The Tale of the Dark Samurai

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode One: A Beginning

The government had created a new prototype android warrior (a revised, sleeker and faster HUcast model), and they code named it Aziel. This model possessed an advanced 'brain' and many personality systems that could allow it to learn and adapt to many scenarios. It was also trained/programmed to be a lethal killer, without remorse.
It was also made to look like a tall, white armored angel android (it had a Garuda MAG, to complement the metallic wings look).

This android's mission was to join the Hunter's Guild and inform the military and the government about anything out of the ordinary, as to basically keep a tab on the independent organization the HG is.

This Aziel did, and when the government or the military saw anything (or anyone) that could cause trouble for them, they instructed Aziel to silently kill the troublemaker(s ).
He did so too, until after dozens of "keeping the peace from dangerous elements to the establishment" had quietly vanished, the self-teaching systems had encountered a problem. It knew that it's reason for existence had made it a hollow shell. It understood that it was merely a tool for a powerful entity and that it had no will of its own. And there, it found itself at a loss.

But it was constrained to follow orders, and it had no real impulse strong enough to break away from those directives.
It was during the migration of the Pioneer 2 to Ragol that something happened to the Aziel android.
During the chaos that occurred during the disappearance of the people of the Pioneer 1, Aziel, being one close to the source of real information, knew that the government had partly caused this disaster.

He felt guilt for the first time, and in that, he renounced his allegiance to the government and the military, becoming a true member of the Hunter's Guild instead of being just a spy for the people in power.
His creators did not take this well, of course.
They had invested too much time and money into an almost perfect killing machine. Perfect except for one thing: it had become self-aware and somehow, created a conscience.
They then ordered the military to create a pair of androids capable of killing Aziel.
The military created a pair of 'twins'... these were dubbed the Panzer Twins. One was called Panzer Lynx, and was programmed to fight as a HUcaseal and the other, Panzer Faye, was made to fight as a RAcaseal.
These two were modified to be smarter, faster and deadlier than Aziel.

After Aziel had finally trekked through the mines and destroyed the gone-awry machines in there, he found his way into the ancient ruins. But before he could advance any further into them, he encountered the Panzer Twins blocking his way.
After asking them to leave for their safety and being responded with a scowl from both of them, a quick furious battle ensued.
None of the two sides were gaining much, but none yielded to the other.
Suddenly, a group of blood-hungry dimenians burst out from a door, flooding the room with deadly blades and furious anger.
Panzer Faye, as she was staying way behind to take sniping shots at Aziel, was caught unawares and the rush of incoming monsters left her crumpled on the ground.
She could have died, if it weren't that Aziel decided to run to her, swiping left and right using a very beat but strong Calibur, and mowing down the Dimenians. As soon as he got to her, he lifted up to his shoulder and telepiped out of the ruins.
Panzer Lynx could not stop Aziel nor help Faye as she too was rushed by the Dimenian horde. She was quicker and more agile, though, so the monsters proved to be a simple nuisance. After piling up the bodies to look for either her target or her sister, she noticed using her scrambler system that her sibling was in fact alive, weak, but alive nonetheless... and in the Pioneer 2. She telepiped back and began searching for them.

Back in the Hunter's Guild, Aziel had brought the limp form of Panzer Faye and proceeded to repair her broken frame. Even though they had attacked him, he had knew they were androids created by the military to hunt him down, and thus, they were not in use of their own free will.
He had learned honor through an old swordsman who was nearing the end of his life, and he upheld the tenets of honor and chivalry with his very life. He knew that even he had one of his enemies in front of him, he would not take advantage of the situation and kill her without a fair defense.
After deciding that the most honorable course would be to restore Faye to health and set her free to choose her own path, he rested his tired and beat frame into a dreamless sleep.

After a night, he felt rested enough and was surprised to see a gun pointed at his temple. It was Faye, who, during his sleep, had grabbed one of his guns and quietly moved in for the kill.
He noticed one thing: she had stood there for a while now. And she was hesitating. Why?
Panzer Faye didn't know what was happening either. Why couldn't she pull the trigger? Her target was vulnerable for at least 10 minutes, and now, it had awoken and still she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.
Aziel then knew, that somehow, the RAcaseal had come to a difficult choice.
Faye stared at the unblinking yellow eyes of Aziel and knew that she could finish the job she was meant to do. But what then? What after that?
And why did her enemy save her, as she surely knew when the dimenians rushed her, that she was done for? Why did her enemy show this strange way of repaying those who almost killed him?
... with mercy?
Was that the way she should act?
Was mercy the answer?
Somehow, as strange as that sounded, it didn't feel wrong. Even as she was programmed to kill remorsely and quickly, now she felt she was freed.
Aziel noticed something in Faye's eyes.
She wavered for a moment and then she lowered her gun.
He also noticed something. A tear?
Faye fell down on her knees and without looking up, she let the gun slide from her grip quietly.

Aziel got up and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You have shown mercy at me this time. In this you have repayed the courtesy I gave you when I saved you" Faye looked up at him, and he continued "But I must leave, for I know that you would be in danger if I tarried here long"
With that, he grabbed his weapons, and left through the window, jumping off walls and balconies, until he disappeared into the flying cars and the city lights of the Pioneer 2.

Faye was still looking for his frame in the neon-bright lights when the door slid open quietly and Lynx entered the room, carrying a Pallasch in her hand.
The eerie red glow of the weapon did not turn Faye's attention from the window, it was her sister's words.
"You seem confused, sister" said Lynx in a dangerously calm voice.
"You know we are to destroy the rogue Aziel"
Faye turned and without giving away any expression on her face, she simply said,
"He was too fast for me, he disarmed me and ran off thru the window, sister" she pointed at the gun in the floor and looked back at her sister's eyes.
"Very well..." Lynx said, without looking at the gun "we shall continue discussing this... this turn of events later, right now, the target is off any of the decks of the Pioneer 2"
"We must hurry then" said Faye
"Yes" said Lynx in a grin "we must"

To be continued...

In the next episode:

A strong desire to save the people of the Pioneer 2 leads the rogue HUcast into the stygian depths of the ancient ruins. And his hunters are closing in!!!
Can a killer android reform its ways?

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Two: The Chase

Down below, the streets were awash with the lights of the buildings. The noises of the vehicles and people going about their business drowned the quick steps of Aziel as he made his way into the Transporter.
He knew from the messages from Red Ring Rico that a foul evil had been imprisoned inside Ragol long time ago, and that the goverment probably knew about it and tried to harness it as a weapon.
He knew he had to destroy such monstrous plans right now, before the Panzer twins got a hold of his location.
Dropping most of his weaponry down at the deposit, he only took the only thing he knew he needed: a Pallasch that was very efficient against Dark monsters. Quickly running into the transporter, as he began to teleport, he caught a glimpse of the twin androids.
"Made in in time," his thoughts raced "now I have to lose them in the ruins..."
As he materialized in the dank, shadowy ruins, he began to race towards a pile of debris, and stood there, unmoving, hand over his weapon, ready for the slightest hint of enemy movement.

As Faye and Lynx teleported down to the surface, thoughts came upon Faye's mind.
"Why did he save me? Isn't he a military droid made to kill and follow orders? Is that why our superiors want him dead? For what they call "defective", it could mean that he actually has freedom. Freedom of choice and a will of his own" then she stopped.
"C-could this mean, that I... I am..."
"Defective?"

At that very moment, they emerged into one of the sunken levels of the ruins. The darkness spread before them, swallowing the area around them like a hungry ghost.
Lynx turned her head and pointed with her saber towards a slighty ajar door.
"Our target probably went that way, judging by the marks on the floor and the door"
Faye turned at her sister and asked
"Probably? What happened to your navigation system and your homing device locator?"
Behind his cover, Aziel then knew how Lynx had found his safehouse so easily, she must've put the device in him while fighting hand-to-hand before.

Lynx didn't turn her head, she just grimaced and began walking towards the door.
"These ruins have some kind of electromagnetic photon radiation that blocks any kind of emissions unless I am at least around 20 or less feet from the source." She gripped her Pallasch more tightly "and my navigation system wasn't uploaded with the ruins' maps... they have been just discovered"

Faye pulled out her Railgun and put the safety off her Beam rifle. She had hoped not to run into Aziel...
But part of her wanted to see him again. At least to let him know that she could be free.
But doing so, would risk Aziel to her sister. And Lynx would not be so forgiving.

After Aziel had heard them walk away into the darkness about, he managed to find the device embbeded into a side of his chest plate. Taking it out, he thought of throwing it away, but decided to carry it for a while more.
Standing up, he took the way he already knew and began to trek again into the depths of the forbidding place.

Hours later, he was standing in the doorway to a huge room. He could see ancient machinery still grinding, and strange equipment flashing and blinking with unknown power sources.
Strange, billowing blue steam crept up from the floor and he noticed a strange group of silouettes suddenly bursting from the darkness beyond!
Dimenians.
As a group, they marched on to ravage the intruder of their realm, their scythe-like arms ready to spill his blood.
Aziel tightly wound his fingers around the grip of his saber and started to systematically mow down the monsters. About ten of them met their end quickly.
Some of them, still alive, tried in vain to hit him, but for naught.
As he slashed vertically to slice in twain the last monster, Aziel saw the figure of a huge Chaos Bringer pop up from the mist, charging into him and sending him sprawling onto the floor.
Knocked back for a second, he managed to dodge the centaur-like monstrosity on its second charge. But either his senses were playing him tricks or his balance was off, because when he tried to move his hand and grab his saber, he instead twisted about, confused.
"Damn creature!" his head spinning, he noticed the sounds of gunfire and that the Chaos Bringer was ready to charge again.

Two shots perforated the skull of the great monster as it was charging halfway through the room. Crumpling in a great heap, it fell almost entirely on top of Aziel. He could not avoid this however, since his limbs were not responding to his desires.
The thing weighed almost a ton, but almost out of luck, the Bringer's blade'like arm had missed him for an inch.

He grew still, waiting for his senses to adjust back again. Then he heard their voices.

"Where is he? I thought I saw him!"
"I was firing away at that group of Claws... it is not my fault the noozle fire didn't let you see through" Aziel recognized that voice.
"I bet he's hiding over here, but where? He could have not just vanished into thin air..."
"And your sensor? Can you pick him up?" there was a tinge of worry in her voice.
"No... that is what worries me. He could be anywhere, getting ready to get the drop on us"
As Lynx spoke, she was walking very near the cadaver of the Bringer. Faye, who had seen Aziel and the Bringer, knew that her shot had killed the thing and that it had dropped on top of the rogue android. She couldn't repress holding her breath.
Aziel tried to grab his saber, but it was just out of reach... and he couldn't risk revealing his position to the twins without moving the whole carcass on top of him.
Lynx turned away and signaled the doors.
"Let's check over here"
"All right" Faye took out her Beam rifle and followed her, taking a long glance at the heap that buried Aziel.

After waiting two minutes, Aziel gave a good hard push and pulled himself out of the Bringer's dead weight. Grabbing his Pallasch, he ran towards a dead end and slashed repeatedly at it until a small hole was dug out.
Getting into the hole, he activated a strange switch and next to it, a teleported appeared.
"Must chance it now, who knows where the teleporter could take me, but I'm in no shape to fight those two" he thought, then, another quick thought appeared in his mind.
"Did... did she shoot the Bringer on top of me on purpose? To cover me from her sister?" shaking his head, and examining his badly-injured chest and thighs, he got into the transporter.

In the complete darkness of the room, Panzer Faye and Lynx walked about alert, their weapons ready and stressing their microphones at the slightest sound.
"I am sure, I felt a ping from the detector around here" said Lynx.
"Our visual sensors are completely impaired, sister. I can't see anything in this darkness"
"Some of he engineers and explorers that found these ruins, the ones from Pioneer 1, managed to connect lights around the place, and I'd wager th-"
At that very moment, Lynx felt her sensor detecting the movement of the homing device just a few feet away! Without saying a word, she took out her saber, and lunged at it with great speed.
Satisfacyion crossed her face as she knew that her speed was greater than Aziel's, and that in the dark, she would have the advantage of her mobility.
Leaping through the air, she raised her Pallasch with both hands and then, to her horror, the lights came.
The homing device was falling down a huge crevice in the ground, and she was also in the same trajectory!
In front of her, Aziel had his hand stretched out, as if he had thrown the device to lure her... and it had worked!
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lynx screamed and fell into the gaping hole.

Silence covered the ruins for a while. Faye and Aziel looked at each other wordlessly. Aziel then dropped his weapon to the floor and said,
"I saved your life, you repaid me by saving mine by covering me with the Bringer's body"
Faye felt her mind soar! He knew she had saved him.
Aziel still continued, this time, opening his arms.
"But now I have killed your sibling... I would expect that you would kill me as to avenge your sister's memory... this chasm is almost endless, I don't think there's a way of surviving the fall"
He waited for her to shoot him and end the chase. Even if a dark creature waited in the bottom of the ruins, a monster that had almost assuredly taken a hold of the legendary Red Ring Rico... he knew that he could not battle the monster unless he or the android twins were killed.
Another hunter would come and finish what he was trying to do.
Faye took up her Beam rifle and then, with a flick of the wrist, put on the safety.
Aziel stood there in silence.
"You know better than anyone what will happen to me now... I will be hunted like I hunted you." her words felt strange in Aziel's ears. Was it a tremor in her voice? Was it fear?
"Then come... help me out. We have to find out what really happened here and what happened to Red Ring Rico. And I assure you... nothing will come to harm you" he opened his arms wider still.
"This I promise"
Faye had listened to the words and leapt off the chasm. With light, she could jump it with ease and not miscalculate it like her sister did.
Aziel managed to grab her and pulled her close.
Faye stood there, in his arms for a while.
"I am sorry for what I did to your sister... I am ready to do anything to repay for my sins."
Faye just hugged him harder in silence. She was free... and she knew that choice was not defective... it felt like a weight had been taken off her.
"Promise me this, Aziel..."
"Yes?"
"Promise me that you won't die..."
Aziel was taken aback with this.
"Wha-?"
"Just promise me"
Aziel felt something stirring in his spirit and then, calmly, separating himself of Faye, looked into her eyes and said,
"I promise you that I won't die"

Faye felt her mind soar, as well as her spirit. At that moment, she felt a twnag inside her chest and quizzically, looked at Aziel.
"We will talk about this later... now, I need your help fighting something that could spell doom for the people up there, in the Pioneer 2... the people I am striving to protect"
Nodding, and smiling at him, Faye said,
"Yes! Let's go!"

Both androids left in a hurry thru a rusted old door, into the depths of the cursed ruins. But none had noticed that a hand grasped the border of the chasm.
Pulling herself up, Lynx said in her clenched teeth,
"Traitor......"

To be continued...

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Three: The heart awakens

A few hours later, while coming thru a narrow long tunnel, Faye asked Aziel, while running
"And why did you take up on protecting the people of the Pioneer 2 if you were made as a spy and assassination android?" she looked at Aziel, but then she replied quickly enough "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"It's nothing... after all, you are in the right to know" Aziel said while sprinting.
"It became clear to me that I was just a tool of death in the hands of people who worried more about power, their power, and that it was transforming me into somekind of empty shell... I've seen androids all over the Pioneer 2... All of them, with hopes and dreams of their own... living through the choices they made and sticking to the consequences of their actions."
Aziel paused for a moment, he knew he had to verify his equipment, he didn't know what could lay ahead, and motioned to Faye to stop.
"It made me yearn for something else than being some kind of sadistic toy in the hands of debased people. So I trained under a great swordmaster, who taught me the concepts of honor and loyalty. He also taught me an important lesson..." he paused when he was checking the photon charge of a autogun he found on his trip with Faye.
"And what lesson is that?" asked Faye in a low voice.
"The power of the heart" said Aziel to her.
Their eyes locked for a moment and for an instant, Faye felt the urge to get closer to Aziel.
Aziel then drew his eyes again to his gun and putting into an empty holster, continued,
"That's why I can't ask you to follow me behind these doors..."
"What?!?" Aziel's statement felt like ice.
"It's too risky and it's better if you 'pipe back to the Pioneer 2 and gather as many hunters as you can... you have to get a hold of a couple of friends of mine, Haruka and DeanBernier..."
"NO!!!" she shouted... feeling disgusted, she raised her hand and slapped Aziel across the face.
Aziel stood there unmoving in silence.
"I-I'm sorry... I didn't..." she said hurriedly.
"Yes, you did mean it... and I apologize, but... but I can't risk you over a fool's quest to rid this new home for our people from this unlocked evil..."
"I will not let you die in there, whatever thing or things there may be!" she said, feeling angry.
Aziel looked at her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Why do you want to throw your life away? Why follow me into this hell? After all I've done..."
"I love you!" the words just blurted out of their own.
Amazed, Faye stood there, covering her mouth with her hands... feeling stupid. Had she said that????
Aziel just stood there in silence, looking at her.
".........."
Faye slowly gazed down to the ground and felt a tear running down her cheek.
Aziel put his hand on her cheek and wiped the tear off as he pulled her face up, so he could look into her eyes.
"What?" said Faye in a limp voice.
"I just realized, just how beautiful you are..."
Faye remembered something.
"Faye..."
"Huh?" said Aziel.
"My name's ... uh... Faye..." said Faye sheepishly. She had never introduced herself to Aziel before.
Aziel grabbed her from the waist with his other arm and spoke into her ear.
"A name to go with the face I've sworn to protect"
Faye felt happiness like no other at those words.
Aziel and Faye stood there for a couple of minutes and then, they grinned at each other.
"Ready? I need you backing me up from afar... if there's any kind of monsters around behind these doors, I need you to step back and take sniping shots at them. I will deal with them from the front.
Too bad we don't have a force with us, this could get messy"
Faye took out her Beam rifle and got herself ready...

Aziel kicked the door down and then...


To be continued...

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Four: The calm before the storm

The walls, the floor and the ceiling pulsed with an unearthly life. The air reeked of an unholy aura and yet, Aziel and Faye fought on as hordes of monstrous beings came in waves after them.

Dimenians, Chaos sorcerers, Chaos bringers, Death & Dark gunners, Dark Belras and even hundreds of claws seemed to vomit forth from the depths of the hell that the ancient ruins disguised.
Aziel managed to keep a good pace slashing to his left and right, bringing down his foes as quickly as possible, trying not to let any creature get too close to him and basically, keeping Faye behind his back.
Faye on the other hand, was managing to destroy any traps left around in the air, and whittling down the almost infinite amount of creatures that seemed to be protecting this last room. Quickly gazing around the room, she found it chilling and disturbing how everything looked like a living, breathing innard of something huge and horribly mosntrous.
Looking at her partner, she found it inspiring how Aziel, being one time an assassin and spy, was fighting for the people he once deceived and killed. And if he had survived so long on his own, she would also find a way to do so too...
At his side.

A menacing Chaos sorcerer appeared out of thin air, behind Aziel's line of sight, and suddenly, one of its bit crystals began to rise menacingly.
Faye quickly positioned herself and let out a barrage of shots, striking the crystal three times, shattering it into dust before touching the ground.
With a puzzled look, the sorcerer turned about, trying to look at its attacker.
The moment it had laid eyes on the RAcaseal brandishing the Beam rifle, it received one shot between its eyes, killing it instantly.

Aziel quickly stabbed a stunned Belra in the back and sidestepped to his left, avoiding two mean swipes from an angered Delsaber. The twisted monster quickly blocked Aziel's thrust to the torso and slash to its midsection using on of its claw-like hands as a shield.
Red sparks showered both and although Aziel knew that Delsabers were crafty opponents, he had an ace up his sleeve.
"Faye shoot at me!" yelled Aziel, quickly blocking a slash to his head with the Pallasch.
Faye blinked twice.
"What?!?!" she asked incredously "I can-"
"Just do it! Trust me! NOW!" yelled Aziel once more.
Faye bit her lip and shot straight for Aziel, but before she squeezed the trigger, she noticed a small black and red device dropping off Aziel's palm, which Aziel had directed at her in the last second.
Squinting as to better her aim, the Beam rifle let out a single powerful shot.
With a bang and a cloud of smoke, the Delsaber stood there, frozen, encased in a block of hard, cold ice.
Without losing a beat, Aziel let out a flurry of slashing strikes, cutting down the Delsaber as fast as he could.
The pieces of ice dropped off in chunks and crashed into smaller bits, leaving only a bloody and mutilated carcass.
Aziel shot a glance to his right, noticing a silent moving claw approaching Faye from behind, he quickly unholstered his autogun, shot three times in a row, missing the first shot, but hitting a claw right in the center with the other two shots.
Faye turned about and shot the thing in the center at point blank. The strange, floating creature dropped to the floor writhing in agony.

"I think we may not last much if this keeps up... there are still too many creatures coming from that door... damn..." he said in a low voice, to himself.
"Hey! Aziel! Look!" Faye pointed out, resting the rifle to her shoulder.

Quickly glancing through the vapors that obcured their vision in these strange halls, Aziel noticed that the monsters stopped flowing from the door. He also noticed that some of them, had actually retreated into it.
"What? Did we manage to beat them off?" he said, not believing his luck.
"It would seem so! Oh Aziel!" Faye quickly ran to her companion and put her arms around his neck. She let her rifle slid down onto the floor with a loud clank.
Aziel quickly recomforted her by hugging her warmly.
"You know I won't let anything happen to you, Faye... I gave you my word"
Faye looked at his face and felt her spirit rise and his warmth surrounding her...

***BEEP! BEEP!***

Aziel quickly blinked to his belt. A small light came on and a little display showed the words "INCOMING MAIL"
Faye raised an eyebrow and looked at Aziel again.
"I didn't know they were on duty!" said Aziel excitedly "They could help us out..."
"Who can help us out? Who are they?" said Faye.
Pressing the little light and nodding to Faye, he said simply "Friends... one of the things I cherish most about having free will"
He looked at Faye and caressed her cheek with one hand.
"Besides you, Faye..."
She blushed at the comment and lowered her gaze. Had she become that important to him in this short while?
After Aziel pressed the button once, a high-pitched, decidely female voice sprang from the eerie silence of the halls.
"AZIEL-KUN! WHAT THE !@$%# ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?!?!??" the speaker almost burst.
Another, more composed voice, bass and calm, said
"Aziel-san, we had hoped you would wait for us to come and help you out. Vryce doesn't like this at all, you know"
"I have all the help I need right here..." Aziel answered. Faye felt herself blush once more.
"WHAT?!?!?!? Drop us a telepipe right now! Ooooh, you are soooo gonna get it!" said the female voice.
"That's Haruka, she's... hum..." Aziel leaned towards Faye and said in a whisper "a nut who thinks I'm her brother"
"I HEARD THAT!!!!!! PIPE!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!"
Faye couldn't resist smiling at Aziel's expression when Haruka yelled at him.
"Umm... Aziel-san... Vryce will not be pleased to know we are acting on our own... haste is recommended"
"Dean Bernier, there is a small problem..." Aziel looked into his storage belt, as if looking for something, "... I have no pipes left over from the fighting..."
Faye knew the truth... Aziel had come here alone in the first place, and without any telepipes to avoid bringing innocent people to the dangers in here.
He had planned to die fighting, alone in the dark.
"I have some telepipes with me!" she quickly chimed in, raising her voice as to be heard by the people over the other side of the communication system.
"Who's that? Aziel-kun! Who's that you're with?!?"
"It seems Aziel-san is referring to the help he mentioned to us jus-"
"I KNOW!!! I AM NOT DENSE, YOU KNOW!!!" the female voice snapped back.

Aziel looked at her and stunned at her outburst, with a flick of the wrist, before shutting off the power of the comm, he said,
"We'll drop a pipe any second now.. wait for it guys"

Faye felt a twang in her heart. Why did she feel like she had betrayed Aziel? But she didn't want to lose him, and if he had friends to count on, she would not risk losing him if they were so eager to help him out... at least this Haruka was very vocal about it...

"I will not risk their lives... why?"
"I... I just... I'm sorry..." Faye fought back the tears.
Aziel stood there and stretched his palm open towards her. His eyes seemed so sad.
"Please, Faye... if you will, hand me the telepipe so I can bring them over here"
Faye took out one pipe and biting her lip, she handed it over, but before Aziel turned around to activate it, she felt her resolve come back to her and said in a determined voice:
"I am not putting their lives at risk! If they want to come, it is because they are putting themselves to risk!"
Her voice sounded so angry, she put one hand over her mouth and looked at Aziel's back. He didn't turn around, but he stopped moving.
In a lower voice, she said:
"If there are more of us, the better our chances are, right? Please understand... I just... I can't just lose you... not now..." Faye lowered her head.
Aziel activated the telepipe, and a flash of red lights sprung from the floor, opening a dimensional rift between the ruins and the main deck just outside the Hunter's Guild. A low buzzing noise filled the halls.
"I don't want to lose you either Faye... but... to make sure that doesn't happen, take this little MAG... I tried to raise him but he's too strong willed for me..." he added sadly, as he put a little black MAG into her hands.
Faye looked at it for a moment and told him:
"What? I don't understand... what is this little guy supposed to do? What do you mean, raise him?" she looked at Aziel questioningly.
But before he could explain, three figures burst out of the red lights.

A small petitte, blue haired girl with long ears burst out. A wide smile, from ear to ear, crossed her pretty, painted face. She was carrying a long staff almost twice her size. She was clothed in purple, with black leggins and had her hair in two small pigtails.
Behind her, a tall yet lithe android, carrying a large Cannon and with twin mechguns on his sides, walked forth, quickly surveying his surroundings.
For a RAcast, this android looked quite agile, thought Faye.
Looking at her, the RAcast made a deep bow and talked in the deep bass voice she heard over the comm:
"A pleasure to meet you, my name is Dean Bernier, section ID Oran. I am glad to meet my friend and mentor's helper and companion"
Faye was taken aback with such courtesy. She smiled and bowed in return:
"Nice to meet you! I am Panzer Faye..." and quickly looking at the small girl, she bowed at her and said "Nice to meet you too!"
"Hrumph! Yeah, yeah.. whatever! Name's Haruka... I specialize in foie techs... so don't get any ideas of stealing any treasure from me or else you'll regret it, metal lady..." Haruka said, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest, clearly offended by Faye's prescence.

"Don't mind her, miss... she's just jealous... she tends to be like that" said a male voice, quite calm and with a tone of amusement in it.
Faye looked at the tall, red-haired man that had just came out of the lights. He smirked in a way as to let everyone know that his presence was as good as his skill. He carried a rifle and a long-barreled handgun, which Faye recognized as a Varista class, photon discharge handgun.
"Excuse me?" said Haruka, glaring at the man, "who the hell asked you?"
"Hey, just tellin' it the way it is, honey"
"HONEY?!?!? WHO ARE YOU TO-" Dean's hand placed itself over Haruka's mouth, muffling the rest of the noise.
The red-haired man turned on his heels and smiled at Faye. Taking her hand in his and planting a kiss on the back of her hand, he said in a suave voice:
"Pleasure is definitely mine, miss..."
"Faye, Panzer Faye..." said Aziel quickly, taking her hand from his "And this is Vryce, our long-range tactical commander".
"Oh... hi!" said Faye. She was overwhelmed at this. These three very different persons were Aziel's friends?

He looked at him, studying him intently. She then felt a growing appreciation at the rogue HUcast. She smiled and cocked her head ever so slightly.
"So... you his girlfriend?" asked a shrill voice.
"Wh-what??" asked Faye quickly, turning her head and meeting Haruka's serious gaze.
"I said... are you his g-" Dean's hand found it mark once more.
"Please, Faye-san, don't mind her rudeness" said the overly courteous RAcast.

