional maneuvers. The only other kind of vehicle in the bay was a large tank which sat idly in the corner.
----- “I believe I recognize that particular contraption.” Shinsuke said.
----- “I’m sure you do.” Cortelloni spat out. “This ship belongs to those damn Marauders.”
----- “This is a Marauder ship!?” Lexington said as he looked around. “Must be a new one then, ‘cause I didn’t recognize anything about it. Are you sure?”
----- “Yeah.” Cortelloni replied. A door opened with a small hiss as a tall, muscular man entered the bay. Cortelloni groaned as the man approached; he didn’t recognize the gold-plated bands around his arms or the new set of white clothing, but he could never forget the x-shaped tattoo under his neck. “Razor. You just don’t know when to die.”
----- “Traitorous bastard!” Razor uttered as he felt the scars on his face. “I would very much like to finish what we started back in Zel’Myas. Unfortunately, you weren’t brought here to fight. There is someone here who would like to meet with you people.”
----- Captain Khazan rushed ahead as Razor turned to head for the door. “Wait, what about the others down below. We just can’t sit up here while they continue to fight!”
----- “Those others?” Razor pondered. “Oh, you must mean those inconsequential fools in the battle. They are not our concern.”
----- “Not our concern!” Captain Khazan yelled. “How dare you…!”
----- “Anything you want to say, you can say to him.” Razor retorted, walking through the doorway.
----- With little options left to them, the heroes cautiously followed the Marauder through the silvery halls of the ship. They found themselves being led to the bridge, a circular chamber with many seats and consoles. In the center of them all was one large chair, and in it sat Toc Darkone, already turned to greet them. At his side were the Unsubtle and Izohn Falaris, as well as several others that they did not recognize.
----- “Ah, I see you all made it aboard.” Toc said slyly. “You had me worried there for a second Captain Khazan. I was pretty sure you were going to die there on that battlefield.”
----- “You scum!” Lexington shouted. He began to run towards the Marauder leader, but Captain Khazan restrained him with one arm.
----- “Wait! Darkone I demand to know why you pull us aboard but refuse to give aid to the soldiers below.”
----- “Captain, what are you talking about?” Lara asked.
----- “The ship is moving away.” Shinsuke explained. “Ever since we boarded the vessel we’ve been leaving Cretalia.”
----- “You noticed?” Toc said with a slight smile. “Gazra, perhaps you should tell them.”
----- The hooded man to Toc’s right stepped forward. “We’ve been watching the battle from a distance for some time. Although you’ve probably been too busy to notice, most of your Sentinels have already died in action. Your situation was hopeless.”
----- “But there were still others alive down there!” Captain Khazan shouted.
----- “Not important to us.” Toc exclaimed. “If we had stayed to help every pathetic soul down there we might have been shot down. Conversely, by simply saving the best of the best, we now have a chance to accomplish something that could save many more lives in the future. At least, that’s how you should look at it. For me, it simply means that I rescued the ones who could actually be of some use to us.”
----- “What the hell are you talking about you freak!” Lex barked. The light of the Swiftrune began to appear as he took another step forward.
----- “Easy Lexington,” Captain Khazan said, “let him talk for now.”
----- “It’s understandable.” Toc said as he pressed the tips of his fingers together. “The Maniacals have never had a very good relationship with my syndicate.”
----- “That’s an understatement Toc,” Lex responded, “We’ve been trying to kill you for months.”
----- “Yes I know who you are, and I know of that underground group within the Maniacals…what were they called…ah yes, the Reavers. They’re gaining quite a following aren’t they.”
----- “Enough of this,” Shinsuke said, “You need to tell us why you brought us here right now. And it better be worth the sacrifice of thousands of human lives and a small child, but somehow…I doubt it!” He raised his open palm towards Toc and gathered freezing currents through his hand.
----- Razor, Gazra, Izohn Falaris, and the Unsubtle were quick to jump in front of their leader, but Toc calmly waved them back to their previous positions. “Really now. Are you such a fool that you would attack me with ice? And if you are worried about the child, then your fears are unfounded. Izohn?”
----- The masked Marauder looked down at a computer screen, “It would seem that Jones’ Raider is returning. He’ll be boarding within the next minute.”
----- “Punctual as ever.” Toc remarked.
----- “What’s the meaning of this?” Shinsuke questioned. “We need answers Toc, or so help me I’ll freeze this whole bridge to bring the ship down right now!”
