[IC] Sanctuary

[Fat Boy Kyle]

Edward Vates – Somewhere North-West of Sovereign

A great black worm tore through the landscape, leaving a trail of fire and destruction in its wake. A great city laid dead, its remains scattered across the mountainside whilst rivers of blood sept through and pooled at the base. Great waves crashed against the shorelines, threatening to engulf the land. An ancient temple sat atop a mountain, a long forgotten place of sanctuary. And man surrounded by the corpses of familiar faces looked directly ahead with glowing white eyes, “I know you’re watching me. We’re the same you and I.”

Vates awoke with a shallow gasp but froze as he found himself trapped and blinded. He was kneeling on a metal surface with his hands cuffed behind his back, and the sack over his head allowed him to see only a little of his surroundings. ‘Shit, shit!’ he thought inwardly, “Where am I? Janus, what’s happening?”

“We were knocked out during the battle Edward. We were trying to get to the shuttle but it left without us.” replied Janus, who for first time seemed to feel a sense of betrayal. Everything quickly came back to Vates. He had been trying to fight off soldiers whilst the others fought Nekros, but when everyone begun to retreat so did he. He nearly made it to the shuttle when they flew off without him. The last thing he saw was a soldier smashing the butt of a rifle into his face.

“It doesn’t matter now. We need to focus on the situation at hand.” Vates slowly turned his head, trying his best not to make any sudden movements and attract attention. He appeared to be a transport shuttle and could see that the large back shuttle was open with a fire lit just outside. It was dark and they were camped. “Looks like everyone’s outside; probably trying to recover from the battle. Might be able to sneak out of this mess” thought Vates, glad to be in a situation more suited to his skills. He tried to use his kinetic gauntlet to break the cuffs but the soldiers had clearly removed his cores after capturing him; without them they were merely cold heavy gloves. It wasn’t too much of a setback however as he leant back slightly and reached for pin hidden in the sole of his boot. It took him about two minutes to pick the lock after which he quickly removed the sack from his head. Across the bay from him were two more mercs and the mysterious woman, all hooded and cuffed to the side as he was. Judging by the way they were slumped he assumed that they were still unconscious. There was no one else on the ship (at least not in sight) but plenty of silhouettes milled around the fire outside.

“Even with those three do you really think we stand a chance at fighting?” asked Janus as Vates recovered a combat knife from a nearby belt holster.

“I don’t plan on fighting, I plan on running” Vates retorted as he quickly crept up to the cockpit door. He could hear two men on the other side talking. After a few deep breaths he burst through the door, using the element of surprise to quickly stab and kill the two pilots. The first he dispatched by stabbing him in the spine, whilst the second received a slash across the neck. It was executed with brutal speed and neither were able to make a sound loud enough to attract reinforcements. Vates shut the door and placed his back to it before slowly sliding down to floor. He stared at the two men for a few minutes, shocked at what he had just done. This was the first time that he had a chance to reflect upon the battle earlier and the lives that he had taken; at the time he wasn’t thinking, he was just acting, slicing and stabbing away as instincts and adrenaline took over. But now his hands were shaking and he felt his stomach squeeze and twist, its contents rising up his throat. “W-what I have I-” his shallow whisper was cut off by his uneasy breathing and a stream of tears.

“You killed- no. We killed them. We are in this together. This was unavoidable, and I am sorry Vates, but right now we need to focus.” Janus subtly took slight control and wiped his eyes before dragging him to his feet. Vates swallowed hard and tried to regain some composure. He took a seat in one of the pilot’s chairs and took a quick look at the layout of the controls. He had flown similar shuttles in the past and had no doubts he could get them out of there. As he turned on the engine he pressed a button that caused the shuttle door to begin shutting.

“They won’t try shoot us down. For one they’re in the blast radius. And I can’t imagine they would want to blow up their only means of transport.” Muttered Vates as the soldiers outside started banging on the shuttle, shouting various threats. A couple fired off warning shots but it wasn’t enough to vex Vates. Within moments the shuttle lifted off and began heading in the opposite direction to where the military gps was directing; he wanted to get as far away from the military as possible.