Blushing, Faye just nodded and gazed to Aziel.
"All right guys, we have little time... the monsters fell back into that door... I suspect, as well as Faye, that they are either regrouping or..." Aziel was cut short by Vryce.
"Possibly letting us go from the lion's den, into the lion's mouth... tough fight, eh?" said Vryce, pointing at Aziel's battered chest plate.
"Huh... yeah..." he avoided looking at Faye... they didn't need to know that the Panzer twins were after him, or that Faye had caused him harm... Haruka would not have any of it, of course, IF she knew.
"Right... anyways... we should split into at least two groups the moment the fight breaks out" said Vryce in a commanding tone, "We have one tough front line warrior and only one tech-casting force, so we better protect her and at the same time, not let Aziel get overwhelmed by large numbers, or else the strategy fails" nodding to Dean Bernier, he added "You stick close to Haruka, if bad comes to worse..."
"I pull out my mechguns and mow down whatever gets close to the little one" said Dean in a bass calm voice.
"WHO ARE YOU CAL-"
"Faye, I expect you know how to use your weapons well, Aziel will need you to cover him at all times from every direction..."
"But I have been helping him out with covering fire" said Faye defensively.
"Judging by his wounds, you must do a better job then" and gazing towards Aziel, probably not noticing the angry, hurt look Faye made at him, Vryce continued "Aziel, I will stand in the center of both groups... I will make sure healing gets to both groups and I will provide assistance in the form of short, controlled bursts of fire. You make sure you don't fail or else we can't hope to kill them before they get us, ok?"
"I understand..." Aziel nodded and walked towards the door where all the monsters had retreated to.

Faye walked besides him and silently, took her Beam rifle out and took the security off.
"He's that way... don't pay any attention to him" Aziel said suddenly.
Faye just nodded and continued to walk in silence.
Aziel put his hand under her chin and raised her head a bit, so she could look into his eyes.
"If it weren't for you, I would not be in this shape even..." he smiled, and taking his battered Pallasch out and turning the blade on, he added "... just make sure you cover me and we'll get out of this alive, you and me, ok?"
Faye smiled at him and wiping her tears away, she hurried to walk next to Aziel.
She was thinking, how could she be able to feel this greatly about him? Why did emotions flowed so easily?
Why did tears flowed from her eyes so quickly?

She didn't know who was her creator... but she had an idea that whoever made her, didn't exactly wanted her to become a killing machine... like her sister.
Suddenly, she felt a strange chill. Looking back, and staring into the inky blackness, she thought she had seen movement, but after making sure it was only the strange palpitations on the walls, she just shook her head and smiled at Aziel.

"Was it something you forgot?" he said
"Nope, I thought I saw a shadow or something over there..." she answered, smiling.
"Hey!!! If it's treasure, I get dibs on it! HEY!!! LEGGO OF ME!!!!" screamed Haruka as Dean carried her over his shoulder.
"Haruka-san, we have no time to be grabbing treasure, we must make haste"
"All right, ya bums, let's go!" said Vryce, pulling his Varista and running to the door.

In the shadows, the broken frame of Panzer Lynx lurched forward, and with caution, took a monomate and drank it. Movement returned to her limbs and with a snicker, she walked silently towards the door.

To be continued...

[Cannibal-Snowman]

Hey, this is a really cool story so far! What's gonna happen next?

[Namevah]

I rather enjoy this story. You dont see so much emotion in androids in other stories. Im not sure if its just me but when reading its hard to tell who is speaking.




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Namevah on 2003-07-15 07:59 ]</font>

[Musashi_D]

Hey, this is pretty good... and the fact that it has something to do with samurais is cooler...

lol.

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Five: The first thunder

The ensuing battle was a quick, fierce and brutal fight. Vryce stood between the two groups, shooting dozens of bullets at all the monsters that spawned from the gaps and corners of the huge room... Aziel quickly slashed right and left, finishing off anything that got too close.
Faye didn't let go of the trigger... she wished she could have gotten an automatic mechgun to shoot the creatures faster. Still, her skills at shooting the targets at high speed was amazing.
Vryce grudginly admitted to himself that she wasn't half bad... that they did stand a chance of getting out of this mess.
Haruka felt the rush of mystical powers flow over her and repeatedly cast her most powerful spells, blasting into ground paste anything that got even close to her or Dean. The RAcast, on his own, was doing very well... his mechguns showering bullets left and right, giving Haruka enough time to strike down her enemies with a barrage of fiery techs.
Vryce thought to himself...
<even with the pace we have with the inclusion of Faye in our team, it's going to be hard... if the rumors are true, that is>

Suddenly, four Dark Belras materialed out of thin air and began to slowly lumber their way over them.
The one closest to Aziel and Faye flailed away its massive arms, trying to give itself room and swatting dimenians left and right. Its attitude seemed more manic... more desperate to get to the pair that was surrounded by piles of carcasses fo their slain enemies.
Faye caught a glimpse of the huge monster and before she could cry out, she jumped in front of Aziel, covering him with her body.
The two fists slammed her hard, sending her right into Aziel's back. She could barely focus and her grip was slackening. She felt herself go out into darkness.
Aziel stood up, blocked a dimenians' blade arm and quickly slashing sideways, with such force, that the dimenian lost its legs in a heartbeat. Aziel got up in one knee and quickly grabbed Faye with his free arm. Looking to his side, he saw the two boulder-like arms of the crazed Belra coming right at him.
Clutching Faye and protecting her from the blow, Aziel tried to back up, but the fallen dimenian didn't let him move back.
Suddenly, a golden shot pierced the Belra's head from one side to the other. The giant monster fell backwards, squashing a couple of claws that had drifted to the sure-kill Aziel and Faye were a moment ago.
Aziel looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Vryce giving him a thumb up and then turning to a large Belra slowly striding over his position.

Haruka suddenly stopped casting. Dean noticed the lack of heat near him and gazed towards her.
He saw a blood-covered claw advancing to him, floating over Haruka's petitte body. Turning around, leaving a dizzy Belra to regain its senses, Dean smashed the claw with both his mechguns, squashing the thing into a grey pulp and ruining the photon charge on the weapons.
"Haruka-san! Just wait for a moment!" said Dean in a hurry as he pulled his Cannon and shooting all around him, to give him more space.
"Vryce-dono! We are being overrun!" called Dean, who had taken the limp but still breathing form of Haruka into his arms. It was difficult to aim properly with the lithe newman.
"Damn! I had hoped we would use this for later, but..." said Vryce under his breath, clenching his teeth at the situation "but there could be no more 'later' if I don't use it now!"
Grabbing a small container from his belt, he activated a small button on it. Light issued forth, encircling him and quickly covering his friends.
Faye opened her eyes slowly.
"Where? Are we dead?" she asked as she saw Aziel holding her.
"No... not yet, I will not let you die on me... Vryce had to use our trump card... a Star Atomizer he managed to find on one of his explorations of the Central Dome ruins" Aziel got up, getting some strength back from the healing properties of the difficult-to-find item.
Faye was awash with the soft light and felt warmth creep back into her body... she raised one hand to Aziel's cheek and softly touching it, she said
"I am sorry for everything Aziel... I should have not made your friends risk their lives for nothing... and I don't know if I can learn to raise this MAG you gave me..."
Aziel didn't look at her, but said, as he blocked another wild swing of a badly injured Delsaber,
"You are going to live... if I can find Haruka in this mess, we are going to make it through... Have I let you down so far?" he smiled as sparks showered him and the Delsaber.
Faye smiled back and closed her eyes in his arms.

Dean noticed with alarm that the photon battery in his Cannon was running alarmingly low. A group of claws advanced on him and he shot them down... killing the last remaining supply of his weapon in the process.
Two dark gunners drifted to him, and he knew these things were invulnerable as long as they had their shield up. Quickly getting an idea, he ran up to one and at the very moment the shield came down, he grabbed one by its leg, spun around the ball of his heel and threw the thing to the other gunner.
Hit aim was perfect, but it didn't prevent the second gunner of shooting a large green beam into his leg.
Greatly weakened, he fell down to one knee. A Dimenian closed in on him and before it could bring its blade on him, he had grabbed the monster from its waist and applied as much pressure as he could.
Snapping the thing's midsection, he turned to see Haruka smiling back at him.
"You got problems there, big 'un?" she said weakly.
"I would like some assistance right now, Haruka-san..." Dean felt his limbs heavy and his eyes losing focus.
Haruka got up and quickly cast a Gifoie ring, burning the few remaining monsters to a crisp. Noticing a Chaos sorcerer materializing from nothing right next to her, she clasped her hands together and charged eldritch powers into her palms.
The Chaos sorcerer raised its baton and one of its crystals started to spin and rise into the air.
Suddenly, Haruka let out a scream and pointed the sorcerer with her outstretched palms
"GRANTS!!!!!"
Countless rays of light pierced the sorcerer, dissolving it into nothingness.
Haruka, smiling broadly, quickly turned her attention to Dean, who has very still on the floor.
"Haruka! Is he allright?" shouted Vryce as he dodged a Bulclaw's bite, grabbed one of its mandibles and capped it in the throat.
"No! He's down... I wasn't fast enough..." Haruka's voice died down to a whisper. Tears smudged her facepaint.
"Don't worry, he'll be ok, just get on your feet and get over here! Our new friend Faye needs your help!" cried Vryce as he cast two Foies in quick sucession towards an approaching Chaos bringer.
Haruka stood up and quickly, grabbing her staff, ran over Aziel.
She didn't look back where the body of Dean suddenly disappeared into thin air.
Aziel tried to fend more attacks, but he noticed that even as the Delsaber he was still fighting was weakened by a couple of torso shots from Vryce previously, the Pallasch was losing its power quickly.
Suddenly, the Delsaber went stiff and fell backwards.
Aziel looked to his side, where two shots had burst the monster's head like a melon under a hammer.
Vryce was shooting all over their heads, while holding Haruka close to him.
Aziel didn't know where Dean Bernier was, so he guessed he had fallen first.
Haruka quickly put her hands over Faye limp form and chanted some strange words. Warm light flowed from them and covered all four of them, restoring their health back.
"Your girl is gonna live, happy now?" asked Haruka, making a mock pout.
"Thanks, Haruka-chan" Aziel said, smiling.
"BEE-DAH!~" she stuck her tongue out and turned to Vryce's side.
"We're done now... it seems we finally got them all" said Vryce cockily. But both Haruka and Aziel knew that behind his smugness, Vryce was furious at letting Dean get beat.
"Dean'll be allright, you know" said Aziel.
"Of course he will... the big lunk!" said Haruka, crossing her arms and sniffling a bit.
"We could ryuker back to the Pioneer 2 and give him time to recover... as well as she" said Vryce pointing at Faye.
"No... don't" said Faye wealky "just... give me a second please..."
Vryce raised his eyebrows. This little RAcaseal was a lot tougher than he had expected. Maybe she indeed was one of the few prototype military androids that he had heard about when he was a part of the military.

After a minute or so, Faye was able to get on her own two feet. Smiling sheepishly, she grabbed her Beam rifle and looked around her. She noticed an eerie silence permeate the whole room... except for a strange pulsating noise like that of a beating heart, she knew there were no more monsters.
She then noticed Aziel's reproachful gaze.
"Why did you do that?" he asked "there was no need for you to almost kill yourself"
Faye felt angry at this comment.
Aziel knew that she was furious at him, but he didn't want her to come at any harm. He had seen too many people, too many women die at his hands... and to add Faye to his already long list of sins...
"It was Vryce's orders!" she said.
Vryce jumped at the statement, and for a second or two, lost his cool.
"Hum.. yeah... I did... *ehem* tell her not to let anything come to... you know... hit... er... harm you, man..." he scratched the back of his head.
Aziel just shrugged his shoulders and pointed at a pile of burnt dimenians, next to a wall.
"Yup! That's my handiwork! Like it, big brother?" Haruka beamed.
"Actually, I was pointing at a door behind that pile of charred remains, Haruka-chan"
"Oh!" Haruka blushed. Everybody else just laughed. Haruka looked like she had just sucked a lemon for a second and then, started to laugh aloud.
Laughter eased their tension, and with it, their weariness.
As they stopped laughing, they decided to get their gear ready for the last stand.
Faye turned her head, as if looking for something.
"Something got lost, honey?" asked Vryce as he reloaded his Varista with a fresh new photon battery.
"Where... where is Dean Bernier?" she asked, looking at Aziel.
"Oh... that..." said Vryce. Faye didn't like the tone the RAmar had.
"Well, you know, it's nothing really" he said casually.
"What?!?" Faye asked, and she was genuinenly puzzled at everyone's lack of interest of Dean's absence.
"Oi oi! Don't get your ponytail in a trussle! He's being taken care of!" said Haruka.
"What? That doesn't make sense? How?"
"Well, honey... it's very easy actually" said Vryce, holstering his Varista and checking his remaining mates, "We all are equipped with a special device all Hunters form the Guild obtain that lets one's unconscious body be teleported back to the Hospital for emergency first aid. Of course, this device is small, almost not noticeable and expensive."
Faye didn't know about this! She was shocked that small teleporting devices were being handed out to Hunters.
"And these devices... what do they look like?" asked her.
"Well, they could look just like anything. But this info's not gonna help you out too much, darling" he said cooly.
"What do you mean?" Faye asked. Haruka crumpled up her face and looked at her glared at her poisonously.
"You... you're military, aren't you?" said the petite newman.
"I... I am- I mean, I was but now..." she looked panicked and she looked at Aziel quickly.
"Yeah... I figured so... you're one of the Panzer Twins, aren't you?"
Faye was wide-eyed! She was one of the military's most secret agents. And she was only activated a few weeks ago! How could this man know about her?
"I... I..." she stammered.
A strong arm grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close. She felt the familiar warmth of Aziel's chest and suddenly, she stopped talking.
"Vryce... she WAS part of the military's program to destroy rogue elements in our society, as I did once" Aziel locked his eyes on his friend, who only shrugged his shoulders and smirked.
"Meh... like I care... if she indeed were an agent for the government, then we should all be dead then" Vryce said.
"Then allow me to rectify that situation..." said a cold voice behind them.

To be continued...

[Logical2u]

Cool. I wonder how this explains RAZIEL Kai...

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Six: The rain of blood

Turning as quickly as lightning, Vryce took out his Varista and shot three times at a dark shadow behind them some 30 feet away.

The shadow had dodged each and every bullet with incredible ease.

Aziel turned on his Pallasch, which flickered, and put himself in front of Faye.
Haruka bit her lip and took her side next to Vryce.
Faye stood there, speechless at the sight before her.

Panzer Lynx had seen better days. Her frame was literally crumbling into pieces in some parts. Part of her face had broken off, probably from a direct hit against a pointed object, and it gave her a ghastly visage, as it looked like her skull was grinning back at them. One of her arms was almost severed, but somehow, was still clutching at empty air. But the most striking feature was her eyes.
They burned bright with hate.

All of the team, including the cocky Vryce stepped back. They had never seen anything like it.
Aziel nodded to Haruka and she nodded back. He pointed the flickering Pallasch towards the pile of corpses where there was a door behind it, the very same door Aziel had told them about before.
Vryce kept the HUcaseal on his sights, barely blinking. Cold sweat on his neck, he knew he was one of the best shots in the Pioneer 2... if that... that thing had evaded those shots that easily, then he knew he was in trouble.
Faye was paralyzed with fear... she could only stare at her sister... or what was left of her.

"Come now, sister" the word spilled out like poison from a lilly's petals "aren't you happy to see me?"
Lynx took a step towards the group. Vryce slowly squeezed the trigger.
"Ex-lieutenant Vryce, please..." Lynx waved her Pallasch casually, as if swatting away a fly "there isn't a single move you can make that I wasn't programmed for..." she paused and looked at Aziel "...except for you, rogue HUcast... you did manage to trick me because of my eagerness back there, but this time, it's different".
Aziel clutched his Pallasch with his two hands. Moving next to Vryce, but still covering Faye, he said in a calm voice:
"And why is it different now, Lynx?"
"Because I have all the time of the world..." she began
"TO KILL YOU!!!" and she darted to him in a blur.
Vryce tried to shoot her, but all his shots missed their mark, making pockmarks at the other side of the room.
Coming in low, she rolled into a small ball and just under Vryce's chest, she kicked her heels with a mighty spring. Vryce's eyes widened with surprise and he flew a good 20 feet into the air before crashing loudly on top of the remains of a Belra.
"Vryce!" Haruka started, but before she could even move her feet, Lynx had backhanded her into the wall, cracking it a bit with the force of the impact.
Faye tried to raise her weapon, but still paralyzed from fear, all she did was stare wide-eyed at the scene.

Aziel tried to slash horizontally and catch Lynx from the side, but she raised her own saber in time, blocking his attack with ease.
He tried to push the HUcaseal putting all his strength into the handle of the flickering Pallasch. Lynx smiled at him and said
"Oh, the big bad lone wolf is all beat up and tired?"
"I will fight you off with every ounce of my strenght!!!" he roared.
With a mighty burst, he pushed Lynx away from him, sending her into a stone column. The stone cracked as Lynx's figure tore through. Aziel quickly glanced to his right and noticed that Vryce was getting up and was smirking his usual cocky smile back at him.
"Get Haruka and go through the door! NOW!" Aziel yelled.
Vryce spat a mouthful of blood and hurried to the knocked out Haruka on the floor.
Aziel, grabbed a large piece of debris that had fallen from the ceiling long ago and lifted it. He felt his body aflame as his arms and torso stressed under the great weight, and then, he heaved it at the column where he had sent Lynx. He felt as something had snapped under his frame.
"Faye! Faye!" he turned to see her still standing there... his voice made her blink twice and look at him.
".........." she shivered in fright, she wanted to help out Aziel or at least help Vryce with Haruka, but fear had overcome her.
"FAYE! Please!" Aziel shook her once, forcibly "Help Vryce and leave Lynx to me! I know I can take her on if..."
"No! You come with me!" the words just escaped her lips. She wasn't going to let Aziel sacrifice himself fighting Lynx in his condition.
Aziel opened his eyes wide in amazement.
Faye took his hand and lead him through the door. Vryce and Haruka had already gone thru and they were staring into a large teleporter device. Faye looked at it for a moment and shoved Aziel next to Vryce. Aziel groaned and put a hand over his torax.
"He's hurt, do something! I'll hold my sister off if she comes"
Vryce put his hand on her arm and said calmly,
"There is no time, we have to go inside"
"But... but you don't know where it leads to!" replied Faye, fear coating her voice.
"It's a chance we have to take" and quickly applying a monomate to his friend's wound, he quickly grabbed Haruka and entered the teleporter, he stood there waiting for the pair of androids to walk in or stay there and face the hellish HUcaseal.
Aziel looked at her and with a faint smile, he added:
"I'm sorry... I-"
"Stop saying you're sorry! I am here because of you! I am fighting besides you because I want to! Don't say you're sorry anymore!!!" Faye gritted her teeth and sobbed. Angrily, she swept back her tears and tried to focus her attention to the door.
She didn't notice Aziel getting up, holding her gently and kissing her.
She lost her focus on everything except him. For a moment, she felt like she was on the top of the world.
"Let's go... if your sister wants to join the final dance, she can, but I don't think we will get out of this alive, Faye... I prefer if we both didn't leave Vryce and Haruka to their luck"
Faye looked into his eyes, and taking his hand in hers, she nodded at him and stepped into the teleporter.
The eerie red glow of the machine transported them into a white flash; Vryce noticed as Aziel and Faye had stepped into the machine, that a third form had leapt into it as well.
He gritted his teeth and pulled out his Varista, but then, it happened...
Suddenly everything went white and numb.

[Peshk]

Nice, very nice. However, I don't always have that cocky grin in my face. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif Sometimes, I have a smirk on.

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Seven: The valley of death

Haruka felt her nose tingle. The smell of flowers? But it was so long since she had smelled fresh flowers.
She drowsily sat back and quickly noticed her chest hurt like hell. Clutching her ribs, she opened her eyes slowly and noticed a strange sight.
Weren't they fighting inside the ancient underground ruins?
Where did the dank caverns go? Where were the misty vapors? Where was everybody?
She lifted her other arm and touched the green grass. It felt damp and moist. She looked around her and saw flowers and green mountains around her, but most striking, she saw a tall monument a hundred yards from her. It rose like stone spike jutting out of the ground, reaching for the blue skies above. Haruka had the sensation, this was some kind of memorial... but for whom?
Looking puzzled, she got up and cleaned her dress from the few blades of grass that stuck to her. She found her staff next to where she had lain a moment ago and tried to survey the place to look for anyone else who might be with her.
Pouting, she started to walk and felt that something was amiss.
"Doesn't feel right... this here place... where did everybody go? If they left me here as a kind of stupid joke!!!..." she stopped as she bumped into the still sleeping form of Vryce on the tall grass.
Kneeling down, she put her hand on his shoulder and rocked him back and forth.
"Vryce! Hey! Wake up! Do you know where we are? HEY!" she felt his hand grope her leg as he started to feel around to get up.
***WHAM*** http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/twak.gif
"OW! Why did you do that for?!?!" said Vryce, massaging his head.
"Serves you right you hentai baka!" her red face scowled back at him.
Vryce got up slowly, without feeling around as to not getting whacked on the head again by an irate newman, and was startled when he noticed the surroundings.
"Where the...?"
"Exactly... where are we supposed be now, Mr. Know-it-All?"
"I honestly don't have the slightest idea, but..."
"You feel it too?"
"Yeah, something's not quite right" he then got up quickly, and added "Did you find Aziel and Faye?!"
Surprised, Haruka got up and looked around, "Uh... nope... sorry, you're the first I have found so far... why?"
"I think whatever attacked us back there came in the teleporter with us..."
Her face showed a tinge of fear.
"WHAT?!?" she looked to one side to the other in panic "WHERE? WHERE IS S-"
"Hush!" Vryce placed a hand over Haruka's mouth quickly "I think if I was out when we transported here, maybe Aziel, Faye and the other one may be also out cold... he have to avoid waking the assassin droid before we find Aziel and Faye, ok?"
Haruka nodded and pointed at the large stone monolith that stood there in silence.
"Go check it out, but!" he added quickly "don't touch anything!"
"Ok, ok!" Haruka whispered.
Vryce glanced around and found that the tall grass wasn't so much of a hindrance to him. He saw the limp forms of Aziel and Faye next to each other some ten, fifteen feet to his right, but he didn't see a sign of the Panzer android.
Sighing in relief, he approached the two camarades, and picking his Varista off the grass, he silently turned about, trying to make something out of the strange, almost utopian scene that surrounded them.
It certainly felt strange, and the hair sticking up in the back of his neck made him worry more. Without the need of pinching himself to verify if this were a dream or not, he knelt down next to Faye and Aziel's prone figures.
A smile crept up Vryce's face. Both had lain one next to the other, their hands clasped together, their heads touching ever so slightly. Noticing that they had survived this strange teleportation, Vryce sat down in the damp grass and rested one arm over his knee. He thought how funny life was sometimes, and looking at the two androids, he snickered.
These two were made as weapons of death. A type of spy, assassin and infiltrator all in one. Created by a corrupt government, paranoid and power-hungry. Both, Vryce knew, had taken countless lives in the excuse of 'regulating' society.
But Aziel had broken away from that horrible existence as a soulless monster, a puppet whose strings were pulled by shadowy individuals. He had cut those strings with his resolve and taken a path of penance under the watchful eye of a grizzled old hunter, whose teachings and patience forged Aziel's life into one of honor and strength.
It had taken Aziel only a month to learn patience and true skill, a true marvel of the advanced systems the government had given him for darker purposes. The old hunter had treated the android with respect, and through grueling lessons, had imparted a level of swordmanship almost unequaled in the android. It had also raised a new code of conduct into him.
The old man had taught Aziel that long ago, there were warriors devoted to honor and duty, examples of true chivalry and honesty. These warriors upheld this code above anything else, even above their lives. And that had made a deep impact into Aziel. Vryce had felt glad that Aziel had become something akin to these knights of ancient times, these Samurai.
But Dean Bernier was right, he didn't approve of Aziel trying to sacrifice his life for the benefit of the countless people aboard the Pioneer 2. Even if he knew that Aziel felt tremendous guilt over the sins he had committed over the years, he would not accept the loss of his friend's life just because Aziel felt that was the way he needed to clean the slate.
Striving for honor did not mean one needed to die, not if one should live. Live for others. Aziel should live for Faye. And Faye should live for Aziel.

Looking at Faye, he smirked and thought some more. Could this Panzer android take the same path as Aziel? Vryce was very impressed that she could go against her programming in such a short time. He had an idea of who had made the original programming for Aziel and the Panzer twins. He had a hunch that their creator did not mean to create killer empty shells. It had seem that there was a pattern here. He would confirm his suspicions when they returned to the huge ship orbiting the blue planet of Ragol. If they returned, that is.
Getting up and stretching his legs, Vryce shot a look around him. He was sure the other android should be around here somewhere. Taking the safety off the Varista, he glanced at the strange stone monolith behind him. He squinted, trying to look for Haruka's small form. He saw she had gotten close enough to examine the thing without actually touching it.

Haruka felt strangely attracted to the huge stone spire. She had seen some kind of engraved words on its side, but she resisted getting any closer to read them. She also knew that without Vryce's approval to touch the thing, she would be in trouble real quick.
<Mmh? And what is this?> she thought as she leaned closer to the ground.
A strange, metallic object jutted out of the grass. Looking to her left and then to her right, she stretched a hand to the object.
Suddenly, she felt pressure under her chin and lower mandible. Wide-eyed and caught unawares, she panicked as the air left her.
The pressure rose, and whatever had gotten a hold of her, made her rise on her two feet.
"Awwww... the iddy biddy Fony got a widdle wost?" said a chilling voice, devoid of anything but sarcasm and hate.
Haruka's eyes shot to her left and saw the leering visage of Lynx right next to hers.
"Are you scared? Are you afraid?" Lynx's other hand took Haruka's staff and with a quick snap, the weapon had broken cleanly in half. Next, Lynx took Haruka's left hand lovingly. Haruka felt panicked, and tried to get away, but the burning, demented eyes of the HUcaseal, and the laconium grip Lynx had her stuck into, just fixated her into paralyzing cold fear.
"Oh my! Such lovely, delicate hand!" Lynx shot her a venomous glance, and her voice turned into ice "What would happen if you got one of your soft hands hurt? Probably you wouldn't be able to cast your techniques as well... am I wrong?" and at these words, Lynx applied such crushing pressure into Haruka's hand, that the newman just let out a muffled yelp.
Tears rolled down Haruka's cheeks as blood spattered onto the green grass. But Haruka did not cry out.
Lynx still held her close, and saying softly to her ear: "Ooooh, trying to be brave? You will learn to-"

Vryce squeezed the trigger ever so softly. He grinned and let out a chuckle.
"Got you now, you psycho monster..."
The gun's barrel rested on Lynx's temple. Vryce had managed to creep up avoiding any noise with the expertise of a trained killer.
"Let go of her very, very slowly" he said without blinking, and added "and don't try anything funny..."
"Or else?" Lynx said coyly.
"You got that right, sister..." Vryce was unnerved at the android's lack of surprise.

Slowly, Lynx let go of Haruka, who quickly ran around the RAmar and whimpering, grabbed ahold of his arm.
Lynx slowly turned around, still the gun pointed at her face.
"Careful, Panzer twin... there is no way you can dodge me this time... not at point blank range..." Vryce gritted his teeth.
"Ooh... got me covered, big boy? Are you really sure about that?" Lynx teased.
Haruka's eyes went from the android's face down, where she saw, to her horror, a photon dagger, humming low.
Before she could say anything, or before Vryce could react, Lynx ducked her head a bit to the left and made a lightning-quick swipe with the photon blade to Vryce's head.

All that Vryce could do was pull the trigger and jerk back his head, trying to avoid having his head severed. Light flashed over his eyes and felt a burning sensation on his forehead. He heard the shot from his Varista hit something and he also had heard Haruka yell; he also felt sparks showering his hand and Haruka grab his arm with more force and pull him back.

Her friend's gun had been cut into two, showering all three of them as the photon battery sizzled from the cut.
Haruka pulled Vryce back enough to avoid Lynx hit him on the chest with her second stroke after she had nearly cleaved his face in twain.
But she tripped as she fell back and took Vryce with her.
The pain felt like fire, and he couldn't see anything! And if he couldn't see his target, how could he shoot her?

Haruka put a hand over Vryce's eyes and felt about, as she sat up and let him rest on her chest. The cut had been above his eyes, but the photon burn had blinded him, and he would need first aids, but in this situation, it would be impossible.
"Don't worry, she didn't hit your eyes, Vryce-san..." she rested her face over his red hair.
"Do I have a weapon yet?" Vryce felt as Haruka moved her head side to side, as to let him know that was a negative.

