Scorpio Cycle Book Two: Tale of the Pheonix --> 2 - A New B

[SS_Death]

Major appologies about making a repost of this but I can't delete the old one. Was unhappy with the way I began this before so I have instituted a total rewrite. As such I can now post more chapters.

Ok, major appologies for the delay. Friend in need...don't ask...

Without further aideu, here it is...

Prologue - Death and Rebirth

I floated in nothingness, darkness all around me. I had given me life so that they may live, yet something was calling me back. It seemed that the gods must yet have a use for me for I found myself drifting on an unseen current, drifting towards a pin point of light, the light of life...

As my optical sensors came to life I found myself looking at a plain grey surface, a small lighting panel was loated a little to the left. I surmised that it was a ceiling which meant I was lying down...sitting up at first left me disorientated, the balance correction wasn't fully online yet. Moments passed and slowly my systems reactivated, one by one allowing me to leave the workbench I had been lying on and explore this place...

It appeared to be a lab or perhaps a workshop of some sort. Various pieces of equipment lay on benches around the edges of the room, one holding a large reflective plate. I picked it up and used it as an improtue mirror, I was surprised as the reflection that greeted me was not my own...my head looked thye same as always yet the rest of my body had changed. Where as once I had been stocky and built only for power and endurance, now I seemed more, for want of a better word, balanced...more like a human would be. It seemed from my estimateds that I had retained my height though, still about seven foot, the accepted maximum height for a HUcast. The next thing I noticed was the small circular section id holder located in my chest plate. Where as once a small red syumbol had denoted me as assined to the redria section now a orange one showed I was part of oran...

"Your section id has changed because so too have you"

I turned to look for the source of the voice, yet I found none

"The time for Shinigami has ended. You are the pheonix now, Hououza"

as the words echoed in my head a memory tugged at my mind, a name from long ago

"...Sakura..."

the voice let out a tiny laugh

"It is good to know I am remebered, even now"

"ShinAkuma never forgave himself for what happened to you...he still blames himself..."

there was a terrible sadness in her voice when she next spoke

"I know...yet it was my time. Nothing could have changed that for it was meannt to be. Perhaps he will come to understand this in time"

there was a brief pause, it was then I choose to ask the most important question of all...

"Why am I here?"

"The Dark Force Stirs once more"

if I had been human those words woulfd have chilled me to the bone

"I cannot not believe this! After everything that was done...I had thought that when I had sacrificed myself Dark Falz had been destroyed along with me!

"He was, yet the Dark Force had a second host...a man named Heathcliff Flowen. He was infected sepoerately and became the creature known as Olga Flow"

I could feel the rage bubbling inside me, all those souls sacrificed and for what?

"So they all died for nothing...everyone who gave their lives died in vain..."

"No. They died for a cause they believed in, Ricco's soul was set free and the beast that was Dark Falz was destroyed"

"What does any of that matter if another remains?"

"Olga Flow is different, the will of the Dark Force lay within its first embodyment, Dark Falz. Olga Flow, though a formidable foe is merely a shadow of its true self. In order for the Dark Force to revive fully it must once more regain the remains of Dark Falz and absorb the power buried there. Then it will be strong enough to escape its prison and all that is shall end..."

I would not allow that to happen, I could not! Too many had given their lives too let this come to pass. Their vengance would be served by my hand...

"What do I have to do?"

"You will return to Pioneer 2, then you will go to the area in the lower sections known as the Lab. They will put you through tests and once you have passed them they will give you access to a new area of the surface of Ragol, the island of Gal Dal Vie. From there you should be able to find a way down to the place where Olga Flow waits, far beneath the ocean waves..."

"I understand...now, what will I do for a weapon?"

"Your sword lies resting at your 'grave', although it was damaged in the explosion it still burns with power...energy drawn in from Dark Falz death throes, power to slay Olga Flow and end this once and for all..."

"What about a mag?"

"Its original form was destroyed in that same explosion, however like you it has been revived"

there was a small beep from behind me and I turned to come face to face with a small balck mag

"It's memories have been transferred to it's new form. Although it is unevolved it retains all the battle experience gained and it's bond to you. All that you must do is evolve it's body until it retruns to what it was"

I turned back and it floated to its station at my left shoulder, just like it had been when we first began...

"Everything else that had belonged to Death now lies in stasis lock and cannot be accessed for the next five hundred years in accordance with the Hunter's code. You will have to get the basic equipment from the Hunter's guild when you re-enroll and built yourself up from there. Good luck..."

the room around me began to fade, in moments it was gone completely and all around was a great light. It flashed for a moment, obscuring my sight. When it faded I stood in front of the entrance to a branch of the Hunter's Guild.

Now it was time for my life to begin again...

PS. Third book is under way in the background as well.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SS_Death on 2003-06-10 14:52 ]</font>

[SS_Death]

Chapter 2 here. Chapter 3 and 4 will hopefully be hot on its heels. If you like what your reading then please speak up! Nothing an author likes to hear more than praise from their readers

2 - A New Beginning

I was once again enrolled into the Hunter Guild. As such I had been re-issued with a saber and frame as well as five monomate, five monofluid and 500 messeta. The monofluid I would simply sell, they were of little use to an android, with the money I was able to purchase a barrier from the arms shop. Now equipped I moved on to the next leg of my journey, the Hunter's cemetery...