----- “I think the recent battle has gone to your head,” Toc snapped, “The purpose of this little gathering here is not to bicker. Quite the opposite in fact. I wish to assemble an unlikely alliance of sorts, a deal if you will.”
----- “Us, work with your kind?” Lexington scowled.
----- “Believe me, the feeling is mutual. However, I believe we could benefit from such a…temporary partnership. We could topple a mutual enemy; an enemy that I don’t believe can be stopped unless the collective powers on this planet come together in some way.”
----- The bridge door opened and the dark haired Roy Jones emerged. Next to the Marauder pilot stood Natsumi Shirai who was shivering alongside her three Sikigami.
----- “Natsumi! You’re alright!” Lara shouted, running towards the child.
----- “The same cannot be said for General Alvion,” Roy Jones added, “by the time my mech swooped down there most of the soldiers engaged with the Saramach had been killed. Quite a mess indeed. This girl was the only empowered person left that I could see.”
----- “What?” Lara cried as she held Natsumi’s shoulders. “What about all of the other Sentinels…Rawlin, all the others.”
----- “Gone, as far as I could tell.” Roy responded casually. Placing his hands in his pocket, he walked towards the front of the bridge and took his place next to the Unsubtle. “By now the Drekis legions have probably crushed most of your allies.”
----- “I have one question then,” Captain Khazan interjected, “Why are you helping us at all? Why do you think some sort of alliance is necessary?”
----- “I have been keeping my eye on these Drekis creatures ever since the war started,” Toc explained, “Some of our esteemed companions hacked the data that the GDF gave your government, and from there I read what little information they had on Drekis himself. In any case, I began to observe them over the past month, and as I did so I recognized something important about them. I’m sure you recognized it as well, didn’t you rune sorcerer?”
----- Lex staggered back, the light of the Swiftrune quickly fading as he slanted his head curiously. “Me? What the hell are you…wait, you mean about them having no souls?”
----- “They have no souls?” Captain Khazan said.
----- “That is correct,” Toc stated, “Those creatures, aside from the Generals that lead them, have no souls. In all honesty this could mean many things, but from what I’ve observed I’d say that these monsters are no mere creation. I believe that the Drekis empire is, in a matter of speaking, Drekis himself.”
----- “Now you’re not making any sense.” Michael huffed.
----- Gazra clenched an armored fist in Cortelloni’s direction, “Don’t you dare question him! Especially not you, Ragemaster!”
----- “Enough!” Toc asserted. Gazra promptly stepped back and bowed his head apologetically. “As I was saying, I believe that each and every deminite is, in part, a piece of Drekis. No doubt they were created through some sort of Chaos magic, but the creatures themselves have an unholy amount of chaotic energy flowing through them. Now, far be it for me to judge the machinations of the Avatar of Chaos, as I myself have always favored the Void, but it would seem that Drekis has split his power among entire armies for the purpose of overwhelming you.”
----- “Interesting theory,” Captain Khazan admitted, “But where do we come in? How does this theory of yours help us at all?”
----- “Isn’t it obvious Captain? If each of the minions contains a minute fraction of Drekis’ power, and you kill such a minion, it stands to reason that their borrowed power returns to its source. Once that happens, it would be a simple task to delegate this energy to new minions. In short, you’re fighting losing battles because his armies aren’t just vast, they’re infinite.”
----- “I get it now,” Lex said, scratching his chin, “The Khazan armies can’t beat the Drekis Legions because they’ll never dwindle. So if we want to stop this…”
----- “We have to take down Drekis himself.” Captain Khazan finished.
----- “Good, you’re not entirely shortsighted.” Toc declared. “Now, it just so happens that we’ve discovered some nice information regarding events in Axia.”
----- Izohn nodded as he threw a small computer pad into Captain Khazan’s hands. “The queen of Axia has the right idea. She too is gathering a team of heroes that are preparing to venture into the Endless Caves and find Drekis. Our ship is heading in the direction of Axia Prime right now; if we’re on schedule we should arrive in time to participate in their meeting.”
----- “You want all of us and them to go on a suicide hunt down in the caves!?” Cortelloni exclaimed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Just exploring the Endless Caves is an exercise in futility.”
----- “Despite his pessimism, the man does have a point.” Shinsuke interrupted. “Why should we let you and the other Marauders go on this mission? Why not leave it to the forces that have gathered in Axia?”
----- Toc grinned as he gestured towards the Unsubtle. “Because, we have someone here who has walked through Drekis’ lair. We have someone…who has seen Drekis himself.”