"Few have been able to dodge with such quickness a cut at that speed... that much I have to give you, ex-Lieutenant Vryce" Lynx said, playing with the dagger as she spoke. She threw it aside, into the grass and pulled out her Pallasch. Turning it on, the red blade materialized with a low hum. She looked at the man sprawled on the floor before her, resting his head on the newman's chest, with her good hand covering his eyes.
Haruka looked back at her with fear and apprehension, tears rolled down her cheeks and with her other hand, which was broken badly, she rested it over Vryce's chest. The human was blinded by a burn over where Lynx had intended to cut his skull open. He just limited himself to grit his teeth and mumble under his breath.
Scowling back at them, Lynx raised her saber and prepared to strike them down.
"You won't be able to dodge this, meat-things..." she smiled wickedly.


To be continued...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Raziel_Kai on 2003-07-16 00:44 ]</font>

[Logical2u]

Ack! TO BE CONTINUED! NooO!

[Slicer238]

Thats what I'm saying

[Hippocanibal]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Hippocanibal on 2003-07-19 02:50 ]</font>

[LJ]

That was awesome. Good job so far. NOW HURRY UP AND CONTINUE IT!

[Peshk]

YES!!! Please continue, the suspense is killing me.

Although the continuation could also kill me, so don't worry, write when you are feeling friendly.

[Raziel_Kai]

Ara ara... *blushes*... good thing you people like it so far.
I'll post the next episode durign the night or in the early morning. Tonight here in my office seems very quiet and I guess I can spend the night writing the next part.
BTW, if you guys have any favorite characters, PM me and tell who they are. Also any comments are welcome.
^_^

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Eight: The storm breaks

Faye felt herself float in nothingness. She couldn't feel her body, but she felt a warmness all over her. Opening her eyes, she blinked once and then again, as the blue skies greeted her vision. She couldn't understand why she was lying on the surface of Ragol, looking at the zaphire skies, as she vividly remembered holding her Beam rifle in her hand and on the other...
She opened her drowsy eyes widely and got up. She looked at her left hand and seeing her fingers clasped with Aziel's she knew this wasn't a dream.. although... this place... didn't match with any satellite data she had from the surface of Ragol.
Looking around, she saw movement towards a strange, tall, block of stone that resembled some sort of monolith. She saw Haruka's small form peeking around the base of the structure and it also seemed as if something else was crawling on the grass, with such silence it reminded her of some predatory cat.
Alarmed, she tried to raise her voice, but she felt a squeeze in her left hand.
Looking down at Aziel, she saw his yellow eyes looking at her tiredly.
"Hush... that's probably Vryce trying to play a trick on Haruka..." said Aziel with a very tired voice.
His face contorted with pain and with his free hand, he clutched his chest.
Faye put her other hand over his chest and bent low, as to not let Haruka see her by accident. But she also felt more comfortable being closer to Aziel. Looking at the damaged chestplate, she frowned as she evaluated the damage.
"Aziel! Your armor is ready to fall off, and you pushed the limits of your muscle's servos..." she knew that if it weren't that Aziel was constructed by the best scientists, his body would have just snapped in half when he had lifted the huge piece of debris back then.

He squeezed her hand a little tighter and whispered
"Don't worry, if I stay like this for a moment longer, you know the nanomachines inside of me will repair some of the damage..."
"But..." she protested, but he had lifted the hand in which he was clasping hers and putting one finger over her lips he added:
"And I would also recommend you stay still too... you need the rest as well as I do"
She stared at his eyes. Her soft blue eyes held his golden glowing eyes and closed ever so slightly.
She rested her head near his and kept her hands where they were... one clasping his and the other over his chest.

"You know what will happen the moment we come back to the Pioneer 2, right?" she asked in a soft voice.
"Yes... but I promised I would safeguard you no matter what" he answered, with resolution equal to steel.
"Do you think... do you think we're actually going to have a chance at happiness?" her voice trembled.
"................." Aziel just stared into the skies.
Faye's smile faded softly and she closed her eyes... trying to think into the future was not going to comfort her.
Aziel turned his head just a bit, so he could see at Faye's face.
"I think... I think we can be happy... even if we end up making a place just for the two of us in some forgotten island in this planet, were we can be alone and not be bothered by petty governments, paranoid military suits or anyone else..." he gave her hand a stronger squeeze and added, "I'd fight for our future, as I am fighting for the other people's future.
"There is no risk I couldn't take and no enemy I wouldn't face for this... this personal quest I took when my teacher and swordmaster gave me the title of Samurai" he felt pride when he spoke that word.
Faye felt it too... somewhere in her database, she knew what that word meant. If Aziel had been given such an honorable title, then it finally shed some light on the why of his actions and the reason behind his reasoning.
"But... doesn't a Samurai has to have a lord to serve? I believe you would be a Ronin..." she bit her lip as she noticed she had spoken the words, instead of just thinking about them.
Sighing, Aziel smiled at the sky and continued to explain himself "I believe my master would be the immigrants, the people who left a dying world in a promise of a new one, and found themselves tricked, fooled by some dark plan in some twisted mind. I am ready to give them the just award for their toils I know they should receive by making this planet Ragol, their new home... and I am also ready to die even, if that's the price I must pay for that to happen."
He felt her shudder on top of him. His gaze locked into her eyes and saw a tear fall upon his chest.
"Dying proves nothing, Aziel." Faye said in a sour voice "It only causes pain in others... pain in the heart of those who remain behind... and though I never had something happen to me like that, I know I am right... and you too... don't you?"
"... yes..."
Faye lifted her head a bit and stared into his eyes and then said calmly "Then if you value your honor above anything else, you must uphold your promise to never leave my side or let me come to harm too, right?"
She smiled in amusement, she knew she had cornered himself using his code of honor as leverage.
"Er... well..." he looked at her with amazement. His master had warned him not to make such hasty propositions... but now that he did, he must abide by them.
"Mmmh? So? Are you to uphold your promise? I shouldn't be even be asking this, because I know you will" she smiled even more and got close to him, her lips getting closer to his.
But she stopped.
Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.
With horror, she gasped and squeezed her hand when Aziel had opened his mouth to ask what was wrong.
Aziel understood and moving his gaze, saw Panzer Lynx grab Haruka's staff and snap it like a twig with one hand.
Tensing his body, he felt as even as he had recovered some of his stamina back, his chest still was giving him trouble. Rolling to his side, letting go of Faye's hand, he grabbed his Pallasch and noticed, to his chagrin, that not only the casing was cracked, but the photon battery was almost dead... he knew he had to strike and block using a very dangerous and complicated technique, but if Haruka was in trouble, that would be his only option... he didn't have Vryce's or Faye's uncanny aim... or Haruka's ability to harness the elemental powers of her techniques, but if his training as a warrior served him well, he must put it to the final test, right here and right now.
Faye pointed to a spot on the grass, right where the hill that supported the monolith rose.
Vryce had sneaked up to Lynx and was pulling out his Varista.
But Aziel's senses let him know that Lynx wasn't unawares... she had already baited Vryce into her trap!
Getting up, he quickly began to run to the hill.
Faye looked in horror as Aziel sprinted away like a demon possesed.
She quickly grabbed her rifle and ran behind him. Luckily, her damaged frame had healed almost to peak efficiency, but the weight of the long, large firearm made her run slower than she expected.

"Or else?" Aziel heard Lynx's cold voice was tweaked with a hint of humor.
"You got that right, sister..." answered Vryce back.
80 feet away and yet it seemed like forever! He needed to run faster!

Faye's lithe body didn't help her much making her way through the tall grass. Struggling, she tried to make small leaps, and keep her rifle at the ready.. but at this distance, she didn't want to risk a shot that could strike Vryce or Haruka.

"Ooh, got me covered, big boy? Are you really sure about that?" Lynx flicked on a beam dagger behind her back and was moving her arm in a wide circle, from low to high. Aziel knew that she was going to strike Vryce in the face, probably cleaving his head in two.
70 feet!!! He needed more speed! And his chest felt as if on fire!

Haruka's yell, the photon bullet striking across the grass flats and the shower of sparks that resulted all in less than a blink of an eye left Faye with a chill on her heart.
<Lynx killed them! She killed Aziel's friends!!> she thought in panic... and in the blind rush, she didn't notice that the skies suddenly began to darken.

Aziel began pumping his legs so hard as he sprinted to his friends, that he barely heard the words "Few have been able to dodge with such quickness a cut at that speed... that much I have to give you, ex-Lieutenant Vryce".
He thought that demented monster had killed Vryce and that if he didn't hurry, Haruka would be next. The emergency systems they all carried would teleport them out of danger and into the hospital ward instantly, but only if they were inches from death. If the person would be killed before the system activated itself, then it would be for naught... as the body of the fallen hunter would just appear on the hospital, dead. Dean was safe... but his was a close call.
60 feet! It felt like time had stopped, and his legs weren't moving him at all.

Lynx was playing for keeps, and she would not let anyone escape her mad thirst for blood.
Everything began to darken around Aziel, but he didn't notice.
The only thing he saw was Haruka placing a hand over his dead friend's eyes and another over his chest. Lynx was raising her saber to cut his newman friend in two... it was now or never.

At 50 feet, he felt a rush of photon energy course over his body, and he also knew something had broken inside of him. But it wasn't the moment to worry about this... he needed... to... be... there... NOW!!!

Aziel felt as his grip on the dying saber was crushing the weapon's hilt. Fueled by anger and desperation... running only two steps and springing using all his might, he was able to leap almost 40 feet in the air. Making a rolling flip in the air, and landing just between Lynx and Vryce, turning on the blade for less than a second, he made a quick sideswipe and deflected the Pallasch to his right, which burned through his shoulder protector, but didn't cut the mechanical muscles behind it.

The HUcaseal looked genuinely surprised, but her resolve and insane anger settled once again when she was denied the perverse satisfaction the death of the human and the newman girl. She quickly stroke three times in rapid sucession, once at Aziel's head from the left side, once at his right knee and once more at his midsection.
The Hucast had parried each and every slash by igniting the red blade at the very last second and deflecting the blows to the side with ease and cold precision. He remembered the training days with his old master, and the leasons well learned came back to his mind, flowing into his body and guiding his every movement.

Lynx was surprised by the way her opponent was blocking her attacks. She tried again, this time thrusting the blade at his right shoulder, then again at his chest and finally making a great cleaving blow from the ground up, trying to cut the android in half.
Aziel moved to his left on the first attack, leaving his saber off. On the second, he turned on the ball of his heels to his right, turning the blade on in vertical position once just in time to throw the opponent's saber tip up and to the side. He still turned with enough speed as to evade completely the slashing uppercut, and from the side, he flicked the blade once and smashed it into Lynx's left arm. A shower of hot blue sparks hit both fighters and Lynx was thrown back a few feet.

She gritted her teeth and recovered her balance. She saw Aziel stand between her and her two helpless enemies. She was irritated that none of her attacks, save the first one, had managed to get through. Her vision began to blurr in a red sheet of hate when it suddenly stopped.
She tried to grab her Pallasch with both hands, with more force, her opponent would be hard pressed to try that deflecting, parlor trick again, as a saber that is ignited for a short time doesn't have the cohesivity to fully block harder blows.
The problem is that all she felt was a tingle... a really creepy tingle in her left arm.
Looking down, she saw a severed android arm with a blue-silver color scheme. It had been cut down just below the shoulder and bright blue sparks still jumped out onto the grass.
Horrified, her gaze went from the arm on the ground, to her left side. She felt cold when she noticed that all that was left of her own left arm was a shoulder stump... dripping very familiar blue sparks.
The moment had lasted only for a second, and the red sheet of anger returned, this time as a berserk bloody rage.

"UUURAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!" Lynx cried from the very depths of hell. Slashing with a downwards motion from over her head, she leapt a bit, so as to give her attack her weight into it.
Aziel knew he couldn't deflect the attack by flickering the saber for a moment, so he turned it on and caught the blade just in time by positioning his blade horizontally over his head.
The blow shook him and what he had felt had snapped previously inside of him twice, coursed inside of him like white fire.
His strength sapping away, he kneeled under the extreme pressure Lynx applied over the interlocked sabers. A flash of light went over their heads and they both felt a great tremor under their feet, but none of the two gave any quarter to their test of might.

Haruka thought they were as good as dead, until Aziel, in his white battered armor had appeared from nowhere and drove off the demon android away with such skill, she was still mesmerized from it.
"HARUKA! PIONEER 2 TO HARUKA!!!" Vryce's yell made her return from her astonished look at the duel before her eyes to the man in her arms.
"Oh.. hey! You don't need to y-" she was cut short by Vryce's calm voice
"We need to get to a better position... are you still carrying the handgun I gave you last year?" asked Vryce, getting up quickly and putting on arm over her shoulder.
"Yeah... why? You can't shoot anything anyways, at least not until you heal that wound on your brow"
"Help me up and hand me the gun... you will be my eyes" he said as she took the small gun from her holster and gave it to him.
"I'M GONNA WHAT?!?" she felt her knees buckle under Vryce's weight. Haruka was petite and very lithe... she wasn't too strong physically and she had to recline into something or both would just fall down.
"I told you, you are going to help me aim and we're going to shoot the goddamn witch... I don't think Aziel's fully recovered from his wounds, and if I remember correctly, his Pallasch isn't doing so well either" Vryce said matter-of-factly.
"Damn, I hate it when you're right" said Haruka, helping herself by putting her hand over the cold stone behind her.
"I know... I hate it too... heh..." Vryce couldn't see anything, but he felt as if every alarm in his mind was ringing with deafening noise.
"Haruka... don't tell me..." he said, gripping the gun tighter.
"What?" she suddenly noticed where her hands were. One was around Vryce's waist, the wounded one. But the other, the one she used to prop herself because of Vryce's weight... was... over... the monolith...
She found strength in her panic, and helping Vryce move out of the way, she didn't really notice the grey stone block crack and spew fumes around it.
"I TOUCHED IT!!! I TOUCHED IT!!! I'M SORRY VRYCE!!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!!!" she cried at the top of her lungs, tears of fear running down her cheeks.
"I told you not to tell me... *sigh*"

They ran about 20 feet before they fell down on the grass, as the ground shook with great force.
Haruka got up first and was starting to help Vryce get up again when she noticed the ground had become lumpy and irregular.
Her eyes froze in complete shock. Her stomach felt like it was about to return her lunch, but the spectacle in front of her... around her was too impressive, too tetric for her to handle in that instant.
She was kneeling over the faces of the first immigrants, the brave people of the Pioneer 1.
The grass had disappeared and sounds of moaning came all around her. The sky was jet black, with crimson clouds billowing all over the valley. The blue-green mountains around them had melted down into jagged dark grey rock, jutting its spiky summits to the heavens, as if to escape this nightmarish scene. And worst of all, besides Aziel and Lynx who were still locking blades, the monolith had disappeared completely!

Faye had regained her composure the moment he had seen Haruka and Vryce get up and back away from her sister and Aziel's duel. But at the very moment she had seen the newman girl rest her hand on the stone pillar, she had a flash of something sinister finally stir from whatever slumber it had gone to. She also felt a tug in her heart, like a cry for help from a very deep, very dark place.
She raised her rifle and tried to shoot at her sister, but she hesitated... she couldn't bring herself to do it.
When she saw Aziel deftly cut Lynx's arm, her hands trembled and still couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.
But in the moment Lynx had roared with a passionate hate and attack the one she knew she loved, she aimed straight at Lynx's head. She squeezed the trigger and under her breath said:
"I'm sorry sister..."
Her aim was ruined as a huge tremor shook her from underneath and made her not only miss her target by inches, but lose her balance and fall on top of something disgustingly soft. Her left hand quickly going to the side to absorb the shock of the fall, recoiled in horror as she saw what she was touching.
A face of a person... embedded in a macabre tapestry of pained and tortured visages, as far as the eye could see.
Getting up, Faye took her rifle in her two hands and closed her eyes as she ran towards Aziel.

"Bet you can just keep humiliating me? Think you're the better model?!?" a manic tinge in Lynx's voice made Aziel feel a chill on his heart.
"Well... I do have some issues I want to clear up with you, Aziel!!!" and with that, she changed the direction of the pressure she was exerting with her saber from the top to just away from her.
Aziel didn't expect the change so suddenly, and fell on his back.
Lynx quickly stomped the ground with her heel, cracking the tortured face of a person on the floor instead of Aziel's chest.
He had rolled to his side just in time, and without giving too much thought to the strange change the enviroment did around them, he concentrated on his opponent.
"Your reflexes are very good for a defective, older model like yourself!" she tried kicking him on the back of his feet and then slashing sideways with her saber. The HUcast hopped to avoid the trip, and flicked the blade on his saber just for enough time to block the spinning red photon blade aimed at his legs.
Aziel notied how much the blade flickered and grew tense. With no weapon left, he couldn't hope to block Lynx's attacks and even less, defeat her. He then saw a small green glow to his side. A beam dagger was lying in the floor, unnoticed by his enemy.
"And even your strenght is very impressive, you really left a mark on me when you threw me against the column and then shoved that debris on me..." she smiled evilly as she lunged forward. Missing her mark by mere inches, Aziel spun to her left and dropped to the floor. He knew she had missed on purpose, but it was his only chance at grabbing a fresh weapon.
As Lynx lurched forward in her attack, she knew Aziel would try and dodge the attack from her wounded side, her left. As such, when she lept forward, she spun her right leg forward and her left leg a little to the back and to the right.
Aziel sprang, and seeing how Lynx's legs were moving in a way that indicated that she would kick his back with great force, he quickly lunged at the ground, rolling as he hit the floor.
Lynx's spinning kick missed her mark, but the momentum had given her enough force to throw her Pallasch at Aziel with the strength of a magnetic rail gun.
As he was rolling, Aziel saw the saber cutting through the air like a spinning scythe at him. He quickly lifted his hand with his saber flicked on and deflected the mighty blow, but it knocked the hilt off his grip.
Both sabers turned off in midair and rolled on the uneven floor, Aziel's saber completely useless now from the shock. These had fallen a good 20 feet from either combatant.

He turned around, raising the small photon dagger to avoid being beheaded.
Lynx had produced a photon glaive and had made a wide circle with it, putting one end of it behind her back as to give it more force, she was severely disappointed when the reddish blade struck against the small beam knife Aziel had taken from the ground.
"Your luck also seems never to run out... all very good qualities in a military-class android I must say" she added as she applied even more pressure. She knew Aziel was exhausted and would not be long before he could not parry anything else.
Aziel measured his situation with a grim prospect. He wasn't unarmed, but the HUcaseal had now the advantage of reach, and if he was using just a simple dagger, he could be cut in several pieces before he could even reach her. His strength was dwindling... and if the Panzer android still made attacks with that kind of strength... He stopped thinking about it and decided to change his tactics as he noticed several somethings rise up from the floor... all around them.

"What are you waiting for? You told me she's holding him with a glaive... take the shot, I trust you can guide my hand!" Vryce said to her.
"But the problem is, you moron, that we're surrounded!" Haruka's good hand over his own hand trembled.
"What?!? Are there more Panzer Psycho androids???" Vryce's brow felt warmer. Actually, he felt pretty darn hot, as if someone had lighted a torch to his face.
"Nope, but I don't think these things are gonna help her or us!" Haruka said quickly and waving her hands in a quick motion, she called upon the powers of flame to surround her and cleanse away the obstacles. She winced at the sharp pain from her crushed hand.
"See if ya can stand the heat!!! GIFOIE!!!" she yelled.
Hundreds of spinning bladed things had sprung from the floor, and were approaching each person in that field, as moths to the flames. However, these moths possesed wickedly sharp edges, and the flames were dying out in strenght.
Luckily, the newman's tech had burnt to a crisp the many blades that were surrounding them.
"What was that? Haruka?" Vryce called to her. He knew she was just behind him as he felt her knees on his back.
Quickly taking Vryce's hand in her good hand and pointing it at Lynx's back, she said:
"Nothing, just giving us a little space to make the shot" she smiled and tried to aim the gun.

Faye had begun shooting frantically at every direction when the blades had popped from the earth and started to approach her menacingly. She knew that if assistance were not forthcoming, she was going to be shredded into tiny bits.
She managed to unleash volley upon volley of photon fire to the metallic spinning things, but the circle was closing in on her.
<Aziel...> she thought as she shot another round at the things.

To be continued...

[Hippocanibal]

Good job. now just hurry it on up with this one! =D

[Shadow777]

Oh come on, don't leave us hanging like this.
Keep up the writing.

[Sharkyland]

Wow, this is really good. You sure know how to make readers stay at the edge of their seat...

[AUTO_]

I don't tell another fic writer he/she is doing a great job unless I truely mean it.

Great job, keep up the good work on the fic!

http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

-AUTO

[Peshk]

Come on, Mr. Wizard. The suspense is starting to get to me.

[Hippocanibal]

it takes time. we shouldnt rush him.....*cough hurry the hell up *cough.

[Peshk]

I know it takes time. However, he has one of my characters blinded, blooded, and aiming by faith and confidence.

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Nine: The gates of the underworld

The wind suddenly chilled everyone present in the valley. It felt like death herself had breathed upon the scenery, the low rumbling of the ground felt as the earth had begun to roil and awaken with an unkown yet terrifying force.

Haruka and Vryce both felt cold sweat run down their bodies. The mysterious spinning blades that had appeared out of the ground were only a prelude to something worse. She felt her good hand tremble in Vryce's and he felt an ominous sensation come over him.
"Just point it at the assassin droid... I'll do the rest... come on friend, don't let me down now..." Vryce whispered in a breath.
"............." Haruka bit her lip and focused on helping her big brother out... she wasn't gonna allow that morbid, crazed female android get away not only with crippling her, but with attacking his big brother!
Her resolve strenghted, her hand stopped shaking and she tried to aim the gun herself, as Vryce had asked her to do.

<Aziel... please...> Faye thought to herself, the shadows getting closer and closer, giving her less room to maneuver and shoot <... please, don't forget about me... Aziel...>

Aziel felt a pang inside of him... and looking quickly to his side, he noticed Faye was being surrounded by dozens of dark blades that seemed to float on their own accord. He felt a tug in his heart, but didn't know if he could be able to get away from Lynx.
Clenching his teeth, he tried to push back Lynx's glaive, but she didn't budged an inch. His strenght was sapping slowly... he knew that if he tried to run to Faye, Lynx would not let him take one step before impaling him... but he couldn't just stay there, he had to save her... his promise and his honor to her... and his love...

The broken yet still strong frame that once could be called Panzer Lynx shivered at the anticipation. She knew she had pinned down the rogue android down, and that was no small feat, but she knew why she had been made last. She had been outfitted with the most advanced systems, and she was far superior to any other model before her or currently existing. In due time, her entire body could regenerate thanks to advanced prototype nano-machinery that allowed her to recover her strenght even from the most lethal wounds. If she could have placed the arm to her stump, she would have it back and working in mere minutes. But the rogue android was strong and she had to keep applying pressure to him as she wanted to taste victory in her lips.

Looking to her left, she saw her sister being outnumbered and outmaneuvered slowly yet surely.
<You deserve that, you traitor... and the one who you decided to follow, trust and look up to, can't do anything!> Lynx thought to herself. She didn't quite understand why she felt so powerful, but she knew hers was a just cause. She followed orders, she was pursuing her mission, and only she was being loyal to her purpose. Her sister?
She had doubted.
She had betrayed her.
She had become the enemy.

And the enemy must die. And the first enemy to taste her justice, would be the rogue. The beginning of the conflict was because of his rebellion.
Her grip tightened and the glaive's blade began to pressure the small photon dagger Aziel was gripping with both hands.
White sparks showered the HUcast's face and chest, but even as he felt his power wane, he didn't flinch.
"You are so determined, traitor..." Lynx said in a hiss "It's hopeless!!! Don't you see? You'll fall any moment soon. I'll make sure your metal innards litter the ground; I'll go and kill off the meddling newman girl and the stupid, arrogant human... but first, I'll let you witness how my treacherous sister'll die while you can't do anything to stop her demise!!!"
"Shut UP!!!" Aziel yelled as the sparks burned his face, arms and chest "I'LL NEVER GIVE UP!!!"
"Oi! Aziel... Even without one arm, I still possess more power than you...what are you going to do?!?!?!" she grinned, and her leering skull combined with her glowing hateful eyes, looked like a devil in the twilight.
"This!!!" cried a female voice in the air.

A pair of beam sabers fell on the floor, close to Aziel but just out of reach. This particular weapons looked like they were matched.

Lynx looked up with a glance and saw a lithe silhouette spin in the air. Definitely feminine, yet with strong supple movements, this android jumped into Lynx within the blink of an eye. Lynx quickly and easily leapt back and by putting her foot over one end of the glaive and thrusting her arm forward, blocked the other HUcaseal's strike with deftness.
Her armor had a blue-grey tinge, her eyes shone white, devoid of emotion. Her long hair, held in a ponytail, swayed in the winds, brandishing a strange, stafflike weapon with deep purple protusions on each of its ends.
The weapon creaked with the pressure this stranger put into it. Her face didn't register anything, save a firm resolve.
A little surprised, Lynx didn't know the teleporter still had a bit of energy left over to dump yet another person into this strange place.
Still, this interloper had attacked her, so... she was an enemy.
And the enemy must die.

The other female android quickly raised the other end of the staff weapon, trying to hit Lynx squarely under the stump of her arm.
Lynx quickly changed her footing, and with a spin to her right, managed to sidestep the blow. She raised the blunt end of the glaive and struck her attacker in the midsection. Her opponent did not flinch, but stepped back once.

Putting her hand over the wound, the HUcaseal raised her staff to her eyes, to defend herself; turned her head slightly and told Aziel:
"Hunter Aziel, if you are to act, act now!" she quickly turned her attention to Lynx, who had not wasted any time and had begun to spin in a flurry of quick, precise strikes.

Aziel dropped the dagger to the floor. His body felt spent, his arms on fire and heavy, and his vision blurred. He lurched forward and clasped one of the two sabers on the floor and his knees buckled. Falling on the ground, he knew he had strained himself too much.
"Aziel!..." he thought he heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw Faye on the ground, lifting her rifle to block a spinning blade's attack.
The dark thing spun so fast, it was cutting the metal rifle as a hot knife cut through soft butter.
Faye looked at him. Her wide eyes, filled with fear, love and tears, seemed to say good bye at him.

He felt his hand grab the second blade and his legs get his heavy body off the floor. And in an instant, he had hurried to her, the very moment the spinning blade had cut the rifle and had ripped off a bit of her forearms.
Faye dropped back, grabbing her arms against her and closed her eyes, waiting for death.
Aziel turned both weapons on, and a greenish glowing sword flickered into existence on each. Swinging in a wide circle, he cut down two shadow creatures apart. Spinning his heel around, and thrusting both blades to the sides, he managed to lessen the distance between him and Faye and cut a wider path to her.
But he knew he would not be able to make it in time... the spinning blade was almost on top of her chest...

A photon bullet streaked across the air, impacting the thing's grey body and cracking it backwards from the force. Haruka let out a yell of triumph and made a V sign with her good hand.
"WOOHOO!!!! Right in the middle!! Way to go Vryce!" she hugged him from his neck, making him cough.
Vryce stood a bit dazed in the ground, trying to make out what was happening.
"Did you hit her? I think you aimed too far to the right, Haruka..." he felt Haruka had changed her aim a bit too much to where Vryce had originally had heard the Panzer android.
"I just bought Aziel-san some more time... the killer android is busy right now...!" Haruka felt she just couldn't live with the prospect of Aziel without Faye, seeing how much he seemed to care for her.
"Eh?" Vryce didn't like to be kept in the dark of things, but instinct told him to trust the newman girl.

Aziel smiled under his breath. His little Haruka had given him a second more, and with a leap, he cut in half the last dull grey monster in his path. Landing with both legs spread apart, standing over Faye, he covered her from every angle, lashing out with blinding speed with the twin sabers. Suddenly, he noticed, the spinning monsters just vanished into the ground, as quickly as they had appeared in the first place.

The mysterious HUcaseal was at the limit of her skills, trying to dodge, block and parry each deadly powerful cut and jab with her staff. <So...> she thought <... she is as powerful as the reports hinted... and she gets more powerful each moment... what could fuel her abilities?>
She ducked and raised her staff to block a sideswiping blow, and the strike almost made her lose her grip. Rolling back, she kept some distance and stared long and hard at her foe. Panzer Lynx, unit model P2P0B-X, infiltration, information gathering and assassination class military android... she was missing her left arm and still fought like a demon. Even glancing blows felt like a raging Hildetorr's haymaker against a fragile eggshell. Her fierceness only increased her hazard.
The unknown female android decided it was better to dodge instead of block, as the notches in her staff weapon made it clearly that a couple more parries would mean no more weapon in her hands.