It was rare for a hunter's body to be found and quite often there was nothing to bury. Because of this the cemetery did not contain graves, instead it contained a series of name plates. Each one held the personnal data of a hunter who had died in the service of the guild including an inscription, often written by friends or family. My plaque was near the rear of the room, those at the front had died long ago, around the time Pioneer 2 had first departed. The ones at the back were mostly casualties from the battle against the Dark Force, mine being the second to last plate. Below it was a gold plate with three words engraved upon it

'Red Ring Ricco'

nothing else. Every hunter knew her name and the sacrifice that had to be made...it was then an object caught my attention, it was partially hidden into a corner of the wall. I drew it out and found myself once more gripping my sword...I could feel the power within it still, the lust for destruction I had once shared. I put the weapon away, it's siren call clouding my mind. As I left I turned to look at the plate that bore what had once been my name...

'Death'

it was strange seeing my old name again, it felt as ifit was part of another world not simply another life...

'In life he was forever at war. In death he found his peace.'

that was engraved beneath the name, I assumed that ShinAkuma must have put it there, although there was some irony in the fact that I was not yet to be allowed that peace. I turned and left, no longer dwelling on old memories, I had a mission and that was all that mattered...

In the two weeks that had passed since my demise and the destruction of the dark force much had changed. As soon as the party had returned following the defeat of Dark Falz all access to the surface had been prohibited and all the military had been on constant standby. This meant there was no way I could reach the surface directly, once more this turned my mind back to Sakura's words and the 'lab' she had mentioned. While in the guild I had overheard a few conversations mentioning it and the fact that they were recruiting hunters for so called 'special missions'. Supposedly it was located in the government sector under offices of the Principal, closer to the underside of the ship. That particular area was seldom frequented by hunters, although it seemed that there had been many more heading in and out of there of late. Enough even that the guild had opened a branch down there, only one, but more than sufficient to fullfill everyones needs.

I spent the next few days making discreet enquiries. I learned that the hunters being recruited were often high ranks or very experienced. As a level 1 I had little chance of being selected...this would mean I would need to get back to a more suitable level beforehand. With access to the surface all but cut off that left only a single option...the combat simulators.

This one was located in the oran sector, I had chosen this one in part because it was the closest. It was far more busy than I had expected, the teleport suspension was hitting hard. The only way to keep on form was the simulators so everyone was desperately trying to catch some time in them. Control of these was done from a main lobby, a large open room with a central information desk which had four staff handling the access to the simulators themselves, and a series of small information terminals around the edge of the room allowing hunters to view the current rosters and view their rankings.

When I approached the desk there was a purple HUceasal on duty, when I asked her if there were any slots available for a lone hunter she pressed a few keys and an image appeared in front of me

"Hmmm...let's see...£"

she began typing a series of commands causiong squares on the display to light up. From what I could tell this seemed to be the timetable for allthe simulator rooms

"We have a slot in room 5 now, then in about two hours in room 7, then 30 minutes after that in room 15...I can give you about eighteen hours straight so long as you don't mind switching rooms all the time"

I nodded, eighteen hours was an impressive feet based on how busy it was. She filled in the bookings and then the screen disappeared

"I'll contact you when the time in each room is over and open a teleport to your next one, ok? It should keep your progress each time so don't worry about having to go back"

"Thanks"

"Don't worry about it...by the way, your not really a level 1 are you?"

"I am now. I was level 200 before..."

"I see. Good luck"

she opened the teleporter for me and I entered the first area, a simulation of the forests surrounding what had been the central dome. I opened the few crates near me and moved into the next room...

By this time I was approaching the end of forest 1, in that time I had leveled twice as well as finding a slightly better saber on the way. My mag had now advanced to its second form and had re-learned his first photon blast, farlla. A savage wolf leapt from the undergrowth at me, disrupting my thoughts. I stpped sideways as it pounced and drove my saber into the soft flesh of its underbelly. The creature let out a howl of pain before collapsing at my feet, no sooner had it done so it began to fade. In the simulator enemies disappeared after they were killed leaving only a small bloody patch to denote that they were ever there. I used the momentry lull in the fighting to open the remaining crates in the room, these yielded another monomates and a shield. I equipped this in favour of the barrier and went on to the the next room. On entering the teleport to forest 2 flickered into life, as I advanced on it two boomas emerged, the creatures making their unmistakeable cry before moving to attack me. That had been all the time I needed, the first booma died as soon as it had ceased growling, the second moments later. I was used to fighting their evolved counterparts, bartles. Those were far faster and stronger than a booma yet still as stupid. Before entering the teleporter I checked my mapo to confirm I had scoured the whole area, seeing it was all clear I stepped forward and waited as it began to load forest 2...