[Yugeto]

Blake nodded in agreement with what Zachary said. "Kisheto, it's best that we head to a station to replenish our missing fuel and resources." Flexing his arm to stretch it, he looked back to Zachary after addressing Kisheto. "If they refuse to sell to us, we'll have to reveal our identities as hosts, or intimidate the proprietors in some other way. We'll have to move out quickly, as well." After noticing Zachary's ability working with Ishigo, he spoke once more. "We should wait until he stirs to head out to a station on the way to wherever we're headed; I'm assuming we'll be headed wherever Ishigo would like us to go; he's definitely got a few shelters in mind since before that wall came down.."

Yugeto listened intently, and snorted. "We have to go back to Sovereign, and we have to go back now, while we still can. If you want to wait for my man Shads here to wake up, be my guest. But he'll only agree with me; we need to save our people." Looking to Arianna sadly with memories of leaving her behind on the battlefield and causing her to end up in her current state only strengthened his resolve to head back. He wouldn't leave anyone behind again. He would save the people of Sovereign.

[BBeast]

Zachary sat and contemplated a bit more. He'd had experience with solving problems before, but never quite like this, for the engineering problems he had faced rarely included people quite so closely, or had quite so much at stake. There was the cold hard fact that their shuttle current had a very limited range and needed restocking urgently. Restocking had two options- a shuttle stop, or salvage from another shuttle. The former would presumably be much easier and safer than the latter. This had to be a primary priority in planning, or else they would be stranded. But then there was the matter of where would they go after that? They could go back to Sovereign and assist further in the evacuation efforts, but that would be highly dangerous and he doubted that they had enough kinetic core charge to fulfill that mission. Aside from that, Zachary personally did not want to return to the fighting. His desire to kill had been quenched, and he found the thought of going back for more fighting repulsive. Blake was probably right that Ishigo had a good plan, but Ishigo was in stasis.

"Waiting for Ishigo would likely be impractical. I don't know how long stasis goes for, but we might be waiting days for all I know. While heading back to Sovereign to help with the evacuation sounds very noble, that is also impractical, because we barely have enough charge to make it back to Sovereign and then we'd have to push through the military. If the Golden Mercenaries which remained have softened up the military enough to make entry possible, then they can take care of it. If we can't get in, on the other hand, then we'd be doing a suicide mission. Besides, take a bit of logic- the military have gone to extreme lengths to keep everyone inside Sovereign. Therefore, they would likely go to similar lengths to get everyone who escaped back into Sovereign. Thus we would be best to get as many stores as possible before the military locks down on our escape routes, and I'm sure we could find a way to do that without resorting to force. Once we have several sets of cores, then we can go wherever we like. The Wall's not going to close up on us while we're out, and unless someone else has a safe-house in mind then we'd have to wait for Ishigo anyway."

[BBeast]

((Damn white-screen glitch and double posting))

[Skai]

Arianna listened to the conversation as she ate. The rations tasted like heaven after a long day of work. Now that she was thinking of it, she really wanted some freshly made pizza from a restaurant that hadn't been destroyed in an apocalyptic event. She sighed softly and turned her attention back to the conversation. "I think that we shouldn't attempt going near the wall until we know what the situation is there. To be honest, I don't want to go near the wall or that city for a long time. If we're caught, we'll most likely be killed or thrown right back into the city. I don't want any of us to take that risk. Especially since most of us are still healing from the life-risking battle we just fought. I feel that going back would be a complete waste of our efforts to escape that hell-hole." She looked around at the group. "I say that we either try to get more cores from a shuttle stop, or we camp out here until Ishigo awakens and tells us his plan." As she finished, she tossed the empty ration container and trash into the fire before sipping her water. She wasn't going to stand seeing her friends risk their lives for cores. She would walk to the next town if she needed to. The thought brought an idea into her head. "How about some of us trek to the nearest shuttle station, claim that our shuttle broke down, get the cores, and come back?"