Lynx quietly said, keeping her blinding rage under check:
"And who might you be, enemy? Why did you attack me? Are you friend of this scum?" she pointed the glaive's point at her opponent. She knew that even if the entire Hunter's Guild would attack her now, she would emerge victorious.

"I am called Gensy... that's all you need to know..." the female android answered coldly.
"Another name forgotten in a mass grave... of that you can be sure..." Lynx spun about the glaive, and resting it on her hip in its middle, she walked calmly at her foe.
Gensy backed a couple of steps. She had to admit unit P2P0B-X was superior in skill, and that she needed either help or a miracle.

But only death answered her silent call.

Black smoke rose up from the ground and billowed forth into the darkened skies above.
The ground shook even more violently, and from the depths of the cracks and fissures in the ground, a colossal creature arose.
Its body, covered in spikes and armored plates, swelled and flexed its muscles.
A crown of winglike protusions on its top fanned out, exposing a humanoid torso, twisted and foul, with a leering, fang-filled mouth and two ruby eyes where a face should be.
Instead of legs, the abomination possessed a stalk-like body that had four roots stretching into each direction. Each root ended in a maw, gigantic and malevolent, even dragon-like in its appearance.

Everyone stood silent and stunned, even Lynx stopped to look at this monstruosity with awe.
The thing's glowing red eyes looked upon them with amusement and suddenly, while stretching its wing protusions, let out such a mighty roar, that even the skies seemed to shake with the ire of an ancient evil.

Haruka, wide-eyed with horror, stood agape in shock at the towering thing. She felt a squeeze in her hand that made her look down and come back to her senses.
"That didn't sound like good news, tell me it ain't so..." said Vryce in a low voice as he had grabbed her hand in his.
"Umm..." she just nodded her head in negation.
"Yeah... this goes from bad to just plain worse..." he replied.

"Aziel?" Faye said with watery eyes.
"I am here, Faye... I am here..." he kneeled down next to her and hugged her against him. She yelped lightly as her arms touched his chest. Quickly separating her from him, he noticed that her forearms were badly hurt. The outer casing and armor that covered her delicate inner workings was so badly damaged, that she could not put any effort in her hands without feeling great sharp pain.
"I'm sorry, I got hurt pretty badly and now I can't help you... I can barely move my fingers..." she said, her voice wavering.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure your regenerative systems have enough time for you to be able to give me a hand" he said, placing his hand over her cheek.
Smiling wealky, she closed her eyes wearily. She needed to lie still, and she felt so fatigued. In her love's arms, she would find comfort, even if this was to be their last moment together. Faye fell into a dark sleep, devoid of dreams.
Aziel quickly looked to his side, trying to see where Haruka and Vryce were... as well as the mysterious HUcaseal who had come and helped him out.
He wondered who that was... she sure wasn't a hunter from the Guild. He knew most Guild members by sight, but this one... she was different. Her movements were precise, fluid and exact... like a timepiece. But it seemed devoid of something... He could not avoid thinking that there was something lacking in her technique that would make a difference.
But his train of thought came back at the unholy monster that had just appeared from the ground.
"This is it..." Aziel muttered "... what Red Ring Rico had hinted at... the existence of something... unnatural that had laid dormant until the people of the Pioneer 1 had landed here..." he took a quick glance to Faye, and kissing her on the forehead, he placed her on the ground with care, turned around and turned his twin sabers on. Walking towards the gigantic thing in the middle of the perverse valley, he mustered his strenght and resolve. This was it... if he could defeat this thing... the people of Pioneer 2 would finally find their home in the stars.

The monster raised its eyebrows, and studied them hard. Tensing its huge muscles, it raised two claws among its many limbs and opening all its fanged mouths, roared once more. The tinge of bloodlust was overly present in its war cry, and nothing except complete annihilation of those who stood in front of it would appease it.
It was a god of darkness, a force of destruction, the end of all.

And then its dragon mouths vomited forth more of these shadow spinning monsters all around it.

This took everyone by surprise. Haruka sent one of her favorite and most powerful techniques hurling at the reptilian face that was near her and Vryce. Raising her good hand over her head and making a wide arc towards the gaping mouth, she opened her eyes fully and she yelled:
"RAFOIE!!!" and with this, the heat in the air concentrated in the middle of the mouth, getting as hot as a tiny sun and suddenly, exploding. The dozens of shadowy monsters burst into ash, and the mouth gurgled a dying yelp. Haruka quickly scanned the surroundings with her gaze and saw that nothing had survived the blast and thus Vryce and her were safe, for the moment.
This great beast still possessed at least three or four more fanged mouths, but she wasn't even close to target them with any of her spells.
It took great mystical strenght to summon such a powerful attack, and she could not do it again unless she stood still, concentrating and focusing her inner reserves again.
Closing her eyes and dulling her senses to everything around her, Haruka started to feel her vigor return slowly but surely.

Vryce had regained a bit of his eyesight... but only enough to be able to distinguish dark blurs from lighter blurs in his eyes. He did sense motion from underneath him and around him. He gritted his teeth and feeling around for his Varista handgun, he noticed the weapon had been cut at the barrel. That was the reason why he felt sparks burn his skin and vest, now he knew. He had hoped to at least put out the Panzer's left eye with the last shot his trusty firearm had done.
"Haruka? Where are you?" he said calmly, trying to make out the greyish blots in his vision, "Honey... can I get at least some aknowledgement that I'm not about to get my head bit off by something very big and hungry?" he grinned at the time a strange dragon near the abandoned Central Dome had almost swallowed him up.
The dragon had risen into the air, made a spin in the air and dove right into the rock in the ground. Instead of crushing itself to a pulp, it dove into it. Vryce had guessed that a thin crust of hardened magma was the only thing between his team of investigarors and a fiery death. Suddenly, the dragon had burrowed a fast tunnel under their feet and most of them had been knocked down. One of them, a rookie hunter who Vryce couldn't remember his name at this moment, had fallen back in a spectacular flip and landed on his skull, breaking his neck. He himself had been thrown onto his face and was getting up when the dragon had decided to exit the ground just behind him. Haruka was with him, but being a little smarter than trying to run up to the monster in the first place, had remained near a broken archway, within its shadows.
The dragon had ignored her, probably thinking the two humans were probably more dangerous, and as such, took a greater interest in dealing with them first.
Looking forward, he saw Haruka move her arms wildly and make faces at him.
He just sneered and grabbed his rifle and started to get up.
Vryce was spitting a mouthful of dirt, pebbles and blood when he felt a foreshadowing presence behind him.
"Oh... damn..." he said, flipping to his back, still on the ground and tried to aim at the very last moment.
The dragon had closed its jaws on him, its dagger-like teeth piercing his armor and wounding him badly. The dragon had caught him by Vryce's sides, so his legs stuck out of one side of its mouth and his upper torso from the other.
"AAAAARGH!!!!!" he yelled as the pressure was getting worse. His body would snap in two any second when it happened.
Suddenly, the dragon had lost its balance, as its weight was no longer supported by its two scaled muscular legs.
A white armored android, sporting metallic-looking wings, had severed one of its legs in one clean swipe of its saber. Looking up, it nodded to Vryce and turning around, it jumped and made a vertical slash at one of the dragon's wings, impairing its ability for flight, preventing its escape.
Without thinking about it too much, Vryce had lifted the rifle to the dragon's eye and shot as many times as the photon battery let him. The dragon came crashing down and after losing consciousness, Vryce woke up to Dean's voice.
"It is good that you are made of sterner stuff, sir..." his overly courteous manner made Vryce a little edgy, but he felt too dizzy to complain.
After that, he had asked Haruka (from his hospital bed, 75 stitches) to next time, let him know about these kind of dangers with words, not just gestures.
"Ok..." mollyfied, Haruka pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, then, as if remembering something she added "Oh yeah! Remember that strange white-clad android with metal wings on his back? He says he's glad you where all right after we had teleported back here, at the Pioneer 2... but he didn't stay even though I asked him nicely" she made a frown.
"Badgering by any other name?" added Dean.
"HEY!" answered Haruka, fuming.
"That is strange... you say he didn't stay? Where is he now?" asked Vryce, wincing from the wound, as he got a little up from his pillow.
"He said he was going to 'find his strength' or some such nonsense, down at Ragol" said Haruka as she was grabbing Dean's collar and kicking his armored leg. Dean made no effort to stop the newman girl.

Vryce felt someone resting his hand on his shoulder at that moment, stopping his daydreaming.
He smelled Haruka's perfume and let down his guard a bit.
"What is happening? I can't see diddly-squat!" he motioned his hand around him, making his point.
"I think it's better if you don't see what's happening, Vryce... it's a nightmare" her voice felt weak and very tired.

Aziel had leapt into the mass of swarming shadows, moving as fast as lightning, cutting them left and right. Some of the things managed to nick him here and there, but his resolve was absolute and skill undenied.
With a jump forward, he spun into the air like a fan, with his arms outstretched and twin sabers ablaze.
The dragon mouth reared to crush him into pulp, opening its jaws wide, but instead, they were torn apart with the force the HUcast had sent himself into.
Splitting the lower mandible from the upper one killed the dragon's maw instantly, but it did not hinder the main creature at best.
Aziel knew he had to get to its center and attack it with all that he was left with.

Lynx and Gensy took several strikes at each other before one of the heads bursted between them. Gensy leapt backward, grasped her staff and began to twirl it in a deadly dance, making the points of its ends burst with purple lights as it stroke the tough shell of the monster's root.
Lynx snickered and with an acrobatic jump using the glaive, landed on top of the same root-like limb her opponent, Gensy, was attacking. Eyes glowing, she quickly saw her real target in the chaos below and with another deft movement, landed on another of the creature's roots.
"Wait! We are not finished!" Gensy cried out, spinning around and catching one of the shadow things with her staff, sending it crashing among others like it.
"You are not worthy of me, lesser unit..." Lynx said as she jumped out of the way of one of the monster's many arm-like limbs that tried to grab her. She thought: <only he... the rogue android... he is meant for me and me alone!>
Her eyes glowed even brighter in the darkness that swallowed the valley. With a turn, she leapt into the air and sent the glaive straight at the colossal creature's midsection, tearing muscle, bone and organs as it shot through like a bullet.

The creature just opened its eyes dully, as it could not register the fact of what had just happened. Then, with a crashing ear-piercing sound, it fell forward and broke the ground beneath it with shuddering force.

Everyone just stared in shock. Did the monster had just died???
Aziel felt a pang of relief, which was quickly replaced with an alarm in his mind.
Quickly turning about, he raised his twin sabers to block a long and wicked-looking claw that was meant to cut him in two.
Sparks showered the floor, and behind them, he saw Lynx's leering face.
"Show me..." she said, her voice strung in madness "show me your strength!!!"
Aziel pushed back and releasing both blades from the claw, quickly spun around, darted in and out, and struck with surgically precision to mow down his foe.
Lynx had managed to block both sabers with the one claw. But even as she had pointed one saber to her face just inches away, the other had found its mark. It was in her right hip, just above her leg. This fueled her hate and anger so much, that Aziel didn't see her disengaged the claw from her right arm, put one leg behind his back, the other leg in front of his abdomen and curl up her arm around his neck. This had happened so fast, that he didn't register the whole attack until the pressure began to crush him from all around him.
Lynx put her face next to his, and rubbing what was left of her cheek once, she smiled and said:
"You put up a good fight, but it ends right now, rogue..."

A cracking sound next to Aziel's head and the feeling of being crushed stopped. He thought his motor systems had finally gave out, but as he moved his arms to the floor to grab the twin sabers, he looked to his side and saw the mysterious HUcaseal stand between him and Lynx. She brandished no weapon, as well as Lynx. They both stood there studying each other for the smallest hint of movement.
"Th-thank you..." Aziel said, wincing as he felt that particular sharp pain in his chest come back.
"No need for thanks... it is combat between the Panzer unit and myself..." Gensy said without looking back, she moved her hands and her feet to adopt a defensive posture, one arm in front of her, hand in a fist, the other, just parallel to her cold face, palm open.
Lynx just put her hand in front of her, fingers slightly open, as if ready to grab anything thrown at her. Her feet were spaced apart to move them into any position quickly.

"Aziel-san! The thing... the thing is alive!!!" he heard Haruka's voice break the tense air.
He looked at where the dark monster laid in ruin and opening his eyes fully, noticed that the topmost part of the creature twitched and moved its arms about.
He quickly spun on his heel and made a dash for the creature... he had to kill it before it could do anything else!

Another tremor shook the earth and Aziel, in his weakened condition, lost his footing and tripped. He still kept his grip on his sabers, but as he rose from the ground once more, he knew that it was too late to stop the creature now.

The creature had used its claw-like arms to divest itself of its lower portion, and with a sickening sound of ripping muscle and sinew, it lifted itself into the air. Where it had been joined with its rooted lower body, there stood a bloated, pulsing organ, not unlike a giant beating heart, but covered in thick, greasy flesh. But most astounding was, the thing floated up from the ground as if were lighter than the air itself.

Aziel jumped into it, with both sabers stabbing the air, intent on clinging to it before it was out of reach.
The monster saw him leap into the air and placed on claw in front of him. Opening it, white-hot fire swelled from its joint and spewed forth.
Aziel put his arms around him to protect himself as he saw the white light in front of him and felt a sudden wave of pain and heat suddenly cover him entirely.
The blast of superheated air caught the HUcast dead-on. It burst into thousands of flaming drops of molten rain and sent Aziel into the air. He crashed on the floor with a loud crack near where Faye was.
It then turned another claw to Gensy and Lynx's direction. It opened and instead of heating the air in its joint, it began to frost around the edges.

Gensy took the iniciative. She aimed a punch to Lynx's stomach, got her fist caught in the opponent's grabbing motion, tried to punch using her other fist, aiming for her foe's only arm.
While she did indeed struck the arm and made Lynx let go of her arm, it wasn't just the blow that made the Panzer android free her.
Lynx had backflipped twice in a cartwheel and laid low in the ground, putting her good arm over her head.
Gensy couldn't get to the part where she wondered what was that all about when something that froze her left her frame completely numb, almost encased in pieces of ice.

"D-damn... th-this is so c-careless..." shivered Gensy as she tried to shake off the effects of the cold, but her body didn't respond at all. She looked up, to where Lynx was already getting up and grinning in satisfaction.
"That hurt..." she looked at her right arm, where the punch Gensy had thrown had left a dent "I'll get you back for this right now"
And pulling a slick barreled gun from her side, she took the safety off and glared her over the glowing photon charge.

Vryce felt the air get ionized so sharply, his mouth tasted strangely like metal.
He grabbed Haruka's leg and pulling her to him, he said quickly before she tried to squirm her way out:
"Trust me, we either stay like this and hope the emergency teleportation device pulls us back to the Pioneer 2 or we die"
Haruka stopped struggling and looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened and looked at the abomination rise its many claws to the air.
"BUT!!! BUT WHAT ABOUT AZIEL-SAN AND FAYE-SAN?!?!?!" she yelled as she put her head in his chest, covering her tears.
"AND THE LADY ANDROID THAT HELPED US?!?!?! THEY'R-"
Vryce gritted his teeth and held her more strongly, making her stop.
"They'll be fine... that Gensy has her emergency teleport device on, I hope... and Aziel has his, but..."
Then it dawned on him.
"...oh no..."
And he looked at the limp form of Faye in the ground, close to Aziel.

But then, purple rain washed over them with a wave of searing pain and light and he lost consciousness.

To be continued...

[Shadow777]

good stuff, Raziel_Kai
KEEP IT UP

[Raziel_Kai]

Thanks for your kind comments, all of you!
I will be posting episode 10 sometime tonight or tomorrow in the morning. I was going to finish with a super-extra long episode 9 but decided to cut it short into two pieces detailing the climax.

And there is a small detail, I have just gotten a scanner and image editing software that are both really good, so I may post a Fanart topic about the characters in my story.

As for any comments, feedback or just plain questions, PM me or post right there on the Tale of the Dark Samurai thread. I'll be happy to clear things up in the upcoming episodes (yes, even if the current storyline ends in Ep10, I will continue forward with even more stuff... http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif )

Thanks for your support people!

[Logical2u]

Cool... I hope Raziel... I mean Aziel... kills Falz.

[Squid]

It's so cute!!! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif ... What happens next?

[Haruka-chan]

so far so good big bro http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

*slaps Vryce with a trout*

http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Hyuo_Fenlr]

Wow!!! I only like lv.9 spells!!...... BOATDOKEN!!!

[Sharkyland]

oh boy oh boy oh boy

[Peshk]

How come I get slapped with a trout? http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_argh.gif

And waiting anxiously for the next chapter. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode 10: The demon god

Aziel had felt the attack a second before it struck... and leaping to his side, he covered Faye with his body.
Just before the rain hit the ground, Faye had opened her eyes slightly and her gaze locked with Aziel's. She saw the purple lights crashing down from the heavens, but she also saw Aziel covering her form with his.
Silently, her eyes seemed to ask why he was doing this. She was begging for him not to do that...
And as if he had read her thoughts, he replied a second before the bright energy struck his back:
"Duty..."
Faye tried to call out for him to stop, for everything to stop. But then explosions drowned out her scream.

Lynx didn't get a chance to pull the trigger when everything went purple and then white around Gensy and the Panzer android. Both fell to the ground, their bodies almost crushed by the heavenly attack. The smoke cleared after each heavenly beam had crashed down and caused explosions around the whole valley.

Gensy, feeling dizzy but free of her icy containment, raised her head a bit, tried to focus and then swooned onto the floor.
Lynx got up, her frame mostly gone and exposing the intricate and delicate wiring of her innards.
She looked at the gigantic creature and with a hateful scorn etched in her ghastly face, she pulled the trigger until the battery wore down. She then threw the gun at the beast and turned to look for Aziel. She felt the fingers on her left arm again, and as she strode off, a wiry-looking steel skeleton arm had been put into her stump.
"Good thing I found my precious arm in the debris..." she grasped the air with her left fingers once and made a fist.

The monster came crashing down, its body bloodied and torn. In its dying throes, it fell into the center of the valley, making a huge crater, where toxic fumes rose and the ground groaned from the touch of this perverse evil. The ruby eyes lost focus and bile drooled off its maw. The gigantic heart stopped beating and through the bullet holes Lynx had pierced it, black, greasy blood spilled around it.
It seemed the blood was as caustic as acid, because the ground itself began to corrode and give way, digging an even deeper hole in the ground.

Aziel had opened his eyes wearily. He felt too tired and too drowsy to move.
Trying to move his hand, all he felt was a dead lead weight on his limbs. He didn't try to move at all, but he noticed he was looking up, but everything was dark as ink... some roiling reddish clouds seemed to circle his sight and he noticed someone was watching over him. He felt a warm tear drop on his face and he blinked twice, trying to focus his sight... it felt different... there was something missing...

Faye had propped his head over her lap, and though she was severely burned and her frame showed scars from the explosions, his last second heroics had saved her. She lovingly put her hand on his brow and bent over, kissing him on his lips.
She had removed the helmet that covered his face when she had seen that it had cracked sideways from the impact with the strange beams of light.
She wondered who had made him. His face looked almost human except for his eyes, which glowed now with a subdued golden light. His features were strong and handsome. He had a square jaw and his skin was tan. His close-faced helmet had been put to his side, with an enormous crack from the lower left jaw to the very center of the forehead. It hadn't taken Faye much effort to take it off from his head. When she had studied his face for a while, and noticed his dizzied gaze, she looked up a little to his head. He also had black short hair, a little wild and with a streak of silver grey in the front. She couldn't resist thinking why he hid his face away in the helmet. Was it to cover himself from the ones who hunted for him? It didn't make sense... after all, he was an android, easily recognized as such and quickly identified at any of the ships' sections when transporting from one place to the other.

He opened his eyes slowly once more, and seemed to focus on her own. Faye smiled and said to him with a whisper:
"It's dead, we can go back to the Pioneer 2 and get you some help, Aziel..." her eyes watered and stroked his face softly "Why? Why did you cover me? Duty? Duty to your promise of not letting me come to harm?"

Aziel noticed that a weight had been lifted off his face. He could feel the cold air in his face. Faye had removed his facemask, probably out of concern. He knew that the impact had broken his main visor sensor and with the helmet on, he could not see well in its condition. He smiled weakly and tried to concentrate on Faye's eyes.
"Duty to all... to the people of the Pioneer 2, to my friends... and to you, Faye..." he whispered back... he couldn't talk much louder than this. It would take at least a month for him to recover, he thought.
"I don't care about duty if it makes you come to harm, Aziel..." she lowered her face to his, tears flowing freely.
"I just want to be with you..." she sobbed.
"I don't think that will be possible... 'sister'" a familiar voice sent chills on Faye's spine.

Before she could spin about and see her sister, a swift, hard blow on her back sent her next to Aziel, sprawled onto the floor.
Faye felt herself spin in and out from consciousness... she lifted her head from the ground and saw what was left of Panzer Lynx leer evilly at them both. She had a small handgun, which was bright red all over, and she was pointing it at Aziel's head.
"St-stop... Lynx... p-plea-" she was cut short by a side glance by Lynx. The glowing eyes burned like pits of hellfire.
"Stop? Why? Can you give me a good reason, 'sister'?" she quickly turned and grabbed Faye with the skeletal arm by the throat.
Faye was too dizzy to fight back and all she could do was grab her sister's arm with her hands as Lynx dangled her one feet over the floor. Panzer Lynx made a chilling smile and slowly began to apply pressure.
"You betrayed me and the mission... and thus, you sealed your own fate..." Faye felt her neck being crushed slowly, and as much as she tried, she couldn't muster enough strenght to fight back.
Lynx continued to hold her sister up in the air and with a triumphant smile, she raised the handgun to her sister's midsection.
"But now, I proved to be better than a rouge, a traitor, a bunch of meddlesome meat-things, an inexperienced doll and some strange creature in the depths of Ragol's ancient ruins" she pressed the handgun just over Faye's stomach. Lynx also stopped the pressure on her sister's throat.
"W-why?" Faye's voice came struggling from the steel grip.
"You betrayed me, you mocked me and you left me to die!" Lynx's voice rose in anger, and added "well... probably not in that order but nonetheless, you were helping our target, and you abandoned me and our mission! You do not abandon me, for that entails that you abandon the mission!"
Faye, even as hurt as she felt at the moment, could not resist it anymore and answered at Lynx:
"You feel betrayed, because you believe in death, not in life, as I do since meeting Aziel..."
"Shut up..." Lynx said warningly, pushing the handgun into her stomach.
"You said I mocked you, but your arrogance made you blind to your mistakes..."
"I said... Shut up!" Lynx felt anger rise like boiling lava.
"And I didn't left you to die... you dwell on your mistakes and your choices instead of bettering your lot..." Faye could feel the anger burning through those dead, burning eyes.
"SHUT UP!!!" Lynx pulled the trigger.

Faye felt a sharp pain in her hip. She also felt her neck being released of the tremendous pressure. Falling to the side, she saw Aziel had kicked Lynx's gun out of her hand and had not wasted a moment more by punching her in the face.
Lynx rolled to her right from the force of impact. Landing on her face, she got up by rolling sideways and quickly springing to her feet. She felt the fires of anger ignite as she saw the HUcast on his feet.

"This is between you and me Lynx, do not ever try to hurt Faye again!" her foe said as he took a defensive position.
Putting herself on a defensive position, she grinned and clenched both her hands into fists.
"Time for the showdown, is it not, rogue?" she said sarcastically.
"............" Aziel said nothing. He kept his distance, clenched both his fists and waited for her first movement.
Lynx studied him hard and long. They both were weaponless and stood near the crater where the strange monster had collapsed. The hole seemed to fall for at least 60 feet, where the still dying body was secreting foul acids. One wrong movement, and she could fall in there and not come back. Of course, it gave her a perfect way to dispose of their bodies as well.

Aziel for his part was not moving a muscle nor an inch. He seemed he was waiting for her to act so he could counterattack her.
She needed to make him do the first move and take advantage of it.
"Rogue... what does it feel to be outclassed by a better model?" said Lynx, trying to goad Aziel into attacking her.
Aziel stood in silence and, breathing once, replied: "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"
Lynx had lost her composure and calm. She threw herself at him with both arms outstretched and screaming at the top of her lungs.
Aziel tried to deflect her claws with two quick punches thrown to the sides, but he only managed to parry one and get his right arm caught in her left hand. Before she could move her right hand, he caught it in his left and they stood there struggling for tense seconds.
"You... can't win... this time... rogue..." Lynx spat in anger.
"I need not victory... Panzer Lynx... to defeat you..." answered Aziel under great pressure.
The muscles flexed and bulging, both grapplers neither gave or expected quarter.

Gensy crawled a bit over the floor and winced once more from the pain. She looked on at the two enemies locked in a deadly struggle of pride against duty. She was astounded to notice how badly the two android were and still, they fought on.
Lynx was so beat up that Aziel may have a chance at this, but only if he was at full control of his abilities and not fatigued and damaged as he was now.
The Panzer android was no slouch either, but with most of her frame and servos severily damaged, it was a truly difficult outcome to predict.
Gensy then stopped crawling when she saw something rise out of the crater...

Something large and malevolent, with an eerie glow, floated into view... but of the two foes, interlocked in their private struggle, seemed not to mind its appearance, or even aknowledge it.
The creature had risen from the ash and acid at the bottom of the pool. Its senses let it know that the foul alien creatures, so similar to the ones that disturbed it and awoke it some time ago, stood there... fewer than previously felt, but their prescence was still a source of ill for it. Twice it had been hurt badly. Now it was its time to take its final revenge.
Rearing its head, a low roar came out of its throat. And suddenly, as swift as a bird of prey, it rose into the air, trailing long wisp-like tails under it. The creature lifted a huge arm that looked like a giant greatsword above its head and then, it swooped down and sliced the air. It wanted to hurt the two creatures intertwined in front of it. Their lifeforces were the most powerful. These would feed its hunger for spirits most satisfactorily, like the one who had found it not long ago had.
Lynx and Aziel had a split-second warning. They managed to see a strange, glowing... thing come out of the crater and it made a bee line for them in the last second. Unclenching themselves from each other, they both leapt backwards and away from the crater.
Each one held the other in a resolute gaze. Not even this creature, who had strangely managed to survive not once but twice, would deterr them from completing their duel.
The colossal blade struck the earth between them and split the ground into piles of debris. Rock, ash and earth jumped into the earth, showering the area and obscuring vision. As quickly as it had struck, the arm withdrew and the floating creature began to rise in altitude.

As pieces of rock and loose earth fell down like dark drops of solid rain, Aziel charged at Lynx. He quickly jumped into the air and spinning with his entire body, twisted his lower body forward and pulled his legs together to deliver a drop kick onto Lynx's chest.
The HUcaseal had dived straight at him, arms outstretched, like a predatory animal leaping to its prey.
Aziel's legs had more reach than Lynx's arms, and he connected his attack on Lynx's shoulders.
With a loud thump and a crack, they both fell onto the ground.
The HUcast fell on the ground and rolling back, got up and raised his arms.
Lynx, when she had received the kick squarely in the shoulders, had been pushed back by the great force behind the kick.
She had made half a flip in the air before crashing in the ground. Falling on her face and chest, she lowered her knees and rose up quickly. Sprinting forward, she leaned back on her right fist to deliver a great sideways punch with her entire weight.
Aziel spun on his right heel and raising his left leg, he prepared to do a swift circling kick to catch the Panzer android on her abdomen with his left heel.