The second area was much like the first, baring the fact that this area included hildebears on top of the other creatures. By the time I reached the final teleporter I had gained an additional two levels, this now ranked me as level 5. I didn't doubt that I could defeat the dragon, having beaten its advanced form in iots unevolved state it should be simple...it wasn't. When the dragon first landed I advanced on it, intending to take out its legs. Sufficient blows would cause it to fall meaning it could be struck in the head, its most vulnerable point. It went well but after the third time it roared and took to the skies, I immediately cursed the fact I was not yet able to wield a handgun. Then it turned into a dive and began its tunneling attacks. I barely missed being caught by it twice, the final time I used one of its burrow holes for cover. Then it re-emerged and I decided it was time to end this, a mighty blow sent it to the floor once more and a determined assault finished the beast off. Its huge bulk slowly began to fade as the chime indicating I had increased in level sounded. With a few more moments tro spare before the first room change I decided to port out and visit the shops, my inventory was nearing full and there were various things I needed to buy. When I arrived back in the lobby a figure caught my attention, standing at the counter was none other than my old friend, ShinAkuma. He looked a little different from when I had last seen him, his hair was no longer held up but now was tied in a long ponytail drapped down his back. His eyes were different too, where once there had been a great and honest determination now there was a terrible emptyness...almost like there had been when Sakura had died. Then in an instant he was gone, none the less I knew that something was very, very wrong with my old friend...

[blazeking240]

awsome cant w8 for chapter 3

[SS_Death]

Without further adue chapter 3

3 - Helplessness

At first after the defeat of Dark Falz and my death, ShinAkuma had spent his days in various bars across Pioneer 2. He was wracked by guilt that he had been forced to stand there and watch, unable to help as I had overloaded my power core dealing Dark Falz the final blow. He had carried my only remains, my sword and the burned out shell of my mag, from the scene. The sword he left at my grave, a mark of respect for my sacrifice. The mag, or rather what remained of it, he brought to the central guild office. It was placed in my storage unit along with the remained of of my personnal effects and placed in stasis lock.

Duty fullfilled he had gone and deposited all, his equipment, took out a huge wad of messeta and proceeded to the nearest bar to get drunk. He had gone out like that for almost fourteen days when RY0K0 had found him. By this time ShinAkuma was showing signs of exhaustion, there were dark circles under his eyes not to mention the small veins around the pupils were red and swolen. Without a word RY0K0 had taken up the chair facing him. He remained silent, waiting for ShinAkuma to respond...

"I can't do this anymore"

RY0K0 remained silent, content to listen. ShinAkuma obviously needed to talk and so he was going to listen

"Both of them...twice...twice I have watched those close to me die and could do nothing to prevent it...so now I am going out there one last time..."

the tone of his voice had already set RY0K0 on edge, this was not the ShinAkuma he knew speaking. It was as if it were a whole other person, ShinAkuma had never been so dark and serious in all the time that RY0K0 had known him. He was broken from his contemplation by the sound of the ShimAkuma's chair scrapping backwards along the floor

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to start training again...I heard that someone is recruiting hunters again and I want to be ready..."

he stood up and left. It was in that same state I had seen him at the Hunter Guild, there was a terrible pain in his eyes, one that I had only seen before when she had died...

As he entered the forest and entered the first room the difference in his fighting was immediately apparent...where as before his attacks had been controlled and precise, now they were wild and uncontrolled. He was taking serious risks without a second thought, the state he was in meant he no longer cared about his own life. By the time he reached the end he was bleeding from a dozen small wounds, yet there was a fire in his eyes, a fire that had not been there before...

"So Death, this is now you must have felt...uncontrolled fury consuming you...an endless need to attone driving your every action..."

he let out a manical laugh

"It seems we are more alike that you thought...does this mean that I will also suffer your fate?"

yet no answer came to him. To his knowledge I had already passed onto the next world, no answer would come to his question except maybe in death itself...

After ShinAkuma had departed RY0K0 had left as well, he had gone to see the final member of the team, Tim...since this had all begun Tim had been spending his time with the elder newmans. Although he had all but mastered the highest level techniques he could still not reach the 30th level. Day after day was spend in meditation, trying to find the power within himself to breach that final level. It was interrupted when a young newman girl entered the meditation chamber

"Elder Tim, there is a HUmar here wishing to speak to you. He says it is something about another HUmar named ShinAkuma"

immediately on hearing that name Tim reacted, he made his appologies to the elders and went to see what was wrong. RY0K0 was waiting outside, he had never felt comfortable around forces. Tim was somewhat of an exception to this, he didn't radiate the same superior attitude that many forces had.

"So, what's up with Shin?"

RY0K0 nearly jumped when Tim appeared silently beside him

"He's gone...I don't know how to explain it. I think he intends to die but doesn't intend to simply commit suicide..."

Tim remained silent trying to understand the significance of these words

"Have you heard that someone has started recruiting Hunters again...Shin attends to try and join them and...and I think we should too"

"I agree"

RY0K0 hadn't expected that. Tim had made that statement without any hesitation, not something that one would expect from the quiet force. Nodding the two of them headed off, first they needed to get in some training time. They could find ShinAkuma and try and turn him away from this dreadful path, a team was till a team, no matter if they were missing one of their members. There was still a cause to fight for and at least this way they would be fighting together...