---

Raeven sighed as she listened to the conversation outside of the shuttle. She looked down at Ishigo, watching the subtle rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. She brushed his hair back from his face and felt his forehead with the back of her palm. "You better wake up soon, Ish. These people are going to drive me crazy," she murmured, laying a blanket over him to keep him from getting cold. She took a deep breath and brushed her hair back from her face, sitting back against the wall of the shuttle. She opened her rations and began to eat, watching the light of the fire flicker on Ishigo's face. Deep down, she was scared. She would never admit it, though. After losing Hector, it would be devastating to lose Ishigo. They were the only ones who had ever accepted her for who she really was. Everyone else in her life had molded and adjusted her to fit their needs. At times she barely remembered what she wanted in life. The past year or so had been so... relieving. She'd felt so free, even though she was the complete opposite. She had found herself again, and it was set in stone now that she found Ishigo and Hector again. This loss was affecting her, now. She wouldn't let it show, though.

With a soft sigh she finished her rations and sipped her water, resting her head back against the wall. She closed her eyes, feeling the cool breeze carress her face. Please wake up, Ish... I need you.

[Sage]

Ishigo

"Apologize? Only one who should be apologizing is Hector's barber!" The group of five young boys, none of them being older than thirteen, erupted into laughter. Hector, who sat against the wall he was pushed into, looked down in frustration. Tears streamed down his face. A young girl crouched next to him, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, stop. Do I need to repeat myself one more time?" scolded the younger girl. This only caused the older boys to laugh again. "We don't enjoy hurting him, but if he ever tries to talk shit about my family again, I'm not gonna just sit here and do nothin'. I don't take that from a farmer's boy. Ain't actin tough when your "

Hector growled and shot up, throwing a hook at the boy at the center of the group. The kid was hit square in the jaw, causing him to fall back. The other four students instantly jumped on Hector, slamming him into the wall. Hector grunted in pain, and Raeven quickly pushed off the first attacker. However, a stray fist came charging at her, and she quickly found herself overwhelmed by the bigger kids.

But before the punch could make impact, the boy was knocked to the ground, landing with a hard thud. The other four turned to see a young boy quickly jabbing at kicking at them, pushing them back and bruising the two front most bullies. After downing two more with a strong fist to the head, Ishigo grabbed and pulled the second to last boy and flipped him around his back, kicking him in the chest when he hit the ground. The last one flinched and stepped backwards, and Ishigo reared up to slam his fist into the boy's nose, but Raeven's grasp stopped his arm. This gave the boy enough time to run off.

Hector sighed in relief, "Damnit.... you knew I would've gotten 'em, Ish." Ishigo looked at the boy running off and chuckled. "You're funny, Hector," he said, pulling the boy to his feet. "No, I mean really. Still, though, glad knowing you got my back!" Ishigo smiled and put a hand on Hector's shoulders, "I'll always have your back."

The dream ended to an empty state of darkness. Ishigo had to stress to even open his eyes, slowly and painfully. 'I feel.... so numb....' he thought, breathing heavy as he regained his senses. "Rae..? Is that you...?" he held up his hand, still unable to make out what was what in his vision.

---

Kisheto thought about what the group was saying. "Those fucking soldiers shouldn't be allowed to get away with what they've done..." he began, "But....we still can't just throw away our one chance to get back at 'em," he said, looking to Yugeto. "I know what you're feeling Yugeto, but trust me, this is the one shot we may have to recover, regroup, and retaliate. I do like your idea, though Arianna. If we just told someone we needed kinetic cores, we could probably buy some. Isn't that one trader city nearby here, anyway?" He looked to Blake, admiring his ability to think extremely logically. He then turned to Yugeto and sighed, feeling as if he betrayed him by suggesting something other than Yugeto's plan.

[Yugeto]

Yugeto rubbed his temples with his forehead, frustrated with the situation before him. "Hmm...if even Kish is siding with you guys, how am I gonna say no? We'll stick with your plan then, I guess. Lets get moving to a station as soon as possible." Yugeto reluctantly gave in to his peers' plan of action, sitting back in a perplexed manner. 'All I know is Sovereign...all I know...' Yugeto shuddered, then stared blankly into space. 'All I need to be worried about is the present; we're all alive. Well, almost all of us. Hector was a great man. And Shads is going to be down for a while, I'm guess-' Yugeto's thoughts were interrupted by a fluctuation in spirit, a spirit he had tasted before. "Ishigo..." Yugeto whispered.