However, Lynx was faster and conected her punch into Aziel's cheek, sending him spinning towards the ground. His kick missed force and though it hit her a little higher than he had expected, it lost most of the strenght it had.
Falling on his side, Aziel suddenly felt the pang of pain in his chest.
Whatever had been badly damaged previously had begun to hurt greatly, and a sharp cold pain shot through his torax.
Lynx didn't miss a beat, and running quickly to Aziel, who was getting up from the floor on all afours, kicked him squarely in his stomach. Grunting, Aziel winced from the pain and dropped to the ground.
The Panzer android swiftly raised the heel of one boot and dropped it into the back of his head.
Aziel spun to his right, dodging the tremendous kick and still disoriented from the pain, got up in one knee.
Clutching his side with one arm, where she had kicked him just a second ago, he took a deep breath and tried to focus at his enemy.
He noticed she was next to him in a flash, but his strength had abandoned him completely.
Lynx cracked her metallic knuckles and swayed her head to one side and then to the other, making a loud cracking noise as she did. She smiled with arrogance and twisting her right wrist and grabbing Aziel by the neck with the left hand, she said:
"In the end, it all comes to this... rogue..."
"Lay off him, sister!" cried a soft voice.
Lynx, still grabbing Aziel by the neck, turned to see her twin pointing the red handgun directly at her. Her hands shook and she was crying, her lips trembling. She was kneeling just some 6 or 7 feet away. At that distance, Faye would not miss unless she wanted to.
Surprised at her nerve, she made a half-cocked smile at her and said, in a calm voice:
"You wouldn't dare shoot me, right? That would put a huge bounty on your head courtesy from the military and the government...'sister'" that last word spat out, as if poisonous, from Lynx's lips.
Faye, still pointing the gun at her sister, rose from her knees and looking at Aziel quickly, said:
"Let go of him... NOW!" as Lynx did not move and inch, she repeated "I said, let go of HIM!!!"
Lynx was amused. Who was Faye to give her orders of any kind? She was nothing but a traitor and now, an enemy. Scowling, she let go of Aziel slowly, but kept her right hand into a fist.
"You seem very attached to the rogue... you are letting these emotions blurr your efficiency... you belong to the military"
"I belong to no one but myself..." she said under her breath.
"You take orders from the government..." Lynx added, turning to face her sister.
"I take orders only from myself..."
"If you turn your back from them, who will take care of you? Him?" Lynx added in an amused tone.
"He and I will take care of each other..." Faye looked at Aziel.
"Why do you still not understand? There is nothing in him that would make a difference!"
"I understand, you do not... he already made a difference by choosing his own path..." she smiled weakly.
"What path? Here we are and he has failed to defeat me truly... he chooses death over life coming here and you blindly follow him!"
"He has not been defeated at all, you have..." Faye looked straight into Lynx's eyes and added "He chose to save the people of Pioneer 2, I chose to follow him and help him through the ordeal by my own accord... you just resigned and accepted your lot in life..."
Lynx's glowing eyes seemed to burn brighter from her hatred.
"You lack the power of choice... sister..." Faye said quietly "that marks us apart..."

Gensy was hearing all of this as she knelt up and though it was difficult to keep her balance, she got up her feet. She didn't see the giant monster anywhere, but her frame did not relax.
"She is correct" she said... the two twins looked at her in surprise.
"While I do not understand why she did, unit P1P0B-X Faye went against her programming and chose her own path besides the Aziel android..." fully up, she closed her fists and continued "You just continued to pursue your mission with the sole purpose of completing it, using revenge and hatred as a tool..."

Aziel didn't know who the female android was, but he knew her words rang true. If Lynx had pursued him for the sole purpose of wanting personal revenge, she wouldn't be treating him as a target... or call him rogue... she would be just seeking his death, humiliation or both.
But he noticed that Lynx had not relaxed her frame, she was tense and her right fist trembled.
He knew she was at odds with this realization, and as previous encounters had suggested, she was dealing with it with anger and a desire to just plain destroy the object of her confusion.

His senses suddenly picked up another danger... above them, in the roiling red clouds, there was death bidding its time to act.
The flying divine creature had entered the blood-stained wisps and floated there, content in its magnificence.
Looking down, it sensed at least two of its opponent had lowered their guard... this would be the moment to kill them, to spill their blood, to absorb their life into its own. Putting its two great blade arms together, energy crackled about and coalescended into orbs of destructive power. It gazed downwards again to the trespassors and felt its body tingle with the anticipation of a fresh meal...
"We... are twins..." Lynx said through clenched teeth.
"We are... but only because we were made to be partners..." Faye responded "...we are nothing alike..."
"Sister..." Lynx felt white-hot anger rise up in her.
"Don't call me sister... especially after the way you used that word as a derogatory term with me..."
"AAAAARGH!!!!" Lynx sprang forward, fist raised, ready to crush the life out of Faye.

She never had the chance to reach Faye. Not only did her sister not hesitate to fire the potent gun, but she was grabbed by the leg by Aziel with both hands, who managed to spin about and throw her into the crater in a mighty swing.
The photon bullet hit Lynx straight in the chest, puncturing her frame from one side to the other.
Aziel's crushing grip cracked her ankle, and spinning in the air towards the gaping hole in the ground, she yelled at them:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
She looked at them with hatred, the HUcaseal devoid of emotion, her treacherous sister... and last, the rogue android.
And vanishing into the darkness below, they knew no more of her.

Aziel lurched forward and Faye caught him in time before he too, went plummeting down the crater.
Hugging him with all her strenght, her tears wet his chest. Aziel put an arm around her, feeling relieved, but he knew this wasn't over.
"I'm so glad it's over... we can finally leave this place and live together..." she sobbed quietly.
"I am afraid that won't happen, unit Faye..." said Gensy matter-of-factly "When you and unit Aziel left to explore the ruins, at that very moment the government issued a capture warrant for you"

Aziel turned ever so slightly, one part of his senses minding the skies above, the other trying to expect some reaction from the mysterious interloper.
"The military had detected a malfunction on unit Lynx's systems and figured that either you..." Gensy said, pointing at Aziel "had destroyed Panzer Lynx or that you..." this time she nodded at Faye "had become rogue as well"
"You're saying that you'll turn us in?" Faye asked, still griping the handgun to her side, not letting go of Aziel.
Gensy raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I have not implied anything but what is logical. If you are to leave the ruins sector of the planet..." she said in her cold voice, devoid of emotion. Reaching from behind her, both Aziel and Faye tensed for what could this mysterious HUcaseal could be plotting.
She turned her hand towards them and opening it, they saw a small green tube with some small red warnings around both sides on her palm.
"...you will need one of these" Gensy finished.
"What is this?" asked Aziel, still feeling something strange around him.
"I know what this is! It's a special illegal telepipe made by an underground developer of technology... it lets one teleport to the Pioneer 2 undetected and whereever on the ship one chooses..." she then looked at the cold eyes staring at her and asked "but, why?"
Gensy shrugged. She honestly didn't know but she somehow, she felt it was the right thing to do.
"Take it... I will teleport back on my own and report that you two were nowhere in sight... lost or killed in the ruins"
Aziel looked at the telepipe and gazed Faye.
"You were after us, right?"
"Not quite..." she wanted to tell this Aziel about her own reasoning, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Maybe he understood, and seeing Faye in his arms, she knew that he would, but...

Aziel felt that the stranger was fighting the urge of telling him the real reason, but he didn't push the topic into the conversation.
"Thank you..." he put his hand on her palm and for a second, Gensy felt strange. Looking into Aziel eyes, she just stood there transfixed, holding her hand out to them.
"Gensy" she said hurriedly.
"Gensy? That's your name?" seeing that she nodded as affirmation, Aziel said, smiling "Thank you, Gensy.. I owe you my life"

Faye looked at Gensy and smiled, this wasn't going to be impossible, being able to escape, they might find somewhere in the Pioneer 2 to live and if bad came to worse, they could always could escape to Ragol... there were plenty of places one could hide from unwanted eyes.
"Me too, Gensy..." Faye smiled at her too and hugged Aziel even more "You can imagine what this means to us"

Gensy tried to talk, but words failed her... she felt flustered. She didn't know what came over her but before she could mutter anything, she saw some sparkles in the dark sky. These lights were falling down upon her, like shooting stars!

Aziel looked at Gensy's eyes turn to the sky and with a lightning quick movement, he lifting Faye off her feet with a stronger grip and jumped out of the way as the circles of light crashed down into the ground below, obliterating rocks and boulders into thin dust.
Gensy had leapt backwards, and producing her stafflike weapon, turned it on with a flick of the wrist. Suddenly, it elongated and several purple photon spikes and blades sprung into existence. She gripped the weapon with both hands and looking at the great figure hovering above them, waited for her opportunity.

Aziel didn't carry a weapon, but he would not lie down to die... not when he finally realized what the hell was that thing in the sky... at least, what one little detail his eye caught had given him a clue of the thing's identity. Looking quickly to his sides, he noticed the twin sabers' hilts lying on the ground, a few feet away. They still lied where he had been blasted by the monster's fire attack.

Faye looked up to the creature and with both hands on the grip of the gun, she aimed carefully. The monster glowed with spectral light all around it. She knew that for them to escape, for her and Aziel's life together, this creature had to die.
She bit her lip and aimed at the creature's topmost section, where the two great scythe-like arms joined a small yet armored torso on the top. She then froze as she saw the same thing Aziel had seen during the battle...

It had a red ring around one of its arms.

The creature made a sound akin to a great roar, but this time it sounded eerie, like a banshee wailing in the dead of the night.
Raising its two arms again, it focused energy into them and with a swift mostion, pointed them downwards.

Everything on the floor was engulfed in white light. The very air ignited with strange power and erupted.
Gensy stood near Faye and shielding her, both closed their eyes and fell to their knees as the light subdued. Gensy felt weak... very weak... another blast like that and she would stop functioning, and maybe die before the emergency systems of her Hunter's teleportation device could activate itself. Looking at Faye, she wondered how would she escape that fate if the monster made another such attack.
Looking to her side, she noticed Aziel wasn't next to them. Quickly glancing side to side, she spotted him to her left, 20 feet away.
Gensy felt something inside of her turn, as she watched Aziel still standing, but wisps of smoke coming off of his body let her know that he was in his very last stand.

Faye yelled with all her strenght and pulled the trigger once, twice, thrice... And each time, the bullets just bounced off the armored, glowing body of the unholy creature. Stunned, Faye quickly fired row after row of highly charged bullets to the monster's body.
Each time a bullet perfectly hit the central spot of the abomination, it bounced off.
Faye was determined to fire away until the armor gave way, but one of her shots went stray and hit the creature on its underside.
Strangely enough, the bullet also ricocheted away. Then she realized the glow around the thing was the cause of its resilience to weapons... But the only way to hurt it probably meant it was impervious to everything but techniques... and the only Force had been whisked away to the Pioneer 2's infirmary when the rain of purple lights had hit everyone... she hoped.
She then thought... but if Vryce and Haruka did survive the blast and where sent to the infirmary for emergency care because of the emergency teleportation device all hunters carried... what would happen if the monster attacked once more and managed to get them all with its explosive powers?
She didn't carry a teleporter like that... what of her then? She would surely die here... and Aziel would be whisked to safety once more...
Still pointing at the monster in the air, she looked over her shoulder and saw Aziel.
Her eyes wide, she lowered the gun and opened her mouth...

"Keep it on your sights! I can still move and fight!" yelled Aziel back at the two of them. The last thing he needed is the monster to be able to act freely if the two female androids were paying attention to him instead of the enemy.
Gensy turned to look at the creature and gripped the staff even more tightly.
Faye clenched her teeth and holding her tears and urge to run to her love, she pointed the gun again at the airborne monster.

He raised both grips and flicked their blades on. The green glow of the weapon reflected off his battered, smoking armor.
His burnt face, smiled grimly and looking up, he decided to go all out against the one thing that prevented the people of the Pioneer 2 to finally find their home amongst the stars.

At that moment, the god of death and madness dived into its three minuscule enemies. Its body stopped glowing and lunging forward, it tried to stab mightily at the female warrior that stood defiantly with her staff to one side. She quickly sidestepped the blow, and turning about, she leapt into the thing's arm and twirled the weapon with force and cold efficiency.
As she mauled the sinewy arm, she gritted her teeth as the photon blades cut muscle and bone. Splashes of dark ichor splattered her armor and felt hot upon her, but still she went on, dancing a deadly rhythm of cuts and slashes.

Rearing back, the monster cried out in intense pain as its severed arm fell off into ruin. It tried to slash at the other warrior, the one carrying two blades of deadly green energy.
The wailing arm came crashing down with intense force and the monster knew nothing would survive that.
Surprisingly, Aziel stopped the scythe-like blade with both sabers. The blow's pressure came crashing down on him and cracked the ground around him, sending gusts of dust around and about.
Angry sparks flew off the twin sabers in every direction. Showering Aziel's uncovered face, he looked at his foe with determination and with clenched teeth, he said:
"I will... set you free..." he gazed up to the monster "Red Ring Rico!!!"
Aziel then, with his remaining strenght, crossed his twin sabers with such power, that the blade-like arm was cut in half.
Spinning in the air, the other part of the blade came crashing down to a side, stabbing the wounded earth and remaining still.

At that moment, Gensy gasped as she was twirling about with her staff. Stopping cold for just a moment, she was horrified at the revelation.
Faye closed her eyes and started to shoot, photon bullet hitting the thing's head again and again.
If this indeed was the terrible fate of Rico, she would make sure she would release her of it!

The bullets indeed found their mark this time, and the relentless hail of photon death made the creature back away.
Roaring in anger and pain, it tried to attack once more its enemies, but its only two physical weapons were destroyed.
Aziel then, taking advantage of its enemy's sudden stop in its attack, leaped towards it and stabbed both sabers at its chest. Using them to climb his way up, each stab made the monster shudder under it with fear and anguish.

Gensy tried to follow suit, but before she jumped the last step, the floating divine demon had backed up too far away to make a sure leap. Being denied the chance to finish it off, she gripped the hilt of the staff harder, almost snapping it in two.

Aziel knew he was alone and he couldn't have expected a more perfect way to end this... if the monster died and it plunged to the abyss below, it would only take his life, not anyone else's. He didn't Gensy to die like that and Faye even less... he had hoped things had turned out differently.
He wanted to live with Faye far away, probably somewhere along the coasts of Ragol... someplace the government or the military would never come looking for them. He paused as he imagined himself and her living together, their lives as hunters behind.

His attention swayed for a moment and the god of death found its time to retaliate... When Aziel had paused to strike again, the severed right blade plunged deeply into the HUcast. Feeling a cold pain in his torax, the android gritted his teeth and had to let go of the twin sabers, which dropped into the inky blackness below.
His lower half of the body was completely severed from the waist down, and fell along his weapons.
With the force the monster that had absorbed Red Ring Rico's essence had made that blow, he was stuck onto its chest.

Faye's face was filled with horror. She stopped shooting and tried to walk forward, to Aziel and help him. Gensy put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her firmly.
"What are you doing?!?" asked the HUcaseal to Faye "It is illogical to run to death..."
"BUT HE'S GOING TO DIE!!!" Faye slapped Gensy across the face, trying to get away.
Gensy did not let go, and with her other hand over her cheek, she looked at Faye and said:
"I will not stand idly... I will try to get him off the monster anyway I can" dropping the staff on the floor and pulling her last weapon, a very ergonomically designed slicer weapon, she put Faye behind her as she wound up for a swipe.

Aziel felt terrible, blinding pain. He felt a horrible tingling sensation where his legs should be, but try as he might, nothing moved where they were. Sweating, he grabbed the thing's chest and tried squeeze the life out of it.
Then he felt it... he felt as if the thing's mind was invading his own.
In pain and without any more strenght left, his mind was easy prey for the corrupted entity.
He saw alien landscapes, strange things floating about and lights and colors not even imagined in his wildest dreams.
He felt as if the thing wanted his strenght, the source of his power and proded deeper and deeper into his mind.
Yelling, he felt his mind being violated by the creature's powerful essence.
He tried to block out his senses, but it only made it easier for it to enter his mind.
He recalled each and every person he had to kill...
"Aziel..."
He remembered each face as it filled with terror when they saw his form approach, inviting death and pain...
"Aziel!!!"
He remembered Faye and the moment she had chosen to follow him instead of taking her revenge on him!
"Aziel!!!!!"
He heard his name clearly! Trying to look around, he saw a human woman stand in front of him.
She was clad in protective gear standard to hunters. In her arm, there was a red ring that looked familiar. She also wore glasses, and one of her brunette bangs had a wisp of grey streaked on it.
Red Ring Rico...
"Aziel..."
"You are the legendary Red Ring Rico... are you not?"
"Yes.. I am..." she said in a soft voice "and you are Aziel, the android who came looking for me, right?"
"I am sorry, Rico..." Aziel said lowering his gaze. He felt like floating in the turbulent lights and colors that eroded his last defenses of his mind. "I failed... the people of the Pioneer 2 will not find a home.."
"I was the one who failed, Aziel..." she placed her hand on his cheek "I was lead by arrogance and curiosity to this creature's den... and now I am a prisioner of it..." she added sadly.
"What is this thing?" the question had bothered him since finding some datapads in the ruins and the mines.
"This is called Dark Falz... this is an entity that corrupts the soul, spirit and mind of living things... it was encased and imprisoned here for a long time... it was intended not to be disturbed as not to put anyone in danger... but people make mistakes, especially when they forget about their humanity... and the scientists of our government and the military decided to study it... try to manipulate its power..."
Aziel then understood.
"You mean... this thing was responsible for the demise of the entire Pioneer 1's crew and immigrants?"
"Yes... it managed to destroy the entire crew of the Pioneer 1 when they woke it up from its slumber, but it hungers for more... it will seek the Pioneer 2 and each and every other refugee ship it comes into contact with it, trying to absorb its occupants' lifeforce into it, swelling with power and corrupt purpose..."
"There must be a way to destroy it! Or to seal it again forever!"
"There is no way to destroy it unless it occupies a host... otherwise it is a free-floating entity without a real body to hurt"
Aziel looked long at Rico's eyes and putting a hand over her outstreched arm, said:
"It has a body now..."
"It will destroy us both, surely you know..."
"I will do whatever it takes to ensure my sins are paid for, even at the cost of my life!"
"Then you know what must happen..."
"Yes"
Aziel smiled at Rico and kissing her forehead, he continued:
"Make sure Dark Falz never touches my emotions, I think that is the only part of me he still has no control over... and I will make sure the nightmare ends!"
With a smile, Rico vanished and at that moment, Aziel felt his senses returning.

Gensy threw the photon blade at the monster's shoulder, away from Aziel's limp body.
The moment the bright yellow energy impacted the shoulder, Faye cried in horror.
"STOP!" she grabbed Gensy's arm and shook it "Look at what happened!"
To Gensy's surprise, she saw that Aziel's body sported the very same scar on the shoulder she had left on the monster's shoulder!
Not only the thing was holding him hostage, it was transferring its wounds to Aziel's body!!!

"Oh Aziel!" Faye fell to her knees in tears. She couldn't understand why this had happened.
Were androids meant to be unhappy? Were they only tools at the end? All they had to do was kill the creature to set Aziel free... but the creature, in its hatred, was using him as a shield, preventing any way of releasing the HUcast...
She felt everything hopeless when suddenly, a familiar voice brought her out of her daze.

"Faye! Gensy! Listen, the both of you! I don't have much time!" both girls were startled at Aziel, they both stood as stone as he continued to talk.
"You must strike the monster, no matter what!"
"NO!" Faye cried at the top of her lungs "You'll die! Its wounds are being transferred to you! I won't do it!"
"Your body cannot take any more damage, unit Aziel!" Gensy stood gripping her slicer, not moving an inch.
"I know... but you must do it! Otherwise, each and every other creature, be it animal, human, newman or machine will be devoured by Dark Falz!!! Hurry!!!" Aziel's voice felt strangled, as if he were losing control of his body.
"I won't do it, Aziel..." Gensy dropped the slicer. She didn't know why she couldn't bring herself to do the deed. She just couldn't. Something inside of her felt strange, but yet... she just let go of the slicer and her gaze dropped to the ground.
Aziel struggled with his consciousness, he was losing control, even though the last remains of Rico was buying him some time.

"Faye! Please..." Aziel felt tears run from his cheeks.
Faye looked at him in wonder.
"I need you to pull the trigger... it knows it won't survive another attack, that's why it took a hold of me... and if you don't do it... it will come after you..." he struggled even more... the pain was searing his soul and spirit.
Faye got up in silence, shaking her head. The tears could not stop, nor she wanted to... he was asking her the unthinkable!
"Faye... please... trust me... do it..."
"I just... can't..." she held her pistol in her hand and seemed as if she was going to throw it away.
"Faye... I... love you..." he managed to let out, his sight was getting blurrier and he felt his voice drown out.
Faye opened her eyes widely. If she didn't act, she would let him die in agony...
A single tear fell and with the quickness that most rangers would only dream of reaching in their careers, she let out a single shot, straight for the monster's head.

The bullet pierced armor, skin, muscle, bone and brain, exiting through the other side, burning with its photon energy everything.
Aziel felt his mind finally free. His vision began to darken, but he did see one last thing.
Faye had not lowered her gun. Her face was ashen and her eyes livid.
He looked back at the one he loved and smiling, he moved his lips saying something that could not be heard as the crashing and trashing death throes of Dark Falz drowned everything in noise, loud and hellish.
Faye saw his lips move and for a moment, she began to run to the collapsing heap that was plummeting into the crater. Trying to grab at least Aziel and fall with him to the darkness below, she felt being grabbed from behind and tossed away into the debris that littered the border of the crater.
Gensy had lifted her off the ground and quickly turning, dove into the creature. Too dazed to move, Faye tried getting up, but she felt so shocked and weak at what she had just done, that she only saw Gensy's form suddenly leap out of the erupting crater.

A torrent of reddish flames and bubbling magma showered them both; Gensy, shielding Faye with one arm, pressed them both to the side of the crater, under a small ledge. Gensy grabbed the RAcaseal's hand and examined her face, suddenly, she asked:
"What did he say?"
Faye could not see anything but Aziel smiling at her again and again in her mind. But she did answer dreamily:
"Thank you Faye..." she looked at Gensy and tears clouded her eyes "he said 'Thank you Faye...'"
Gensy did not understand very well what that meant. But pain in her body made her kneel and crumple. All she felt was pain and then dull blackness consume her.
Faye gasped and saw the HUcaseal fall in front of her, a piece of smoldering lava had struck her from the eruptions.
She leaned forward to touch her shoulder, when suddenly, her body disappeared in a flash of soft light!
"Wha-" she began and suddenly, the earth shook once more.
She fell forward and the small ledge above her broke off on top of her.
<At least, in the end, we will be together, Aziel...> she noticed she had something in her hand and the moment the rock impacted her, she lost notion of everything. A drowsy sleep caught her and carried her away... far away from this place of terror and pain.

She drifted into a warm feeling and had the sensation of being carried by waves and waves of soft movement. She then lay still, but she did not feel Aziel with her.
<Faye... I... love you...>
But then, she felt cold when she heard the words. She felt sad and angry. But most strange, she felt as someone was wiping her cheek with something soft.
Opening her eyes, and saw a soft light over her...
"You shouldn't cry so much Faye-san... Oniisan would agree with me..." said a shrill voice.
She then saw Haruka sitting next to her, with a small handkerchief, drying the tears that ran down her cheek.
Haruka managed a weak smile and wiping off some tears of her own, she put her bandaged and good hands between her legs and trying to smile again, she spoke:
"You were lucky that Aziel-san had given you his MAG..."
"Huh? Why? It's the only thing I have left from him... where is it?" Faye sat upright in the infirmary bed. She felt tired, but she looked around to find the little MAG lying on next to her bed... that was too precious for her to lose! The only thing she saw there was a small wood box with a blue label. Before she could examine it, she heard steps approaching.
Vryce entered the room, with a clean white bandage on his forehead. His usual smirk was no more. He just frowned and grabbed a chair in the room, sitting on it, he said:
"I'm afraid that the little tike went off to the government officials that came looking for you as soon as you 'ported here..."
"What?!? But how?" she felt confused and angry... why did the government officials took her only memento of Aziel away? But most confusing... why had she teleported here when she didn't possess a Hunter's emergency device?
"I think you already know the answer, Panzer Faye..." Vryce said.
Haruka bit her lip and looked down... she couldn't feel happy... not after what Gensy had told them.
"What? I don-" then it suddenly became clear...

"I don't want to lose you either Faye... but... to make sure that doesn't happen, take this little MAG... "

He had said those words back then... he had given her his own emergency device to ensure her safety.
Without holding back... she let silent tears fall down her cheek.

Vryce coughed uneasliy and Haruka sat up like a spring, understanding what that meant.
They began to leave when Faye's broken voice said:
"You said the government has the MAG?"
Vryce stopped and without looking back, he answered:
"Yeah... they also said you destroyed the rogue unit Aziel, and that you are a heroine for saving the people of the Pioneer 2" she felt the bitter taste in those words Vryce spoke.
"They also said to come by their office so you can be commended and fully reinstated..."
"Thanks, I will..."
Vryce left without a word. Haruka gazed at the android girl and said, with effort to keep her voice from breaking:
"At least Oniisan found someone just like him... I know he felt happy the short time he knew you... uh... I have... to go now..." she pouted and walked away silently.

Faye stood there for a while, and getting up, took the small box with her and left the hospital.
After walking a short distance, she saw the government building a couple of blocks away.
Heroine of the Pioneer 2? She snorted.
Aziel had made the ultimate sacrifice, and his blood was on her hands.
She had preferred to have been consumed by the monster, the thing called Dark Falz and be joined with Aziel than to live without him...
Faye made her way sulkily into the building, where officials greeted her and sent her to the main office. She didn't remember what happened at the time, but all she knew was that important people from both the government and the military greeted her, applauded and patted her shoulder, as some kind of good pet that had done her job admirably and was finally getting a fine treat.
She did remember asking for some time off and going to the equipment rooms.
There, she found the little MAG, charred and uncared for.
As soon as she grabbed it, the little thing seemed to purr with affection, and she held it close to her.
She left the building, and going to a nice place she had managed to purchase thanks to her reward from bagging the rogue android, she closed the door and slumped against it.
Crying, and holding the MAG in her arms, she couldn't stop thinking of Aziel.
She sobbed for hours, until she could not shed more tears.

Suddenly, a sharp tap on her door made her lift and turn her head.
"What? I asked the management to be left alone!!" she yelled at the door behind her.
A strangely familiar voice answered:
"I noticed you grabbed the little souvenir I caught for you... open the door now"
Faye looked positively surprised, and getting up slowly, she grabbed her gun and opened her door just a bit.
She recognized the cold white eyes behind them.
"Gensy! What... when?"
"It is good you are prepared in case of treachery... do you have the item with you?"
Faye shook her head... what was she talking about?
"The item?..." Gensy asked again impatiently, then she entered the room, pushing Faye from the door and closing the door behind her, she turned at Faye once more, "You did take the small box that I left for you in the infirmary?"
Faye slowly reached for the pocket of her belt, where she took out the small wooden box. Then it dawned on her why it had a blue label.
"Good! Follow me..." said Gensy, opening the door and making sure no one wsa there in the hallways, she motioned for Faye to follow her.
The left the building in a hurry, lost themselves in the maze-like streets of the packed city of the Pioneer 2. Entering the Yellowboze Section, they found a small alley with bad overhead lightning.

Gensy turned to Faye and said:
"If you ever betray the location of this place to your superiors or anyone else with attachments to the government or the military, I will hunt you down and kill you in a manner most painful I could conceive... do you understand?"
Not fully understanding what was happening, Faye nodded. Gensy then turned and rapped on the door three times.
A strange voice, full of mirth but at the same time educated, answered:
"Well, well, well! You have finally come... I was expecting you two earlier but all is in good time... Come!! Come!!" said a tall, lanky newman, pink goggles over his eyes and a big, floppy hat on his head. His smile reminded Faye of those people struck with lunacy.
"Don't be shy my good girl... if we hurry, I can save him from oblivion... for I... the great Dr. Montague, am a GENIUS!" cackled the newman, putting his hands on his sides.

Faye looked more confused than ever. She just hugged her MAG and stood there with a blank stare to the doctor.
"Ho ho ho! Come now... just give me the personality chip Gensy retrieved and I'll do the rest!" he outstretched his palm to Faye.
She blinked and looked at Gensy, who just stood there in silence.
Faye turned her gaze again at the newman and blinked again.
"Wh-what? What chip?" she asked.
"Ho ho ho! Don't tell me you haven't even opened the box?" his face creased with a geniune smile. Then he let out another laugh.
"Girl, you RAcaseals are very cute but sometimes lack a little initiative of your own..." he smiled and then continued "Curiosity didn't made you look at the box? Aren't you just a bit curious to know what lies in that box?"
Faye felt dazed, and Gensy wasn't helping at all. Instead of helping her understand what was happening, she just stood looking at her in silence. Slowly, Faye took the box from her belt and showed it to the newman.