Blake closed his eyes and began to focus his spirit. 'Dama, it's painfully clear you're an Onikage, and an ancient one at that. Why do you never attempt to overtake me? To use my body as a vessel for your goals?' Blake felt a knowing sigh emerge from his "roommate", and he shifted. Blake, you are a true genius in the scope of humans. You know more about spirit than any other human on the planet, and its interactions. Of course, while you have studied me and other kages in the past year, your overall knowledge to our
utilization of spirit is still narrow. Nonetheless, I expected you to understand by now that you're fulfilling all of the goals I have by simply acting on your own will. I don't need to take
control and exert that constant force. I will when I have to, but it is
no necessity.' Blake was awfully confused. 'Your goal is what? To absorb spirit? To aid me? To kill Arianna? Does my emotional spectrum affect your energy and satisfaction overall?' 'Do not overthink things you cannot comprehend, Blake. You will understand everything soon enough, and you will have your vengeance.'

[Skai]

Raeven's eyes immediately flickered open and she looked down to see Ishigo waking. "Oh, Ishigo," she breathed, moving to kneel next to him. She ignored the pain in her hip, taking his hand and clasping her hands around them. "I'm here. Its me." She smiled and checked his vitals. "Do you need anything?" She reached for her water and lifted it to his lips. "Drink." Relief was all she felt at the moment, causing her to forget the wall she usually put up between her emotions and actions. At the moment, she didn't care. Her best friend had survived. She wasn't going to be alone in the world again. "Thank Aeritus you're alright."

[Fat Boy Kyle]

“Major-General Sirus, we’re so happy to finally have an officer of your calibre here at Mount Laogai. Given the vast amount of resources the military give us we have been, to be honest, surprised at the lack of high-ranks that have visited.” Admitted a tall older man with balding grey hair and deep blue eyes. He was wearing what appeared to be a mix of lab gear and officer garb, which married with his excellent composure made him look smart and clearly identified him as an authoritative figure in that setting.

Major-General Sirus was a large heavily tanned man in his late fifties. Whilst multiple face scars suggested that he had seen a lot of combat, he was fairly young looking and fit for his age. He had short cropped black hair that matched his dark eyes and a cleanly shaven face. Beneath his smart officer wear you could see his large heavily defined muscles that ironically seemed to dwarf those that his body guards had. He stood forward and firmly shook the Dr’s hand, “Thank you Doctor Wolf-Meyer. With all that’s been going on recently I’m afraid we’ve just lacked the time. Besides, we are all confident in your ability to run this facility. Now, let’s get straight to business.”

“Of course” smiled Wolf-Meyer, who began leading them down a series of heavily guarded underground corridors. Sirus seemed impressed by the sheer amount of security present, but from what he had been told the facility definitely needed it. After passing through multiple checkpoints the small group found their way to a series of fortified windows, each with a heavily restricted person on the other side. “Here we have prepared for you some of our most promising ventures! These hosts have abilities which we believe, once understood and harnessed, will make our soldiers... unstoppable!” The passion in his voice was almost scary, and the whites of his eyes and teeth were exaggerated by his manic expression.

“Hmm… but I’m right to say that you haven’t as yet managed to yield many practical results?” asked Sirus, seemingly unimpressed by the little show “What exactly do you wish to gain from each of these hosts then?”

Wolf-Meyer licked his lips at the question and gestured Sirus to the first subject, “Here we have angry little Deekin. His abilities grant him massive increases in strength and speed; a rather common ability in Sovereign from what I hear. We’ve learned a lot about how is powers work and the processes his body seems to make, and we now are close to replicating the chemical properties that are produced. There is still a spiritual aspect that we still cannot begin to fathom, but we believe that we are close to designing a steroid that will allow our soldiers to replicate the effects for a short period of time.