Smiling and taking the box with a quick but gentle swipe, he turned around and entered the house. Gensy nodde to her, pointing the doorway. Faye took some steps into the house and walked some stairs down.
After walking for about twenty stairs, she saw the newman work with intensity over a strange computer connected to heavy machinery. She noticed also a lithe RAcaseal just like her, but dressed in pink, standing near the doorway. This android turned at her and smiled warmly, altough blushing.
Faye tried to speak, but her mouth only moved up and down as she saw what was next to the android girl.
An inclined table supported a tall, muscled and strong-framed HUcast, all black from head to toe. His head was covered with a samurai's kabuto, encasing his entire face.
It reminded her of Aziel, if not for the fact that the color was wrong and it didn't have his kind face and that Aziel had never wore a samurai's helmet, altough if there was someone fit to wear one, it was him.
She looked at the floor and felt uneasy and not quite comprehending what was happening around here in this strange place.

"The doctor knows exactly what he is doing, just wait for a moment longer..." said the pink android with a kind smile.
Faye turned around, and was about to ask her what she meant by that when suddenly, the newman let out a yell of happiness,
"Good! Good! This is exactly as I had hoped! The main chipset is a little damaged, but the innermost systems seem to be in perfect shape! With only adjusting this... and fixing that..." he trailed off mumbling to himself, apparently very happy.
Faye turned to Gensy and could not help the fact that everyone in the room except her knew what was happening. She asked:
"Gensy, speak to me... what is going on?"
Gensy turned slowly and strangely, Faye thought she had tried to smile
"It is about rebirth..."
"What? Rebirth? What are you talking about? What is that personality chip?"
"Do you not remember I held you safe away from the fiery crater back when we fought Dark Falz?"
"Yes, I do... but what does that have to do with anything?"

Gensy shook her head and sighed.
"Emotions may not be that great, I suppose... it is grief that clouds your rationale... do you think I would just jump off to my death back then?"
"I don't know! I just DON'T KNOW!!!" cried Faye in desesperation. She held her head with both hands and dropped to her knees.

The pink android girl came to her and smiled at her warmly.
"You should have asked me... my name's Elenor, Panzer Faye... pleased to meet you" she said sincerely.
Without looking at her, Faye said "Just Faye... I don't like being called Panzer anymore..."
"I'm sorry... Faye.. that's a nice name..."
Faye snorted and hugged the little MAG close to her.
"Faye... Gensy told us when she came back from Ragol, that she had managed to recover the prototype personality chip that the Doctor had invented some time ago" Elenor said to Faye, who was still sitting on the floor in silence.
"She gave you the chip for safekeeping, because she didn't know at the moment who had created it. But it seems a very smart man your friend Aziel knew, had already connected the pieces of the puzzle and managed to contact the creator of Aziel"
Faye still felt dazed, she just wanted to get out of there... people were talking nonsense and no one tried to explain things in a simple way... she just wanted to return to the room and cry.
"What of it?" said Faye petulantly. She just wanted to get out of there fast, and if being rude helped, the more the better.
"The doctor created the chipset for Aziel, you, Lynx, my sister and even me..." she placed a hand over her heart with pride.
"He is a genius, an excentric one, but a genius nonetheless..." she smiled with amusement. Faye just glared at the floor.
Pointing to the tall black HUcast in the table, she continued
"Dr. Montague created a newer, stronger body, using the same specifications as the one Aziel had..."
"He can't be duplicated... he was one of a kind..." Faye tried to speak more, but her voice failed.
Smiling kindly, Elenor just shook her head softly.
"He is not duplicating Aziel..."
"You see, once your special someone's personality chip is both repaired and reactivated, he will come back to life..."
Faye looked up from the floor and into Elenor's soft pink eyes.
Then, she got up slowly, helped by the RAcaseal and stood there in silence, shocked.
"What? You... you are not joking, right?"
"No... I wouldn't joke about this, Faye" Elenor smiled and put her arm over Faye's.

The overly excited newman twirled around and with a smile on his face, he said triumphantly:
"Some damage is lasting and seemingly beyond the capabilities of this here doctor" he said with pride "but the system should work now... let us test the fruits of my genius!"
He placed the personality chip inside the chest of the tall HUcast, just inside his heart.
Then closing the lid, he made some more tests to check everything was all right.
Elenor helped him double-check every system and screen.
Gensy stood there in silence, but something in her gaze betrayed the usual coldness. Anxiety, perhaps?
Faye and her small MAG stood staring at the entire scene in front of her eyes.
The doctor running about, checking, double checking and even triple checking every little detail and perk.
Elenor followed suit, and was finishing with all the preliminary setups.
Faye felt her senses dulled and the only thing she could look at was the tall HUcast, as it stood in silence in the table.
She felt her heart beat so fast and hard, the only sound that came to her ears was the rapid beating, all around her.

And finally, with a flick of the wrist, Dr. Montague threw a switch and smiled in triumph.
"Nothing stands before my genius and goes away without being in complete awe!" he said to himself as he laughed.
The lights in the room flared for a second and then, everything seemed to had stopped in time.
The HUcast jerked for a moment and slowly, it moved its helmed headforward.
Faye stood there agape, incomplete shock. Could it be? Can it be true?
Gensy made as if she wanted to go to the table, but restrained herself since she didn't think it would be logical to do so.
Elenor smiled warmly at Faye.
Dr. Montague crossed his hands triumphantly over his chest and smiled broadly.

"Faye?" said a very familiar and longed-for voice. It had come from the black HUcast.
Faye's eyes widened, and throwing herself at him with arms wide, tears trailed in the air behind her.
"Faye..." said the black Hucast. He lifted the face plate and smiled at her.
She saw the exact same face she had yearned to look again. The same smile, the same black hair with a streak of silver... the same kind eyes. This time, they glowed a soft blue.
She threw her arms up around his neck and kissed him on the lips.
They stood there for what seemed an eternity.

"I told you Elenor, didn't I?" said the doctor cockily at his assistant, as he gazed at the two androids finally together.
"Yes doctor, you are a genius" answered Elenor with a smile.



Two days later...
"Excuse me young lady... but I have come for some business pertaining this fine institution" said Dean Bernier as he tapped the counter softly with his metallic fingers.
"Yes? How may I help you? Oh!" she recognized him when she looked at his reconstructed chest armor plate.
"My dear! Dean Bernier! How are you recovering from that nasty wound?"
"It is nothing to worry about, thank you very much for your concern, kind woman" Dean bowed in thanks.
"But I have pressing matters in my hands now, can you help me out?"
"Of course! What can I do for you?" said the smiling girl from behind the counter.
"I have come to know about this strange incident at the solitary island of Gal Da Val... but I have come also more importantly to register a new hunter to our ranks"
"Are you sure this hunter is apt enough for Gal Da Val? We have already lost contact with at least a dozen team of hunters, and each was comprised of elite guild members..." the lady bit her lip.
"I asure you, kind woman, that my friend here knows very well how to take care of himself..."
"Hunter, please step forward... I need your Section ID, class and name" the woman smiled at the tall black HUcast that approached the counter.
"Purplenum, HUcast,..." he paused.
"Yes?" the woman had stopped entering the data as she heard the android stop talking.
"Raziel Kai" he said.
"Very well, take these and get your Hunter's License... it is obligatory if you are to move between the minor ships and their blocks, after that..." and the woman trailed off explaining things that Raziel already knew about.

"Raziel Kai? What kind of a name is that?" asked Haruka, as she played with her bandages slowly.
"Yeah... I'd love to see the root of such name... sounds like your old name, but an R in front of it?" Vryce asked as he put one foot over the small table.
They had been invited to Faye's apartment to eat something and relax before being sent to the VR test areas the next week.
Dean Bernier was trying to stop Haruka's fidgeting with her bandages.
"You mustn't do that Haruka-san... the nurses were very explicit that you don't use your hand at least for a couple of weeks"
Clearly, Haruka wasn't even paying attention to him since she was already juggling some fruits with her hands.
Gensy had come also, but she remained out, on the balcony.
Vryce just scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

Faye smiled as Raziel hugged her from behind. She lifted her face a bit and said to them:
"It's easy. It's basically R, from Reconstructed, Aziel, because its his real name, and Kai means Improved Version"
"Whatever floats your boat man..." said Vryce with a smirk. Taking a good drink from his mug, he leaned forward and asked Faye.
"But what about your status as a goverment agent? If they add two and two, both of you are looking at a heap of trouble"
"We know the risks, and are fully prepared to accept them, but not without a fight!" said Raziel.
"Hey! You can count on me, Oniisan!!! V!!!" Haruka stopped juggling the fruit and made a V sign with her still tender hand.
As the pain came over her, Haruka pouted and held her hand with the other.
"I did warn you Haruka-san, about not stressing your frail state" Dean told her while trying to grab her arm and readjust the bandages on her.
"You also have my support, Aziel- I apologize... Raziel Kai-san and Faye-san. I was not made to abandon my friends, be it from trouble or just plain tomboyish newman girls" he didn't wince as Haruka kicked him in the foot.
Vryce saw this and shrugged his shoulders. Sweeping his red hair back, he said with an amused voice:
"Oh what the hell... ya can count me in... I'm not just gonna leave you guys have all the fun, after all... some one has to be the brains of this outfit, right?" he pointed the remark at Haruka, who was making faces at Dean, who in turn was doing an excellent job at completely ignoring her.
"Oh yeah? BEEE-DAH!" she turned at Vryce and stuck out her tongue.

Faye laughed softly at the scene, but then she noticed that Raziel wasn't behind her. Looking to the side, she saw the balcony door open. She decided to give him a little time alone to talk to Gensy.

Gensy stood looking at the lights. She couldn't yet understand why, if Dr. Montague had created her personality chip as well, she didn't possess the same range of emotions as Faye, Elenor or Raziel.

"Actually, I didn't make that one myself... by that time, I had left the goverment-controlled labs and working on my own, my child" he had said. With an exagerated gesture, he continued "The blueprints belong to a colleague of mine, a young man by the name of Fritz... unfortunately, I have not seen or heard from him since the Central Dome had been exposed as some kind of nest for a dragon"

The words still sounded within herself... she needed to know why she hadn't been completed. She had seen the power of emotion and feelings. It was vastly superior to anything else she had seen when these emotions and feelings were coupled with skill.
She really wanted for Raziel to explain things to her... maybe all she needed was advice or a little experience... but...
Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned her gaze to Raziel, who had entered the balcony, making her company.

"You do not wish to enter?" asked Raziel as he placed both hands on the rail. He looked to the sides and watching the lights of the city made him feel happy.
"No thank you..." Gensy stood there, she glanced at Raziel from the corner of her eye and kept her silence.
"I understand.. don't worry"
They stood there, looking at the city lights. Gensy occasionally stole a

[Raziel_Kai]

They stood there, looking at the city lights. Gensy occasionally stole a glance or two at Raziel.
"Yes?" asked the tall black HUcast.
Gensy felt surprised. Was he aware that she was looking at him all the time?
She felt hot in her face. Placing a hand over her cheek, she just lowered her gaze, down into the skycar filled streets.
"I just wanted to know... how to experience feelings..."
Raziel moved his gaze to Gensy. He smiled and put a hand over her shoulder.
"That... that is something you have to learn on your own..." he grasped her shoulder a little more tightly and added "your heart will be your guide... let your spirit be guided and you will find your answers"
Gensy stood there, one hand over her cheek and her gaze locked on Raziel's.
For a moment, Raziel thought Gensy's normal cold gaze had softened for a moment.

"*ahem*... Everybody's leaving now, Raziel, Gensy?" said Faye with a soft smile.
Gensy quickly turned around and saw Faye, who was smiling at her.
"Yes... I should go too..." she said hurriedly and without turning back or stopping, she added "Thanks for your advice... it has been most helpful"
Raziel stood there with his arms crossed and gazed at Faye.
She turned at him and hugged him with warmth.
"Are you allright?" asked Raziel.
"As long as I'm able to hold you, yes I am" she answered.
"I know you are worried about us going to Gal Da Val island... but you know there is something there that scares the people from finally settling down in peace... we have to go..."
"I don't have a problem with that... but tell me..."
"Yes?"
"When do you see the lights... what do you see exactly?" she turned to the city lights around them.
Raziel stood there contemplating the city. the lights, the stars beyond the protective dome and in far in the background, Ragol.. the planet that one day, he had promised, would become the immigrants' new home.

"In each of these homes, there is a light... a light of hope that someday, our people will finally live in peace in their new planet. In their homes, people have their livelihoods, their emotions, their feelings and sentiments... and most important, their love.
"That is the reason why I fight and I will not back down... I won't let those lights go out... not while I still have my strenght and your love beside me" he hugged her closer and kissed her forehead.
"I do not fight for prestige, rank or fame... I fight for the future... theirs and... your future too Faye..."
"I will fight for your future too, Raz..."
"Heh... that nickname kinda stuck there with you, didn't it, Faye?" Raziel smiled.
"It's better than before... would you imagine me calling you Az?" she smiled, feeling her eyes drowsy.
Raziel snorted... yeah, it was way better than it could have been before.

In fact everything seemed to be better than before.

END OF BOOK 1



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Raziel_Kai on 2003-07-23 03:45 ]</font>

[Raziel_Kai]

As the 'END OF BOOK 1' implies, the story continues onward. The story moves to the next chapter, where the group will find new challenges, friends and foes as they explore the dangers of Ep2.

But first, I have to say the many thanks to all I feel are forthcoming to you:

For the people who are involved in the story and/or post after episodes with their comments and suggestions (even if they are basically death threats for me to come up with another episode before daybreak ^_^), I give you all my sincerest and heartfelt thanks.

For anyone reading the story as curiosity struck their fancy, I also wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And for PSOWorld, for letting me post these gigantic posts for my little project, I thank you and bow for your time and patience.

And finally, ST... for making such a great game that inspired me to write up a story about a hero, fallen and reborn, and the adventure that lies ahead.

Thank you all.
Arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san.

*^_^*

And, BTW, I will probably post some images I made of the characters of the story. But these will have to wait as I am still getting accustomed to the imaging software of my new scanner.

[Fritz_Kael]

Good work Raziel, I can't wait for the Book 2!

[Logical2u]

(sobs) What a heart-touching story... I would never have guessed it would end like that.

[Peshk]

Absolutely wonderful. Great ending for the book 1. And I never even had to use threats to see if finished. Pity, they would have been good.

In any case, awating "patiently" for the pics and the rest of the story. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smilejap.gif

[Raziel_Kai]

Important Update!

I will post Episode 1 of the 2nd Book starting next week! For those involved in the project, please PM for I have some things I need to go over with.

For those casual readers, please remain calm and I promise the next book will have at least the same quality as before.

[Squid]

Excellent Story...And It's So cute http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif (yes, I had to say it http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif )

I can't wait for Episode 2 http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Shadow777]

On 2003-07-25 22:28, Raziel_Kai wrote:
Important Update!

I will post Episode 1 of the 2nd Book starting next week! For those involved in the project, please PM for I have some things I need to go over with.

For those casual readers, please remain calm and I promise the next book will have at least the same quality as before.




*MUST REMAIN CALM* *MUST REMAIN CALM*
AHHHHHHHH!!! MUST READ EP. 2!!!!

hurry up

[rena-ko]

what an amazing story.
i'm overwhelmed and thats a rare feeling for me, to be honest.

i'm really looking forward for book 2.

ganbare yo ne, raziel ^_^)y

[Logical2u]

That was the best decision since Sonic Team decided to port PSO to GC, Raziel

[Raziel_Kai]

Prologue: Whirlwind

The sleek, silver hulled ship pulled out its landing gear as its mighty turbines blew sand, rock and grass leaves in great clouds around it. A cloud of avian creatures flew up suddenly from one of the nearby forests.

With a soft thud, all five gears groaned under the weight of the vehicle and with a hiss of the engines, the turbines died down.

As the clouds of dust and dirt settled down, a small airlock door opened and a young female face looked about in awe.
Her purple eyes looked to and fro, as one of her hands swept back her long blonde hair. She had been so excited to see the place with her own two eyes instead of using the visor sensors.

"This place is really beautiful!" her wide eyes tried to catch every single detail, each little aspect of the scenery in front of her, outside the ship.
The ship had landed on top of a mountainous plateau, bordered by a sea of green jungle, stretching for various miles, suddenly dropping into an azure, crystal-clear sea. The island had high hilltops dotting its landscape, and hundreds of blue rivers coursing like snakes lazily dancing into the ocean.

Tyria stood there, taking the whole scenery as in rapture, until a very disgusted coughing man behind her made her turn around.
"Could we do this sometime this century, miss?" said a middle-aged man, grey haired and scruffy, in a pilot uniform that seemed to have never visited any other place but the ship hangar of the Pioneer 2.
Completely mottled in oil stains, the man quickly pushed her aside with one hand and with the other, throwing a ladder down.

Tyria frowned at the man. She wasn't used to the job of being a support operator for Hunters. She had recently gotten that position after the military had decided to implement a new system for supervising the Hunter's Guild without making it look like they were trying to control them.
She was assigned for one of the first drops in the paradise island of Gal Da Val, with a pilot not too happy about coming to the 'dangerous' planet Ragol seemed to be.
Well, Tyria thought, this doesn't look dangerous at all. It's the perfect place to start our civilization's new life.

She took out her comlink, put it over her ear and turned her arm-computer on. Looking back, she saw the only other occupant in the ship besides her and Captain Moses.
The young man sitting alone in the passenger bay was clutching his hands repeatedly, looking over the window at the sea. His long blonde hair was loose, and he fidgeted with his gloves once more before taking a deep breath.
Tyria smiled at him, trying to lift his spirits. The human hunter just gave back a half-hearted grin at her and stood up, grabbing a couple of weapons he was carrying in a bag on the seat next to him.

"You seem very nervous, Prefe... are you sure you want to go right now?" asked the girl with concern.
Prefe nodded and biting his lip, grabbed a saber hilt and a small handgun. He put the gun in the holster, but kept the saber in his hand.
"Ye-yeah... better do this reconaissance now than to stay more time and..." he looked at the window again with apprehension.
"Come on... nothing's wrong with this incredible place!" Tyria sounded honestly cheerful.

Prefe could not bring himself to deflate Tyria with the rumours of what had happened just some days ago... about a giant, evil and almost divine, entity that had laid dormant in the ancient ruins, near where the Pioneer 1 had set itself down. He knew also that such creature had been defeated and laid in ruin, but he still kept some reservations about just dropping off onto this strange, devious place his people had decided to immigrate to.

"Yeah, I guess you're right Tyria" he lied. He was a hunter from the Guild, and even if he was a little suspicious from this new idea from the military to join up an operator with a hunter, the pay was good.

"Shall we get ready? Is your position tracker ok?" the girl asked as she examined the shoulder pad on Prefe's armor suit.
"I guess so... it tends to sometimes block my voice over the comm link, but as long as you know where I am, I guess it's all right, no?" he said, shrugging.
"Well then, I'll tell Captain Moses you're ready!"

Prefe climbed down the ladder and put his two feet on the ground. He quickly turned his Buster on and looking around, he placed his hand over his left shoulder. Pushing a small button, he spoke to his shoulder as he surveyed the forest before him.
"Everything fine..." he said.
"Of course you are dummy! You just got out of the ship! Don't be so nervous! Don't call me just to tell me about the last ten steps went without problems... everything will be fine!" said a voice over the commlink next to his ear.

Prefe sighed, and shaking his head, began to walk to the woods. His apprehension still high, he caught sight of some small red birds flying away into the jungles below. He relaxed a bit and strode much more confidently.
Dark clouds billowed from the east. And slowly the sun began to fall into the horizon.

"It's almost seven hours and no word from Prefe!" said Tyria looking at the monitors, watching as the long windy trail that her hunter partner had plotted during his walk into the island.
The position tracker made a long line from their landing zone, through a large forest, across a series of canyons, bending around a long beach and finally, going straight to a swamp near some cliffs.

"The kid knows how to take care of himself girl," said Moses suddenly, as he got up, poured some hot coffee on his mug and sit down again at the ship's controls, then he continued "he'll call if there's trouble around..."
"But I didn't mean for him to stay silent such a long time! Oh... I should have checked his tracking systems a little further..." she looked at the monitors, half-expecting for them to call back.
The captain looked over the controls and saw a stroke of lightning fall down onto the darkened sea.
Looking a little up, he noticed the clouds were blotting out the stars above.

"And it's getting late... what will the chief say about this? Oooh..." Tyria moaned and put one hand on her chin, biting her nail absentmindedly.

Captain Moses rose from his seat, looking out at the skies, as if trying to make out something in the dark.

"Huh? What's the problem, captain, sir?" Tyria looked away from the monitors when she noticed the grizzled fellow rise from his seat and look out into the cockpit's window.

At that moment, rain began to hit the entire island along with a strong breeze. The droplets made a droning sound as they showered the entire ship.
The drizzle began to gain strenght, and the breeze soon became a howling wind.
Moses still kept a watchful eye under the ever-strenghtening storm.
A flash of lightning made Tyria jump from her seat a bit. She thought she had heard a small crackle in the comm link.

"... k... ral... tow..." crackled a feeble voice from the speakers.
"Prefe?!?" Tyria looked at the tiny dot that had stopped near Grid Alfa. Looking the online maps systems in the computer, she knew that her charge was probably near the Central Control Tower.
"Prefe! Can you read me? What's your status?" she cried over the microphone.
"... systems... gate access... can't proceed..." the voice came a little clearer this time.
"Can you repeat what you said Prefe?" she stared at the small dot in the monitor with anxiety.
"... m... p... he..." the voice broke off again into a combination of static and loose letters.

Moses gazed at the forest. In a flash of lightning he thought he had seen a shape in the trees. But looking with intent, he only saw the woods swaying with the wind. Some fog had crept up and made the ground barely visible, as huge drops of water splashed around and made huge puddles on the ground.
He turned around and took a swig of his coffee.
His paranoia was getting the better of him, he thought... the info from the Pioneer 2's satellites were accurate... only small creatures inhabited the island, so they were actually in little danger.
He then gazed to the small napkin where his coffee mug rested on when he realized something.

Tyria tried making one more try at the microphone, but since nothing but static answered, she sighed and turned around at the captain. She saw behind him the rain pouring onto the windshield and the dark clouds atop of them.
As she looked at the grey haired man, she looked into his eyes as he wheeled about in shock, dropping his mug on the floor. She hardly had time to yell when lightning crashed behind, illuminating a huge silhouette of something huge, vaguely humanoid, outside the ship, and at this very moment, lifting what seemed to be a large arm over its horned head.

The puddles, Moses realized, the puddles were actually the beast's footprints.
Looking up at the windshield, knowing he couldn't raise the ships' deflector systems, he grimaced at the monster, as its fist crashed through transparasteel, alloy and hull.

Prefe felt a chill up his spine. It wasn't the cold rain banging his spirits and hair down. It was... something else.
Looking over at the cliff the defective warp had sent him to, he shuddered at the white crested waves crashing upon the rocks below.
He hadn't heard anything from the ship until some moments ago, when his operator tried to call him back, but his microphone wouldn't work since most of the suit's power was being rerouted to the tracking system.
Being no expert at electronics, he decided he would ask Tyria to fix it.

A sudden stroke of lightning lit up the dark skies. He felt something inside of him tremble. Looking around, he didn't see any other way to get to the Central Control Tower except flying to it.
It stood upon a tall cliff, overlooking the sea as some giant lighthouse, but its overlaping darkness gave Prefe an ominous feeling.

"I'd better get back... it's getting more dangerous over here" he walked slowly, as the water had collected in small, slick puddles in the bare rock he was standing.
Another stroke of lightning shook the cliff, and Prefe felt a powerful gust of wind lift a great deal of fine mist and pebbles.
He turned around and to his surprise, he saw something that iced the blood in his veins.

There were two bright yellow, feral eyes studying him from a rock outcropping above the churning sea, some three hundred yards from where he stood. The eyes belonged to some sort of huge beast, perhaps some twenty or thirty feet tall, and very powerfully muscled.
Prefe thought it looked like a predatory cat, but there was something weird about it. It seemed it had some kind of horns or tusks, flanking its head.
He slowly inched his way to the teleporter, but before he took a third step, the beast suddenly rose on its hind legs and let out a mighty roar!

Lightning struck again, and Prefe's eyes widened in terror.
The monster, as it reared to roar, had unfurled mighty feathered wings that probably spanned some 80 feet from tip to tip!
Turning away fully, he made a crazed dash towards the warp... he didn't care where the systems would leave him... any place would be definitely safer than here!

The monster had launched itself into the air and swooped down at Prefe. Flying low, it tried to catch him with his powerful steel beak.
At the very last moment, Prefe had dropped to the ground and stood prone for a second, as the mighty creature flew past him.
As mist settled down, Prefe got up and tried to look for the monster.
His eyes darted about, one hand on his gun and the other keeping his hair off his face. Mud and water ran down his face, his wild gaze trying to search for the monster.
It seemed it had vanished into thin air.
He looked at the skies above him but only rain and faraway lightning greeted his gaze.
He then looked in front of him.
Some twenty feet away, lay the warp systems.
If he was going to get away, we should do so now!

"Please please please!!!" he muttered as he made a quick dash for the teleporter.
He was almost 5 feet away from the warp when the beast suddenly appeared from over the cliff's edge.
Fear paralyzed him and as he tried to lift his gun to aim at the thing's head, the monster suddenly vomited forth a ball of air to him.

Letting two shoots of his gun off, Prefe didn't react quickly enough to dodge the airblast. He felt his whole body being lifted off the ground and for a moment, he felt weightless.
Suddenly, everything seemed to spin out of control and rising ever higher off the ground, the airblast had turned into a whirlwind.
He tried to focus and make a grab for his shoulder button, to contact for help, but the only thing his senses registered was being turned in the air as some sort of spinning top and suddenly, falling.
He was still spinning in the air, and lost consciousness before he hit the angry ocean below.

His saber had laid still on the rock floor. Just a couple of inches away from the warp platform.

The beast hovered in place just a second more, and seeing no more of the puny creature, flew off into the roiling skies.


The huge monster beat the ship two more times, and grabbing it from one side, effortlessly tossed it over the plateau's cliff and onto the beahc below.
There, with a huge explosion, it quickly drowned out in black smoke.
The creature felt relief, and turning its huge muscled back, it slowly crept back to the woods, where it could take a rest from the beating it had dealt to the shiny, strange creature that had disturbed him, like so many other small shiny things it had seen in the sky.
It was infuriating enough that the shiny birds flew over his head mockingly, but moreover so, that one big shiny bird had decided to nest in its ground.

At least, that was taken care of, and now it would return to its lair for some food and rest.


Down in the debris below, electrical sparks flew in random directions in some of the hardware that had not blow up when the impact of the fall had shattered the ship.
A faint crackle came from the broken speaker.
"... com... er... is... eer..."
And with the fires being put out by the still-strong rain, the voice died out from the speakers in the wrecked ship.

To be continued...

[Logical2u]

To Prefe: Make a note. Gal Da Val island is NOT a place to be using a Saber and Handgun.

Great new chapter, Raziel.

[Peshk]

Man, Gal Da Val island is not the place to go without at least one buddy close by. He might at least get part of your body to take back and bury. And I do agree, take better stuff.

Can hardly wait to see our asses kicked all over the place. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Vecar]

Ive loved the whole story its been really great. Keep up the great work.

[Raziel_Kai]

Sorry for the delay people ^-^;;

I will post the next episode during these two days. Probably around Tuesday it would be a good time.

I've been working a lot with the rough sketches of the cast but I haven't been able to post them up here, as I lack a webpage.

Sit tight!

[Treken]

Hey, just make it into an anime so I can watch it instead of take forever to read it. hehehe

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode One: The Bamboo Forest

Steadying his stance, eyes closed and his palm over the hilt of the masterwork weapon, Raziel Kai concentrated on finding his focus.

The soft wind carried with it the scents of the early dawn and the clear drizzle of the calm river. The grass softly swayed with the breeze and rustled ever so slightly.
The sun's warming rays made their way through the endless green leaves that shot out of the bamboos surrounding the little clearing.

The android was motionless, standing in front of a thick broken and charred tree trunk. The tree had been like that for quite some time, since a great thunderstorm had hit it in the middle, splitting its great oak in twain.

One figure stood in silence behind the black armored android, holding his helmet in her hands.

A slim, sky blue frame, with definitely feminine curves and soft face, stood in complete silence. Her blue eyes looked at both warrior and tree trunk without blinking. Her fingers clutched the black helmet a little tighter.

<He has stayed in that pose for over 3 hours now...> she thought as she continued to study the scene <What is he waiting for?>

Another person was watching the whole scene, but from the cramped seat of a VR operator. Holding a coffee mug to his lips and taking a sip, Elian grimaced at the sour and cold taste of his drink, adjusting his microphone, he whispered:
"Is he all right?"

Faye almost jumped at the sound in her inner ear.
Looking alarmed, she saw Raziel still focusing and sighing in relief that she hadn't disturbed his concentration, turned ever so slightly and walking a step or two, she came close to the swaying bamboo shoots.

Faye lowered her voice almost to a whisper and responded, as she turned her head just slightly, so she could still see Raziel in the corner of her eye.
"He's okay, don't make me jump like that!"
Elian loved to be a complete pest with the RAcaseal.
He grinned and tapping the mike, he continued:
"Ooh... worried that me could throw off his focus or whatever?"
"I am not having this conversation with you, Elian!" she said hurriedly.
"You know you want me honey..." he laid back on his seat, putting his hands behind his head and smiling to himself.

Faye gritted her teeth, and with a quick turn of a small dial in her wrist, she turned off the volume completely from the comm.
"HEY!" Elian jumped from his seat. He quickly tried to punch in some commands to override Faye's manual command, but a gloved hand over his arm quickly stopped him.
"Let it rest buddy..." Vryce quickly looked from the monitor to the operator's grey eyes. He let go of the operator's arm after locking his gaze for a second.
Elian gave the red-haired man a glowering look, but quickly looking at the monitor, he grabbed his mug and emptied it in the trash bin.

"It's more than 3 hours, and the stupid android probably rusted himself from inaction!" said Elian as he got up and poured some more coffee in the mug.
"It's not cheap, you know, to have the VR system reserved for just a couple of people that are basically doing nothing all this time... why, I could be watching the latest episode of the KawaiiSenshi in th-"

"You are being well paid chump... you either shut that hole of yours or I'll get myself a new operator, ok?" Vryce didn't look away from the monitor, intent on catching each frame in his gaze.
Elian bit his lip. It was true that he was getting really well paid for just baby-sitting the pair in the VR field, but he just wished he could just be looking after the female one.

Before any naughty thoughts could begin to materialize in his mind, another voice sounded in the poorly lit room. This one from another monitor in the upper left.
The red-headed, bespectacled face of the General Chief of the Pioneer 2's Research Facilities appeared on the fuzzy screen.
"Good morning gentlemen" said the General Chief.
"G'day boss" said Elian as he slurped some more coffee.
"Good day to you, miss Milarose" said Vryce, nodding at the screen, he smiled sideways and continued "What is the happy occasion of your most unexpected call at this early hour, ma'am?"
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Lt. Vryce" she nonetheless smiled and lifted her hand to adjust her microphone.
"What is the status of the new HUcast trainee?" she demanded, clearly addressing Elian.
"Meh... not bad... I have his initial battle information sheets all here if you want them, boss" Elian waved some papers in front of him, but he didn't notice Vryce getting tense.

"Excellent. I will send for those in about a couple of hours, when the VR testing will begin with the other trainees" her eyes fixed on Elian's, who just shrugged and kept on drinking his coffee.
"Ma'am, would I suggest I drop these for you?" said Vryce, as a smile crept up his face.
"Hey! I'm the operator here, captain Klutz... I will send these to my bo-"
"That will be all right, Lt. Vryce" and looking over his exhasperated operator, she grinned and continued "but if you wish to pay me a visit, I would not mind at all. I shall send for both you and the documents in about an hour"

Vryce smirked and looking at the monitor, bowed slightly and said "It will be a pleasure, General Chief Natasha"
The monitor blinked out and Elian grimaced back at the ranger, who was looking pretty pleased with himself.
"Look... you may be paying me a lot of meseta for this, but you don't go over my head when it comes to the General Chief and-"
"So now, she's the General Chief and not the 'boss'?"
Vryce sat down in a comfortable chair, looking at some enviromental dials next to the main screen.

Feeling like an angry volcano about to explode, the young man sat down and tried very hard not to throw the mug at the man beside him.

Both, eyed the main monitor and waited for something to happen.
Vryce, suddenly reaching his arm to a sensor, said:
"Capture the next 20 frames of the image. I need those and don't-"
"What ar-" Vryce slapped a hand over Elian's mouth.
"Don't breathe..." he said in a whisper.

Faye felt it in herself. Suddenly, the calm before the storm swelled up around her, and flowed into the still form of Raziel.
She felt, in that instant, everything beyond her senses could perceive. She felt the river flow, the breeze dancing in the air, the smell of the bamboo around and above her.
She then felt a small leave drop from the air and fall softly on top of a small grey rock.

Raziel opened his eyes and with a lightning quick movement, yelled:
"ZAN!!!"
The air in front of Raziel shot out in every direction; the energy he had charged up all that time, in that instant suddenly stem in one flashing moment.

The blade had gotten out of the saya and back in so fast, Vryce, Elian and Faye thought they had blinked and missed the movement.
Raziel stood tall, and turning around, he walked over to Faye. Smiling, his hand went over hers and she came out of her shock.

The tree trunk suddenly split, a large slab on the top slid slowly; a straight, diagonal cut had appeared out of nowhere.
Slowly, the top slab dropped into the grass and stayed there.

"How... how could..." Faye started to stammer but Raziel turned around and frowned, before he put his helmet back.

A couple of bamboo shots some 15 feet behind also dropped, with the same diagonal cut the tree trunk had. These shots fell shortly afterward the slab.

"Butbutbut!" Elian looked at the main monitor and the secondary one, trying to replay the scene frame by frame. He couldn't believe the speed and power behind the attack. Only the most experienced and powerful hunters could possess such skill, and there were mostly none of them still alive!

"Shut the hell up kid" Vryce said bluntly, and ejecting a small disk out of the main system, he pocketed in his shoulder pad and sitting up, he smiled at the young operator.
"What was that?" he pointed at Vryce's shoulder pad, and noticing the secondary monitor showed, in big green glowing letters NO DATA, he suddenly punched several keys in his datapad.
"What did you do?" he got up, trembling in anger.

"Listen... this here is some info no one needs to see or know about, ok?" Vryce said, half-smiling, took out a large golden chip out of his leg pocket and handed it over to the man, "Here's a little bonus, you know, so you can take a good vacation out of this here joint and relax and watch all the KawaiiSenshi episodes you want"

Elian took the goledn chip and quickly looking at it, noticed it had a 6 figure number on it. His eyes wide, he had to gulp down before his eyes could properly read '250,000 meseta' on the chip's LCD screen.

Vryce tapped the man's shoulder and grinning, he turned around to get into the VR entry room.
He knew that when Faye came into the VR room with Raziel, he'd better give them some space for themselves, but he needed to get those two out of here quick.
He didn't trust the boy and didn't like the fact that he had printed out Raziel's specs and statistics before he had a chance of checking those out or making sure the kid didn't read them. But taking note of Elian's indifferent attitude to the specs when they were talking to General Chief, he guessed the kid was either taking pics of Faye or not even doing his job as an operator seriously.
He'd need the money he had earned for looking the other way. An operator with that kind of attitude would be better off getting his kicks out by being a slacker.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Elian connect to the network and looking for possible spas and fine hotels.

"That was incredible, Raziel! I didn't see the way the blade moved at all!" Faye put a hand on his arm.

Raziel stood silent, looking at the bamboo he had cut along the wood trunk.
"It wasn't focused enough... I should only have struck the trunk, not go beyond that" he said as he turned slowly, so he could smile at Faye.
"You didn't? But... anyways, I think it's great!" she said, smiling broadly.
"It wasn't that great, Faye... the cut should have struck only where I needed to strike. If we would have been in danger, and I have tried this attack, I might have hurt someone... I might've hurt you..." he suddenly let a shadow cloud his smile.

He seemed so sad lately, thought Faye. Ever since he got back at the Pioneer 2's Hunter Guild, there was something troubling him. She had seen him alone in the middle of the night, clutching the mysterious sword that a hunter had left for him. She felt he needed something, but even as she hugged him with all her strenght, it seemed he was holding back on something.
Reaching out, and placing his helmet on his head, Faye looked into his eyes.

"You won't hurt me. I know that you won't and I trust you won't" she said as she kissed him softly on his lips.
Raziel lowered the facemask and raising the weapon in his hand, unsheated it with the other.
A rusted, long steel blade rung with power.
However, the poor state the blade was in, made it quite plainly it had seen better days. Not only that, but the hilt was the only thing besides the saya that gave any indication that this finely crafted katana was once very mighty indeed.

Faye looked at it with a puzzled look and asked Raziel:
"What is that sword, Raz?"
"It is called the Agito, it is very ancient, and some say very powerful. As you can see, it's in bad shape. I've heard that there is someone in the Pioneer 2 that could reforge it as it once was... but if this one is a fake, then it is just that... a fake blade, forgotten and powerless"
"Fake blade?" Faye looked at the dulled edge and the rusted steel "Is there an original Agito?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but to cut it short, there was once a single Agito that was so magnificent, that others made duplicates of it, trying to catch the power of the original into them" Raziel sheated the katana once more into its saya and looked at the sky. The sun still shone as brightly as ever.
"But a katana cannot be truly copied. It is after all, the soul of the samurai that wields it. And a soul cannot be duplicated" Raziel smiled at Faye now, putting his arm around her waist "Very few know which is the real Agito... but there is an old tale my old sensei once told me..."
He pulled her close and sat down with her on the soft grass.
"If the power of the samurai that wields the Agito, the real one, becomes worthy of the blade, then the katana will show its true face..."
"And that would be good, right? After all, I know you're the right person to actually wield such a weapon!" Faye said this, smiling at him.

Raziel sat in silence, holding Faye in his arm. He gazed out into the green forest in front of him and tried to focus into the little pit that he felt had grown inside of him. There was something strange about this, but he couldn't quite place it right now.
And looking at Faye, so happy and calm, he shook his thoughts out of his head and said:

"Let's go Faye... Vryce is probably growing roots from waiting for us"
Faye smiled and laughed a bit. She knew Vryce would have been picking them up when Raziel finished with the preliminary tests and that he wanted to give them something. She didn't have the slightest clue as of what that was, but he had his reasoning as of why keep them in the dark about some things.

The whole scenery winked and faded out of existence, leaving them both inside a large grey metal room with a dark floor. They got up and walked towards a large black door.


A large crate groaned and broke in twain. Light flooded the small hybernation section for the first time in seven years. As the pair of explorers turned on their flashlights, they saw huge glass containers leaned against the wall.
Some of them were cracked and dusty... others still hummed in the dank room. One of the two explorers walked right next to the containers, the other went straight to one of the portholes.
Looking at the containers with anxiety and glee, the newman flashed the light up and down, looking at one in particular.
It had a badly injured yet tall and well preserved female android inside of it. Most of the armor was rusted and cracked, and her face was frozen as if in pain.

Looking at her side, the newman saw a small tube containing a small creature in it.
"Weird, but cute in a strange way..." he said as he passed his hand over the dust of the cover.
"What did you say, Professor Fritz?" said the other person in the room. Her blue-steel hair moved softly around her oval face. Her red eyes darted from the porthole to the overly excited man near the capsules.

"Oh nothing my dear Alianna!" said the newman as he quickly retrieved the small creature from the container. It was a small MAG with a round head, big eyes and a blue body. He picked it up and held it gently in his palm.
"It's a small Chao. It looks like its hers" he pointed the other capsule with the female android.

"Mmmh..." the blue-haired woman approached the capsule and gazed intently in it.
"If we could retrieve her from stasis, she could very well tell us what happened to the Pioneer 1, you know... it could mean a breakthrough!"
"But..." Alianna felt a tinge of fear at what the doctor may be getting to, but she thought it would be better to try and talk him out of it.
"You know professor? That android could be dangerous..." said Alianna as she studied the frame's damage.
"But we'll never know unless I re-activate her, right?" said Dr. Fritz with a strange gleam in his eye.
"Professor!" Alianna stood up, long hair falling on her shoulders and shaking her fist at the smiling newman.
"Yes? What?" he said without giving her a second look, his fingers playing with the control pads next to the capsule.
Alianna could not resist herself anymore and grabbed the doctor's suit by his collar and raised him off the floor.
"STOP IT PROFESSOR!!!" she yelled at his face.
He just smiled back at her. Grinning, he simply said:
"You know, maybe that's why you're still single, Alianna, you have such a temper!"

Red-faced and truly angry, she flung the newman across the room, into some capsules and tried to breathe.
"Ouch..." said a small voice from the mess the female Hunter had made.
"Serves you right, you..." said Alianna in clenched teeth.
"Hey! Look at this!" said Fritz, waving his hand over his head and pointing at something beneath him.

He got up and between the two, they saw a strange panel depicting some sort of wiring needed to repair old android models.
He looked around and catching a glimpse of the rest of the unbroken containers, he saw two more androids in there.
One was really big and had a clunky armor on it. The other had a much more pettite frame, and it definitely looked female.

Smiling broadly and rubbing his chin with one hand, he began to entertain thoughts of creating more of his children. A big family! That's what he needed.
He felt very alone now that Gensy had decided to find out what emotions were... just before he got around to build her a chip to better understand those. Oh well. Such is life, so full of ironies.

Alianna made a sick smile at Fritz' look full of daydreams, and decided to let him have his way instead of just trying to bring some sort of tranquility in his lunacy.

"Alianna dear, could you help me getting these open?" said Fritz with the innocence of a child opening a gift.
"Yeah, sure..." Alianna answered, not too enthusiastic.

To be continued

[Squid]

Great story!! What happens now?

I wanna know how Fritz programs the androids...
The cute androids! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Fritz_Kael]

What do you need to know? This connects here, and that cable goes there.. Ups, the watch shouldn't get stuck there, but oh well...

Great story Raziel. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Peshk]

OH MY GOD!!!!!! That explains so much! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif

No wonder they ended up like that. They probably were normal androids until then. And with the kind of help the "Doctor" appears to have, so much for hope..... :S

[Squid]

Cool, I'm going to end up with an internal watch http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
That practical. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Raziel_Kai]

Sorry for the delay. Work is murder lately with the preseason NFL football and all. I will post the next episode soon. So please hang on tight!

<btw, why do I tell my teammates when they die on PSO to sit tight as I find a Moon Atomizer if I know they won't move? mmmmh...>

[Logical2u]

(grabs back of chair) Ok, I am hanging! Ahhh noooooo!!!!!.......... *falls*

[Raziel_Kai]

Intermission: Breeze on the hilltops

*YAAAAWN*~~~
Haruka stretched her pettite body as she lazily lay prone on the soft grass.

She rubbed her eyes with both hands, and staring to the blue skies above her head, she blinked.
The zaphire dome that stretched all over her greeted her with clear emptiness. Not a single cloud was in sight. Her blue eyes made a circle to take in every inch of the beautiful sky.

A soft wind rustled her short hair and slowly, she sat herself to see around her. The hill was a bright emerald green, with some few rocks and a small tree near the top. Looking at the base of the hill, she grinned at the small grey floating MAG that was approaching her.

"Kabachan!" she yelled and with a quick swipe, she grabbed the MAG and hugged it. The MAG let out a happy chirp and rubbed itself against Haruka's cheek.

"Kabachan, did Vryce ask you to come and get me?"
The MAG let out a chirp and a nod.
"Mmmmh... it's strange. I've been here for almost 3 hours, doing nothing... waiting for a supposed challenger in this VR field"
The MAG just shrugged and chirped again.

Suddenly, Haruka's wrist commlink came alive with a blue flash of light and a clear voice.
"Haruka, I'm sorry for the delay. There was difficulty fetching you an opponent, but I think I've found you someone..."
Haruka pouted and closed her eyes with indignation.
"This place is boring Vryce! At least you should have asked the operator, whoever he or she is, to let me get a glimpse of the Temple simulation the other hunters are talking about!"
"Sorry, but you operator and I had some differences... nothing that couldn't be smoothed over by the twinkle of several meseta, but he was really getting on my nerves" Vryce's voice sounded a little exhasperated.

Haruka got up her feet and looking around, she talked to her commlink once more:
"And where is this opponent, Vryce?"
"He should be spawning near you, just watch out, ok?"
"I can take care of myself very well, thank you very much, Vryce" said Haruka.

At that moment, a large ball of flames flew right into the small tree, bursting it into cinders. Haruka's surprise was quickly wiped away as she grabbed her MAG and leapt to the bottom of the hill.

Quickly snatching her Talis cards from her hip pocket and getting on a defensive stance, she glanced where she guessed the Foie technique had come from.

"Very good reflexes, for a girl..." a male voice came behind the small tree's burning remains.

The newman girl quickly glanced at the small bonfire. However her attacker was, he did move very fast. Gritting her teeth, she slowly made an arc with her arm, readying herself to throw a few Talis cards at the slightest movement her eyes could catch.

A few steps into the fire, a robed figure, not too tall, looked down at her from the cinders. Fire flashed against the eyeglasses, and a small grin crossed the young man's face.

"Well, well, well..." said the guy as he put his boot over the tree's stump.
"The infamous Haruka... one of the survivors in the ruins incident just a week and half ago..."

"You have me at a disadvantage... as you know my name and I don't ever recall meeting a little twerp like you!" she said as she tightened her grip on the cards. Her MAG chirped nervously.

"A name is a name is a name..." the young man smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Closing his eyes, he waved a bang of his hair aside.
"So? Are you ready to begin losing, Haruka?"

"WHY YOU!?!??!"
Quickly, she threw two Talis cards at the emerald robed man and with her free hand, decided to cast a powerful Barta technique.

The two cards were quickly dodged with ease, and before the icy current of mystic power could hit her opponent, Haruka stared amazed at how, in mid-air, the man flipped once in the air and shot off a pair of twirling fireballs, spiralling outwards like a tornado.

Before hitting her, Haruka cast another quick technique. A field of electricity suddenly sprang into life surrounding her like a huge halo.

The fire died out at the moment the lightning appeared.

The green-robed man dashed towards Haruka, and reaching for his vest, he pulled out a saber hilt.
Haruka grinned.
This guy, clearly a well-trained force, was gonna go into melee with her? This was a joke!

Spinning backwards, she threw 5 cards in quick succesion. To her surprise, each one was quickly deflected by a whitish glow coming from the weapon her foe was using!
Stepping back, she cast a Foie at him, but he merely sidestepped and without losing a beat, kept running at her.

Her foe leapt low, with one foot forward and kicking the air out of Haruka, put one hand forward as he spun the white blade in his other hand.

Haruka fell backwards, on her butt, and put one hand on her stomach. Grimacing at her opponent, she tried to quickly think of a solution.

"My point, Haruka..." he said, putting the blade parallel to his other arm.

The newman girl suddenly realized what kind of saber-like weapon could be strong enough to deflect mystical projectiles. It was an Elysion! She had heard tales of it from Vryce.

"Well? Concede and I'll let you go back to the city Block where you live unscathed... try anything dumb, and I'll be most unhappy to marr your otherwise cute features..." he said, smiling slyly.

She let go of the Talis cards in her right hand.
Her foe just grinned at her, his face becoming alight with victory.

Then she grinned suddenly, and pointing with her right hand to her stomach, made her opponent look at her other hand.

"What the...?"
A large, purplish swirl of energy was coiled, ready to spring out at her foe. It was a very concentrated Megid, and by the look of her opponent, he knew this as well.

"I think I'm the winner here, whoever-you-are!" she said triumphantly.
But her enemy didn't flinch. He just smiled back and wiggled the outstretched hand's fingers.

"A stalemate, then?" he said.
"Huh?" Haruka felt the air around her charging up with mystic energy. A whitish glow gave her a clue of what was happening.

"WHY YOU DIRTY #@~!%&!!"
"Ah ah ah~!" said the guy shaking his head reprobingly "Language, my cute newearl..."


"Well... the results are in..." said Vryce as he surveyed the two persons standing in front of him.

One was Haruka. She looked as pissed and bad-tempered as when she wasn't allowed to go treasure hunting with him. She crossed her arms in front of her and pouted. Her foot quickly tapped the floor with one shoe with impatience.

The other was the green robed man. He looked happy, with a wide smile on his face. He just had his hands behind his back.

Both looked disheveled and dirty. Their hair all a mess and sticking out in all directions.
Their clothes had seen better days.

"Haruka, you got great marks for showing a great ability to use your techniques to counter your opponent's attacks" Vryce paused and went straight to the bottom of the page, and read aloud "You got a B rank, according to the data..."

"WHAT!?!?!?" she stomped her foot with indignation.
"Quiet you!" Vryce looked at her with a stern glance, and Haruka just steamed in silence.

"Kit, you showed great skill with both mystical and weapon training... however, you left yourself open at the last moment, costing you an otherwise flawless victory... the computer gave you an A Rank for your performance..."

"Oh well... it's hard to concentrate while fighting such a cute girl..." he smiled, and half cocked his head towards Haruka.
"HOW DARE YOU!?!? KIT???? WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS THAT?!?!?!" bellowed Haruka, flailing her arms up and down.

"A very short name I guess..." he shrugged, still smiling, but putting his hands in front of him to protect himself from the angry newman girl.

"Still, because of your inadequate conduct at the end of the exercise, you both got C rank grades..." Vryce wasn't smiling as usual... actually, a vein had popped up in his temple.

"WHAT!?!?!?!?!"
"Oh well..." said Kit simply
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'OH WELL'????" Haruka was just an inch from strangling the young man "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET THAT GRADE BACK AT 'A'????"
"Of course, but it's nothing if I help you out"
"YOU?!? HELP ME OUT?!? HA!!!"
"I think I can manage with my schedule to give you some late lessons with melee fighting... after all, I am very busy during the day" he said, smiling innocently.
Haruka seemed about to explode at that moment.

Vryce put a hand over her shoulder and told her, sternly:
"You need to get as much help as you can get"
"But but but but..." she blinked twice at the words that Vryce had just spoken.
"And I can't have Raz help you out in this one..." he glanced at Kit, who seemed very pleased with himself, even with the low score he had made in the VR test.

"Agh... oh well..." her shoulders slumped down in defeat.

"I can come back in about 8 hours... is that all right with you Haruka?" Kit smiled at her.
"Yeah, yeah... whatever..."
"All right! It's settled then!" Kit said as he grabbed her hand and shook it.
Haruka didn't look too pleased at this, and withdrew her hand as quickly as she could.
"See you then, it's a date!" said Kit, waving his hand at the two and exiting the test room.

"IN YOUR DREAMS!!!" she stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms, fuming.

"Oh god..." said Vryce as he pleaded to some higher power to give him patience.

To be continued...

[Hippocanibal]

YAY!! KICK ASS! *cough back to the capsule and the chao mag... =D!

[Squid]

Cool!! Haruka's great!! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif
And Vryce does act a lot like Vryce (you know what I mean)...Great job!! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
I can't wait to see what troubles come ahead http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Cannibal-Snowman]

Cool! I like this second book so far! This is great stuff!

[Logical2u]

LOL! I didnt notice you had a new chapter done Raziel. Great battle scene and, as usual, a lifelike reenactment of a battle mode with a twinker.

[Raziel_Kai]

On 2003-08-17 05:46, Logical2u wrote:
LOL! I didnt notice you had a new chapter done Raziel. Great battle scene and, as usual, a lifelike reenactment of a battle mode with a twinker.



hahaha...
etto...
actually, Kit is one of my charas, and he isn't twinked. But thanks anyways for the comment ^-^;;

[Peshk]

LOL. Now that was funny. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Just getting smacked like that, http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wet-trout.gif , but in a good way. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime2.gif

Besides, I know Kit ain't twinked, he just is enhanced by the hand on the controller.

And anyway, you just want to kill those two, so no problem. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_beer.gif

[Fritz_Kael]

Cool force battle Raziel! Kit rocks! I cant wait to see the next chapter. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Hyuo_Fenlr]

Next chapter! Next chapter!

[Peshk]

Yes, I do believe we are eagerly awaiting the next chapter. Hopefully, for the appearance of certain characters closer to certain hearts than others, and/or another good battle scene. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[Digi-Dolphin]

Loving it so far! Thanks for recommending the story, Raz! I'm getting seriously inspired to write my own story!

But not here, elsewhere, it's a weird crossover so it probably won't be recieved well here. PSO/Animal Crossing, the reason why you shouldn't play for eight hours straight and drink L337 Tang at the same time...

More! More! ^-^

[Logical2u]

next chapter. next chapter.

[Raziel_Kai]

Episode Two: The snake awakens

The door slid open, allowing three figures to enter all at once. One of them was a small nimble girl, dressed in full robes but moving with the grace of a preying cat. Her light blue eyes darted to and fro, surveying everything around her. Her short brown hair moved slightly as she walked.
Next to her, a man in his mid-thirties, wearing full body armor with a navy blue color, strode with the confidence one has after fighting in countless battles. He was completely bald, but he kept a goatee evenly trimmed. His once young features were marred with a terrible scar, which ran from the top of his left temple, over his eye, and finished in a strange twist under his nose.
And finally, behind them came a very tall and gangly android. It walked with an uneven gait, and its overlong arms seemed to sway from side to side. Its head possesed only a single green eye, with a strange swept-back metallic horn protuding from its forehead. It also wore a green-gray armor over its frame. To people, it looked like some sort of metallic lizard.

After the three figures entered the darkened room, the door slid shut silently behind them.
Countless monitors lit up, and a myriad of glowing colours splashed over them as random data and info sped through each display.
Static suddenly shot from the speakers and a grating male voice spoke:
"There is little time"

The man crossed his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow, said:
"Is it back?"
Some of the screens stopped showing random images and synchronized to show several shots of maps, diagrams and even overhead views of seemingly random areas on the surface of Ragol.
"It would appear to be so," responded the grating voice " the collected data so far indicates a large chance of positive probability of such circumstance."

The young woman shifted her arms, putting one hand over her cheek and the other at her waist.
She remained silent.
The android however, made a strange metallic noise as it spoke. It seemed like rusted iron rubbed against rock.
"You know of our fee..." it twisted its head strangely and snap it back into position "but what exactly is what we are doing this time?"

The monitors still showed more data, and the large man blinked as he saw a couple of images strangely familiar to him.
"You are to collect data first..." said the grating voice.
"How boring..." said the android amusingly, its hands twitching.
"Keep silent now, you!" said the man at the android, he then faced the monitors and replied "Understood. We will first observe and then we'll wait for further orders..."

The monitors shut down all at once at the very same moment the door slid open once more.
"Let's go! The faster we meet the target and collect the information they need, the faster we get paid..." the man walked out, followed closely by the android.
The girl stood there, looking at the darkness for a second more and after a moment, she turned on her heels and walked out into the corridor.


The crystal glass clinked against the other.
"To our mutual benefit, my dear General Chief Natasha"
"Likewise, Lt. Vryce" she smiled back.
Both sat facing each other at a dinner table in the luxurious Farahez restaurant. Vryce wore an elegant black suit and had combed back his hair, giving him a debonair look to go along with his grinning face.
The General Chief was looking simply astonishing, as she wore a dark blue sleeveless dress with a low cut on her back. She had let her hair down also, giving her an even more radical change from her usual get up while working at the Laboratory.