“Admirable I must admit. But still far from being impressive.” Sirus replied, giving the strung of piece of meat a cold stare. Wolf-Meyer seemed to twitch at the Major-General’s dismissal of his work and quickly prompted him onto the next subject.

“Here we have-”

“Brigadier Garrus. I’m well aware of him Doctor. He has the ability to ‘spectate’ people at whim, with certain limitations. Are you trying to reproduce his abilities as well?” interrupted Sirus.

“Not a Brigadier anymore of course, he lost that title when he betrayed the military.” Smirked Wolf-Meyer, “No, his ability is, for now, something that is entirely beyond our capabilities to understand or replicate. We’ve instead focused on forcing his compliance and strengthening his ability. At first we tried the simpler things like torture and drugs, but his training made him resilient. Then we threatened to kill his family, which did make him compliant, yet he was unable to find the target that we assigned to him. After their demise he refused to cooperate entirely.”

“You killed Mary?” Sirus’ face dropped.

“And the children. Fortunately we have resolved that little problem! He was the first of our subject to be fitted with a Compliance-Collar. It makes him completely docile. If it works on him then we can make it work on anyone! The only problem at the moment is that each collar has to be tailored to the individual and can take some time to manufacture. They aren’t too hard to break either.” At those last words a nearby assistant stepped forward with a collar, dropped it on the floor and merely begun to break it underfoot. “Now, shall we move on?”

Dr. Wolf-Meyer went on to showcase a few more of his projects before leading the Major-General around various sections of the facility. The tour included the labs, the security centre and finally a tour of the ultra-security depths. The group had to take an elevator down some distance before proceeding down a series of reinforced concrete corridors, each one lined with vents which the Dr explained could release various substances depending on the threat at large. “What exactly do you keep down here then Dr?” asked Sirus, who was growing ever more curious about the mysterious section.

“Down here we keep the most dangerous of our hosts. Many of which pose too much of a threat to experiment on.” Wolf-Meyer answered, his attitude now more serious than before.

“Then what purpose do they serve? Surely it would be better to neutralise such threats?” Sirus raised an eyebrow at the reinforced door that they approached. Wolf-Meyer didn’t reply immediately, suddenly preoccupied with passing the security measures. He was forced to undergo a blood test, retina scan, handprint scan and a voice scan before the multi-layered door begun grinding open. When the final layer opened the group was met with an unexpected sight: a giant glass wall behind which was filled with frozen water. Inside the room was an array of computers that showed various observations, and scientists milled around clearly pretending to busier than they were.

“These hosts have provided us with valuable information through simple observation. Take our esteemed guest here” Wolf-Meyer walked up to the glass and raised his hand at the figure held within, “Subject Zero, the first ever recorded Phantom.”

“Phantom?” Sirus involuntary tensed up, his hand dropping to the hilt of sword.

“Yes. Subject Zero here was the recorded case of Kage completely taking control of his host. We believe it was because of a combination of factors, including the Onikages’ strength as well as the weakened emotional and physical state of the host when we received him. We’ve learned a lot about the reasons Kage’s pick their hosts; Subject Zero as well subsequent subjects have shown that contrary to initial beliefs, some Kages chose their hosts for certain traits rather than simply out of desperation. But most importantly we’ve learned that once a host becomes a Phantom that they become significantly more powerful.”

“What have you learned about the Kage itself?” asked Sirus.

“Only that he calls himself Cronus…”

[Sage]

Ishigo sipped the water slowly as he rose to a sitting position, his back against the wall of the shuttle. His head was spinning, and he felt a strange mixture of pain and numbness throughout his body. 'Jin... how long is this going to last...?' he thought. 'That's up to you, Ishigo. Just focus and don't push yourself. Remember, you're only human.' Jin replied. Suddenly, memories began flooding back into Ishigo's head. He winced as he remembered the death of his closest friends. Hector had fallen, and Victor had perished in his avenger's rage as well. Ishigo squeezed Raeven's hand as he held back his emotions.