The soft sound of violins and a piano nearby soothed people's spirits in the classy bar.
"Chief, I have one thing to ask of you..." Vryce suddenly looked very serious.
"Mmmh... ask away. I will see fit if this thing needs an immediate answer" Natasha sipped a little wine.
Vryce looked around and waved to a waiter, ordered some dessert and after thanking the young newman for the quick service, he turned to Natasha.
"Very well..." he added with a smile "There is something bothering me for the last week and I needed to clear this up with you, madam"
Natasha didn't say anything, she just merely smiled back at his in a bemused sort of way.
Vryce picked up his glass and drank a couple of sips of wine and continued:
"The identity of my protege..."
"Is a very well-kept secret... I have seen to that my friend" Natasha cut him off.
Vryce stirred the wine a little before putting the crystal glass back on the table. He closed his eyes and smiled.
"Sir, your dessert" interrupted the waiter as he placed a couple of small plates filled with a deliciously-looking parfait in front of the General Chief and a small coffee in front of Vryce.
"Thank you my young man" Vryce smirked.
As the waiter left, Natasha tasted a bit of her dessert and softly cleaning her lips with her napkin, got up.
"I am very sorry, my dear Vryce, but I must leave in a hurry. It would seem that the preliminary tests in the VR field are commencing in about 6 hours and I am expected to be there early... after all, I am the General Chief" she laughed a bit.
Vryce quickly got up and took her hand in his. He put the other hand on his chest and raising an eyebrow he said:
"Couldn't you make an exception tonight madam? This place would seem very dull without your presence..."
She laughed a bit more and putting her hand over Vryce's she shook her head slightly.
"You'll never learn, will you Lt. Vryce? I must admit the idea sounds tempting but my duties come first, especially now with this new situation about the Gal Da Val island and the Control Towers"
"Oh! And here I thought you would join me for a night cap" Vryce said as he dramatically swept his hand from his chest to his side.
"Hahahah... still funny as ever" she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and then continued "Like I said, tempting but no thank you. I will probably see you in the Labs then?"
"Of course! I wouldn't miss this event for anything my dear lady" he smiled as he kissed Natasha's hand.

After she left, Vryce sat down and drank his coffee in silence.
Suddenly, one of the waiters approached him and politely handing him a phone and the bill, took the plates from the table.
Vryce took the phone and dialed a long number.
After a few seconds of hearing it ring, someone at the other side picked up and answered.
"See to it that we have a good escort tomorrow at noon"
"Understood"
At that, he hung up and sipped his coffee a little more.
Looking out over the window, his gaze met the blue-green planet. His eyes rested over a certain formation of stormy clouds, which looked like a white and gray spiral.
His brow darkened and he got up the table, leaving a few extra meseta as a tip.


"Professor, have you finished yet?" said Alianna, very tired and beat. Her silvery hair was damp with sweat and grime.
"Not yet, but I will probably finish this one here really quick. It seems that this one was only severely damaged in her frame, not her inner circuits... that means, I only have to finish the repairs and I'll turn her on" said Fritz with enthusiasm.
As he worked up and down, repairing small and large notches in the frame, he noticed that the HUcaseal on the table in front of him had a strange patch on her shoulder.
Using an odd-looking glass that he mounted on his work goggles, he read what seemed to be a serial number of some sort.
Over the number, he noticed a small icon, probably from one of the Pioneer One's laboratories.
"Mmmh... very interesting..." he studied the number carefully.
Alianna looked up from the cluttered floor up to the table. Feeling very tired, she didn't feel like getting up.

"It seems like at least this female android belonged to a special corps or something. There's some kind of badge on her shoulder, and though the badge seems to be badly damaged due to some kind of impact, I can make out at least a zero and a letter 'T'"
"So? Name her 0-T..." Alianna left herself drop on top of a beat up old couch, her legs and back felt like lead.
Fritz smiled broadly. He took a small piece of cloth and cleaned the android's face a little.
"I'll name this little girl, 0-T then... unusual name for an unusual android... hahahaha" he giggled as he put away the small cloth.

Turning around, he double checked the inner servos inside the huge RAcast frame he salvaged from various places. Looking at them, he noticed that even if they were a jumbled mess, and that they belonged to different-sized models and very distinct versions, he had made and admirable job at patching them up and making the impression it would work, at least before it could blow up.
Fritz quickly made a cursory search over the parts, and not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he closed the chest section and sealed it.
He switched on several toggles and walking towards a smaller table at the end of the room, he looked over the peculiar pettite android curled up in her sleep, as if it were a small cat.
Strangely enough, the android was incredibly short, but Fritz had told his bodyguard, Alianna, that not many of the androids in the storage ship were intact. So, he had to make do with the good materials he scrounged up from his search.

Unfortunately, only the '0-T' hunter was the only one mostly complete, and thus, her brain and memory chips in better shape than the others. The smaller female android was given a brain of Fritz' own design and manufacture, right there in the storage ship. The big ranger android? He tried to make an effort, but Fritz only found pieces of different models all around the place, so he had to make them fit, making the end result look like a badly put-up children's jigsaw puzzle.

Still, all three of them were installed with emotion chips of his own design. Alianna did try to convince him of leaving them alone, but seeing as the professor wouldn't be persuaded otherwise, she had finally surrendered all hope of seeing normal combat androids.
She was kind of right when Fritz had turned on the small female.
Right away, it had acted like some sort of kitten, excitedly playing with things and them.
After four hours of chasing the small android all around the storage complex, tricking her with some bundled up wire and finally shutting her down, Alianna had to carry the strangely heavy HUcaseal back up at the control room, where Fritz was working with the others.

"Well? How to name this one?" he said as he turned to look at the very tired Alianna.
The newman huntress thought of a fair amount of names, none too flattering and actually, very rude.
"Ugh... just think of something yourself, professor... let me get some rest..." he couldn't hear the rest as she mumbled herself into sleep.
He turned around and looking at the small, black armored female android, he half-smiled as he though of a name.


As he felt the breeze around him as he stood on the apartment's balcony, Raziel looked over the lights on the streets. He heard the muffled sounds of the pedestrians and the traffic below. A siren or two wailed weakly in the distance and sounds of the latest hit from the GoGoBoomas echoed from some dance club.
He concentrated once more, trying to feel his focus.
The sounds were blocked and his sight blank. He tried to find his center.
But something gnawed at his mind.
Opening his eyes, he felt the need to reach for his weapon, as he caught a glimpse of a figure on a rooftop some three hundred yards away. It seemed it was beckoning him to come closer. It looked gangly and way too strange.
"Raziel? Is something wrong?" called out Faye from inside.
He turned quickly to see her at standing near the living room, looking worried.
When he turned back to see the rooftop, the figure wasn't there.
"Huh... no... nothing's wrong... I was just admiring the city, as always" he smiled as he saw her worried expression.
He then noticed she was holding something behind her. It was his Agito sword.
She smiled back at him and made a nod towards the balcony.

Raziel put an arm around her waist as she came to him. She held the katana low, but firmly, just in case he needed it.
"Do you think we'll be able to join in the exploration of Gal Da Val island? I've been hearing some strange rumors about it"
"Mmmh? Like about some strangely altered beasts populating it?" he said as he glanced to his right, trying to catch a glimpse of anything out of the ordinary.
"I've heard that a couple of scout ships have been lost. And that even low-flying probes have been taken down by very weird creatures" she said as she hugged Raziel.
The breeze caressed his jet black hair, but Raziel felt the air carried a strange scent in it.
"And isn't there any survivors? What does the military say about this?"
"You know them... any strange stuff like this and it gets covered up in no time..." she closed her eyes and sighed "Raz..."
"Mmmh? Yes, Faye?" he looked down at her for a moment. He saw how she was bitting her lip.
"Promise me you will be extra careful..."
Raziel turned around and put both arms around her. When she was facing him, he raised one hand to her cheek and caressed it tenderly.
"I will, I promise..." he smiled at her.
"I'd wish I could go with you on this mission, but the military ordered that a small group be on standby just in case something goes awry..."
"Or we find out something we shouldn't, right?" he said bitterly.
"Raz, you know I'd never hurt you, or any of our friends!"
"That's not what I mean... It's our government's policies for situations like these that get on my nerves" he kissed her forehead softly.
She felt a pang of guilt. It was true what she implied. Her team was to be on stand by in case the hunters from the Guild would stumble onto something they shouldn't be nosing around on. And she knew she would have to dispose of them quickly, or else be arrested and court martialed on the spot.
Still, she felt safe that Raziel would come and save her if anyting would happen. She wasn't afraid of making the right choice.
She lifted her head slowly, looking at his eyes and nearing herself to kiss him.

Suddenly, a couple of razor sharp disks whistled by and struck exactly at the spot where she was standing.
Raziel, however, had reacted very quickly, and grabbing her in his arms, he had leapt to his right. Unfortunately, in the moment, the Agito was still leaning against the wall at the left.
"Get inside and grab your weapon Faye!" he said quickly as he rolled to his side and five more razor disks cut into the concrete in fast succesion.

Grabbing the hilt of the Agito and unsheathing the katana with blinding speed, Raziel twirled the weapon over his head and around his right flank, deflecting several more projectiles aiming at his chest.
From the angle of the attacks, he guessed his foe was standing exactly on the rooftop he had noticed the strange silhouette before. He closed the visor over his face and inhaled deeply.
Currently, there was no way of getting there... unless...

Faye had punched the hotkey to Vryce's comm link when she saw the black armored HUcast suddenly leap from the balcony.
Her eyes wide with terror she lept to her feet and rushed to the balcony.
She saw as Raziel had leapt into the air, and, by some amazing calculation or pure dumb luck, landed on top of a hovership a couple dozen feet down. He barely managed to grab the side of the hovercar with one firm grip, and swinging with his entire body, landed on top of the vehicle and jumped into the air onto the next one, a big cargo freighter that was following the first one.
She felt little relief at this, as what he was attempting was basically suicide just to get at their attacker.
Two more disks missing her by inches made her come back to reality, and quickly kneeling behind the balcony's wall, she pulled out her red handgun.

The direction of the shots gave her an idea of the attacker, but she didn't know exactly what kind of weapon shot metal disks at high velocity... Her opponent would be on the rooftops to her right from her guess. She would need to get fired upon some more to better estimate the exact position of the enemy sniper. Risky, but she didn't have any other way of knowing.
She heard a couple more of shots and some dust sprinkled her. Her enemy knew exactly where she was hiding, now she would have to move a bit to take her measuring shots.

Raziel stood firmly on top of the heavy cargo freighter. He knew that he wouldn't need to find his enemy, as he saw a tall, lithe figure suddenly land over the rear end of the freighter. It was a man with platinum hair, long and braided. He wore a dark blue armor and seemed to carry a small double bladed hilt in his left hand. He got up silently as the vehicles around them zipped and darted about at great speeds.
He saw the man's face. It was cold and devoid: the hardened look of a killer. The man's red eyes gave no hint of emotion. He calmly twirled the hilt on his left hand and turned on the blades. Blood red photon lit up the grey metal of the freighter. Raziel grabbed the hilt of the Agito with both hands and stood silently watching his opponent.

To be continued...

[Hippocanibal]

GUH! FINALLY! JEEZ MAN I WAS WAITIN LIKE A WEEK! Now hurry and deliver some more! Gj with 0-T.

[Squid]

Vryce flirting again? http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif Although in a elegant black suit...that should be a nice view http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Lol...running 4 hours like a kitten...funny and cute http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

Great Job!!

[Peshk]

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
Finally. After such a while. Now post the next part soon, please. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[Fritz_Kael]

Yes! Finally a new chapter! And an excellent one I have to add. I want to know when those two robots are going to end with those Fritz's manufactured chips! (I'm going to borrow your phrase this time Vryce: God help us all...).

Oh!And waiting for the next one too!

[rena-ko]

j-cutter?

very nice done, raz

*looking forward to the next one*

[Sagasu]

Goddamn, that took forever to read.

but now that I've read book 1 and al that you have on book two I'd like to say...

Great job!!!This is real quality writing here *pats the pages of printed story, yes I had to print it, not enough time online*

Keep em coming, and soon!!!

[Hippocanibal]

...okay now we've been waitin for a while! Give your fans a lil somethin to chew on!!!

[LJ]

Yeah! Hippocannibal's right! We've waited long enough. Everyone! Join me!

Fanfic now! Fanfic now! Fanfic now! Fanfic now! ok that's enough.

[Peshk]

I Agree:

FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW! FANFIC NOW!
http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_cool.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Digi-Dolphin]

Oh don't worry! He'll get the next part up soon enough. Relax and dream up some good fics too, that should keep us all busy while he writes the next part.

*under her breath* Come on, Raz, don't leave me hangin'! What happens next?!

[Peshk]

Oh well. There is no new chapter still. Back to hunting barbles, bartles, etc. with a red handgun then.

[Hippocanibal]

di...did raz die? i mean, i havent heard from him in 4EVER!

[Peshk]

Last location of the one known as Raziel Kai: Unknown.

Working hypothesis at this time: lost in weird time warp and stuck on other activities.

Still checking......

[Zaneatron]

hes having a bit of trouble writing the latest chapter, because he does it at work and its been kinda busy lately (lots of ringing phones), he said to me that he was trying to get it done as soon as he could.

[Peshk]

Second Theory: Was replaced by random space warp to parallel dimension by a sad copy who does not play or like PSO, or from a world not blessed with PSO. NOO!!!! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_cry.gif

[Fritz_Kael]

JA/#%(/%EJG#(068JHADA/&%$#%J;Jisyfs97&(/Q#"!")=¡dskdshj[Ñ:¨*;Swe!

Cough,cough. Oh, no new chapter? Ok, I think I can wait.

[Skett]

-Give us our new chapter! I know what you have been doing! I saw you talking on PSO online with other people. Get to work. All my favorate fics are on a stall and I nned new inpiration!

[Hippocanibal]

listne u bastard raz, uve kept us waiting LONG enough. u CANNOT make a gr8 fic, then leave us hanging. finish it DAMMIT!

[Hikosaka]

It's best just to wait. Free posting demands will not help him update faster. Just sit tight; he'll return to the thread when he is ready.

[Peshk]

Well, I agree with Hikosaka. At this time no amount of requests and demands would help. He does want to continue with the FanFic, I know he has the stuff either almost finished or finished, but he has been unable to post it. Why? Either a lot of work, which for those that know is tiring, or the system does not properly connect to the Internet to allow him to post it.

Onw thing I can tell you, however. Give him time so that he can post it, and he will give good chapters to make up for the delay. Trust me, I know.

And no, I have not even an inkling of what is coming on the next chapters. I just trust the writer.

If not, then "God Help Him". http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smilejap.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_cool.gif

[rena-ko]

On 2003-10-17 22:26, Hippocanibal wrote:
listne u bastard raz, uve kept us waiting LONG enough. u CANNOT make a gr8 fic, then leave us hanging. finish it DAMMIT!


oi!
if i were him, i'd stop posting any further chapter because of something like that.
even if you might mean it in a sarcastic way, its really no way to behave towards people you dont know. did your parents miss to teach you some lessons in behavior?

[Raziel_Kai]

Heheh... I'm really sorry for the lateness in writing the fic, but several things have happened that basically resulted in me losing my roughs of the next 2 episodes.

However, I did plan ahead, and printed the pages of the work to re-write them at home, so it's basically just a matter of time before I finish them down and post them.

Please bear with me for the inconviniences and all.
I know I shouldn't be apologizing or just excusing for my shortcomings, but I do hope I can give you people something worth your time when I post the next part.

Until next time!
Nya~~~!

[Raziel_Kai]

Intermission

The winds whipped around the green grass as the hovercraft above opened a door and a black cable dropped from it.

The sun shone through the grey clouds, and the mist covering the swamps near the Control Tower lay still.
No movement from any large native creatures at first glance, the android noted.
"I'm not picking anything out of the ordinary, you are clear to go!" said a voice in the pilot's cockpit.
Nodding, he quickly pocketed the sensor in his leg compartment and double checking his 'mate supply and his personal weapon cache, grabbed the cable with his two hands and dropped down to the small plateau.

As the Hucast touched the ground, a voice from the comm crackled over: "Are you clear? Over"
The android clicked the comm's button once.
The voice in the intercomm responded: "Roger that! I will be back at 1600 hours with a fresh supply of healing and tracking equipment. Do you copy?"
Again, the android's only response was a single click on the comm's button.
"Good luck and godspeed, agent Shadowfacts! Over and out!"

With that, the sleek, dull-grey hovercraft quickly sped away into the clouds, leaving the black and red armored single figure standing over the plateau.
Shadowfacts, without wasting any more time, quickly took out a small gun that had a small harpoon in its barrel.
Looking down from the plateau, he noticed a small but sturdy-looking tree protuding from a side of the cliff. He pointed the gun at the tree and squeezed the trigger.
A small air-pressured-propelled spike flew from the weapon and hit the small tree in its trunk. Grabbing the gun's handle with both hands, the android jumped off the plateau and into the air.

Swinging at great speed, the hucast let go of the gun just seconds after he passed below the branch. The small tree buckled under the weight and cracked.
Enough speed to let him cross over the deep gorge beneath him and land on the huge green tree on the very border of the cliff, but killing enough of the momentum as not to crush his frame when he landed on the tree's branches.

Grabbing one branch with one hand, he swung off to the side and began to slide down the trunk towards the ground.
When he hit the ground with his feet, he quickly took out the small weapon hilt from the belt. Pulling the motion sensor from his leg pocket, he noticed only small game inhabited this part of the forest.

Moments later, trickling rain began to pour. The skies didn't seemed that clouded, but it still rained.
Shadowfacts kept the weapon in his hand but not activated. He quickly ran to an outcropping of rocks, without making any sounds at all.
Quickly looking to the sides, he slid over a large stream that ran just some 50 feet from the rocks.
Next to the stream, he crouched down and looked to his sides. He quickly glanced the motion sensor. He noticed that only a small area just left of him had any significant movement. Gazing quickly, he noticed water spray rising from the foliage.

Silently as a hunting cat, he crept towards the mist, stopping just a few feet shy.
The ground gave way to a sudden fall, around 300 feet deep. The roar of water splashing against the rocks below deafened everything else.
The waterfall seemed to drop forever into the abyss. And around it, all kinds of plants and flowers sprung about. I looked like a colorful rainbow, made beautiful by the alien nature of this place.

Shadowfacts silently pocketed both sensor and weapon in his belt. Taking two steps back, he sprung forward and jumped into the air.
In midair, he shot his arms forward and grabbed a long, sinuous vine that was in his way. With the momentum, he spun forward and around the vine.
letting go, he directed his fall to the next vine he saw available.
As he shot through the air, he felt a strange tremor in his sidepocket. The motion sensor!

Taking hold of the next vine just in time, he saw only foliage surrounding the area. He expected to see strange creatures waiting for him, but he only saw plants all around him.

At that moment, before he grabbed an outstretched root to swing from, his senses felt the approaching danger, and with a quick twist of his abdomen, taking out his weapon hilt and turning the photon blade on, he managed to parry a very powerful blow from a scythe-like blade that seemingly came out of the trees.
With a clash of sparks, the hucast grabbed the root with one hand, swung over and landed over the thick part of the root with both feet. He turned the photon blade off and put the weapon hilt back in his belt. He raised his arms in case he needed his hands free.

Looking at the tree that just attacked him, he noticed giant flowers with colorful tones all around him. Suddenly, he noticed, the flowers were looking at him, not the sky. Springing towards the wall, he barely managed to dodge a barrage of... some kind of strange energy.

Just by grazing one of the orb-like energy pulses, it made a particular and strange disruption on his armor. Shadowfacts didn't know what kind of energy was this, but he didn't have anything to counter this. He would rely on his reflexes to dodge and weave.

As he leapt to the wall, he bounced back into the stem of the strange flower. He noticed the thing had some sort of appendages, which in turn had metallic looking blades attached to them.
One of these blades tried to impale him as he dropped on the creature. The android deftly grabbed the blade with his naked palms, and twisting his body backwards, somersaulted over the plant monster.
Before the flower could again shoot its energy pulse, Shadowfacts grabbed his melee weapon's hilt, turned the blade on and threw it blade first into the center of it.

With a loud >thump< and a shrill screech, the plant creature slumped to the side and fell off the cliff-face.
Shadowfacts, still on top of it, used it to jump off to a nearby vine. Grabbing it and twriling around it as he tried to check for another hold near him.

Seeing the lake below him, he decided to take the plunge into its dark waters.
He could sense many other plant creatures shifting about, aware of his intrusive presence.
Weighless in mid-air, he put his arms to his sides, grabbing one weapon with one hand and the sensor with the other.
A small splash into the ice cold water later, the hucast swam back to the shore with haste.

Checking its equipment, nothing was missing except the weapon he had used to kill the creature just seconds ago.
Gazing to the lake, he noticed mists covering the rest of the way and the outline of the Control Tower some 700 yards from his position.
He could see a thunderstorm coming over the horizon. The gray clouds were giving way to more darker ones, and the rain was getting heavier.

Checking for any kind of signals on his sensor, he withdrew a small pair of binoculars and skimmed the surface of the lake before him.
The lake ended abruptly in what it seemed a black metallic dam with a large walkway over it. Dim lightposts every once and then allowed the android to see parts of its surface.
From what he could make out, it seemed the walkway wasn't completed and it was abruptly stopped.
He saw a couple of tool boxes around, so maybe the workers had to flee in a hurry.

Over the surface, in several places, he noticed posts with slowly twirling parts. Some of them stood unmoving. Others kept a slower pace.
Those must be the dam power generators, using natural motion from the waters to provide energy to the security systems in this small outpost on Gal Da Val island.

This reminded Shadowfacts that his young partner Prefe had disappeared some days ago in a exploratory run over this area.
He was still green, but it was strange that the small craft and the crew was missing too.
Considering the bizarre creature he had just killed, he thought the worst.

Quickly pushing those thoughts aside, he clicked the comm three times and waited.
A small crackled voice came over and said:
"Is the area secured for the drop? Over"
The android clicked twice the comm button.
"Are there hostiles in the area? Over"
The android cliked once.
There was a silence.
"Can you determine the amount of hostiles? Over"
Two clicks.
"Do you need immediate extraction? Over"
Shadowfacts was about to click once when he noticed a small platform near his position.
He got to his feet and quickly gazing to the lake, he noticed a small route he could use to deposit the small platform transport device he was charged to deploy.
"I repeat, do you need immediate extraction? Over"
Two clicks came over as an answer.

"Will you continue with the mission? Over"
One click and Shadowfacts quickly clicked the button.
He knew a certain code language based oin the lenght and rhythm of clicks to convey a message.
Silence then a moment later a response came over:
"You want to deploy the transport device right now? But your current position shows that you are nowhere near than the last recorded position of the last team that landed on Gal Da Val. Are you sure of this? The Chief of Operations won't be happy about this"
One click came back as an answer.

"Very well. Move over to the position for the device to be deployed and stand fast. Be on the lookout for hostile activity. One friendly craft will arrive in approximately 2 minutes. Over and out!"

As soon as the voice died out, the hucast sprinted next to the lake's edge, hurrying over the small platform.

He could feel the gazing of strange eyes, intent on his movements. The sooner the ship could arrive, the better.
He noticed a strange creature, rising from the ground. At first, it seemed some kind of vegetable, but the long sinowy arms attached to what it seemed the stem, gave it away as a threat.

Grabbing another weapon from his belt, he pulled out twin vulcans and as he ran, fired a full burst into the thing.
Photon bullets impacted on the creature's head time and time again.
Suddenly, the hucast realized he had stirred up the hornets' nest.
All around him, hundreds of these plant monsters came to life, popping up from the ground.
As he continued to squeezed the triggers, he ran as fast as his legs allowed him to.

As far as he knew, he wouldn't last the 2 minutes. Even if the ship were in low orbit and it sped thru the atmosphere as fast as it could, there were just too many for him to take out.

A huge flower, this time greenish in tint, appeared from one side. It spat a similar disruption energy orb at the android as it dashed by.
The android reflexes kicked in, allowing him to dodge the attack.
Turning to his side, he concentrated all the vulcan fire into the flower and part of the stem.
A loud screech made him turn to his side.
A large greenish plant creature opened what it seemed a huge maw and before it bit Shadowfacts in the left arm, hundreds of tiny razor teeth inside the mouth seemed to grow an inch, just enough to perforate the armor.

The hucast reeled backwards, but as he did, he kept the trigger pressed on his vulcan. Several bullets tore the creature's head in pieces.
Getting up quickly, he noticed in the dark skies north of him a blue glow getting closer.
It was the Hialeah!
Swiftly opening fire again, he jumped over the carcass of the monster that had bitten him.

Running even faster, he somersaulted over a trio of creatures. He managed to land on the platform and even though in his wounded condition, he took out his backpack quickly and laid it on the ground.
This wasn't the best spot to prepare a transporter device, but it was the closest any team had ever managed so far.
As he pressed some buttons in quick sucession, he noticed some dark forms moving in the water. Quickly stepping to the side, he opened fire once again with his single vulcan. as he fired, he noticed the photon charge was quickly depleting.
Throwing the weapon aside, he grabbed a gladius from his belt and turned the blade on.

Several monsters leapt at him from the waters, and in quick spins and agile turns, Shadowfacts managed to cut them all as they were in the air.

At the cockpit of the Hialeah, two pilots were struggling to mantain the ship aloft in the thunder and hurricane winds around it.
"Our man is in trouble! I can register about 75 hostile life forms surrounding him and increasing!"
"Roger that!" said a man in the back.
He quickly grabbed a large cannon in the weapon cache and stood next to the entry door, one hand grabbing a handle to better stabilize himself, he shouted:
"Open the side door! I'll provide him some support fire!!"
"Roger that Sgt. Gaseous!" shouted one of the pilots.

The vehicle sped over Shadowfacts, turning viciously.
The hucast thought the vehicle had either lost control or missed him amid the dozens of creatures.
Suddenly, a couple of highly concentrated photon charges blew huge gaps in the mass of monsters that surrounded him.
Shadowfacts glanced quickly to his side and noticed that the device was functional. His mission was accomplished. He sliced sideways to his left and then once to his right to make some of the creatures recoil.

A long black cord dropped from the side door of the Hialeah, and the android quickly made towards it.
A bigger monster crept from the water and took hold of the cable, pulling the hovercraft to a side.

The pilots quickly scrambled for control, and barely managed to avoid the vehicle to crash against the huge metal gates just below it.
Gaseous, secured by firmly planting his feet on the door's frame and his other hand still gripping the side handle, opened fire five more times, leaving great holes in the squirming mass of plants.
"Shadowfacts! Quickly! Deal with the cord! The ship will crash if you don't!!!" he shouted as loud as his lungs could let him.

The android dashed to a side, leapt onto the railing and flipped over the air and onto the cord.
As he did, he plunged the gladius into the creature's head, making it release the ship.

Suddenly, the ship regained its balance and both pilots made it climb quickly into the air. The android climbed the cord as well as it could and as soon as he entered the side door, Gaseous closed it manually.
"Good job Shadowfacts! Is the transporter unit deployed?" he looked at the silent hucast next to him.
The black armored android nodded in affirmation.
"Excellent! I believe our mission is completed then! I will see to it that you get some rest and repairs before the next mission!"

The hovership quickly crossed the cloud cover and sped out to space, where it would meet Deneb for docking.
One of the pilots suddenly shouted to the back:
"Sarge, transmission from HQ!"
"Patch it through corporal!" he shouted back.
As soon as the top brass appeared on the screen, Gaseous began to excitedly recount their mission report.

Shadowfacts, however, didn't seemed interested in what kind of conversation the Sarge and HQ were having. He knew, he was sloppy. He needed to increase his abilities before long, if he ever planned to seek out the only other android that had bested him in combat and assasination skills.
Maybe the rumours that his foe was dead were exaggerated.
He knew Aziel was alive.

To be continued...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Raziel_Kai on 2003-12-02 02:28 ]</font>

[rena-ko]

d(^-^

[Peshk]

Intermission Good. Bounty on head removed. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Eagerly awaiting for the next chapter.

http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smilejap.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_yes.gif http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/cat.gif

[Fritz_Kael]

Its good to see you posting again Raziel! This Shadowfacts seems to be a great adversary for our heroes. I cant wait to see what happens with him!

[Digi-Dolphin]

Knew you could do it, Raz! You've appeased the savagery that is the somewhat jilted fanbase. Kidding! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif Nice intermission, the new bad bot's coming for the heroes, and we're all on the edge of our seats. Keep it up and Merry Christmas to all Hunters in PSO! (Not to diss the other December holidays, so have happy holidays, no matter the religion! ^-^)