Hector. Dead. Never again. Gone. Permanent. End

Ishigo closed his eyes and tried his hardest to purge the sorrow from his mind which constantly tormented him, taunting him back to the grief that he tried so hard to escape. Instead, he looked to Raeven and sighed, "Did he... make it?" he asked, his voice low. Raeven nodded, "He's out there right now," she said. This caused Ishigo to relax; "You're the best, Rae... thank you," he said warmly before pulling her into a hug. As he held her close, he felt the disturbed, suppressed emotions within her. It was strange, but it was as if he could share her pain. He rubbed her back and spoke softly, "It's ok, Raeven, don't try to be so strong. You don't have to be, you still got me." Ishigo clenched his teeth as the pains of realization hit him once more. It felt to him as if he were taking the burden of sorrow from Raeven's shoulders and placing it on his own. She didn't deserve to lose anyone, not after the fact that she had just reunited with her closest friends. "He saved us, Rae. He saved us all, and I'm not going to let his sacrifice go to waste," his voice became filled with more passion and power. He gently pulled Raeven forward and looked at her eyes, not needing to say anything to relay the messages that his eyes were sending.

With a bit of a strain, Ishigo picked himself up and forced himself to stand, although he had to lean on the wall of the shuttle at first. 'Easy, Ishigo,' Jin's voice echoed throughout Ishigo's mind, and he could sense Jin's concern. But Ishigo pushed himself forward, grunting at the pain. Eventually, he felt his body loosen up and he stepped out of the shuttle, taking a breath of fresh air. 'We need to move, Jin, he thought as he began walking towards the group. 'They've been arguing about what to do for a while now. Do something, would you?"

[Skai]

Raeven watched as Ishigo sat up, paying close attention to him in case he needed anything. She set the water down without looking, keeping her eyes on him. She could tell when his emotions caught up to him, especially when he squeezed her hand. She squeezed it back, smiling sadly at him.

The hug surprised her, catching her off guard. She hugged him back, feeling comfort in the way he rubbed her back. Her eyes swelled with tears, but she blinked, holding them back. She gazed into his eyes, some deep understanding happening between them. She realized then that she never wanted to lose Ishigo again. He was too precious to her. She wouldn't handle being without him again.

Raeven stood when Ishigo did, ready to catch him if he fell. She walked alongside him, watching him carefully for any signs of fatigue. His effort brought a smile to her face. Ishigo was always brave, and was much stronger than she was. It was something she greatly admired about him. "Ishigo, they're wondering where we should go next. What's your plan?"

[BBeast]

Zachary was still eating his share of the rations when Ishigo got up out of the shuttle. He turned in surprise, seeing the faltering form of Ishigo walking sooner than he had expected. Quickly, he rose and strode over to him before he reached the campfire. "Ishigo, you're up!" Zachary greeted gleefully, "Now hold still a moment." Zachary laid a hand on Ishigo's shoulder, and a few seconds later he said more seriously, "You're still slightly hypothermic. When you went into stasis your body entered a state of hibernation, and it's yet to warm up completely. You feel numb all over, yes? Here..." Zachary removed his jacket and draped it over his shoulders. "Don't sit near the fire, or you'll go into shock. I'll get you some warm water."

He turned and returned to the campfire and began warming a cup of water by the fire. Having grown up in Wintra, hypothermia was a serious issue, and Zachary was well aware of its treatment as well as its dangers. A short while later, once it was ready and probably after a short bit of conversation from the others, Zachary stood again and took the cup to Ishigo. "Here, drink slowly."

[Sage]

Ishigo took a deep breath thought to himself for a moment. What was his plan? Suddenly, Zachary's voice snapped him to attention, and he turned to face the man who had flown the group to safety. "Thank you, my friend," he said kindly as he accepted Zachary's jacket. He didn't realize how cold he was until after the felt the warmth of the coat; a single shiver ran down his body at the sudden change of temperature. Ishigo was amazed at Zachary's ability to tell exactly what was going on with Ishigo's body. He took the cup of water and sipped it slowly, giving Zachary a single pat on the shoulder to express his gratitude. The water ran down his throat and thawed out his insides. He could feel himself feeling more and more revitalized with each every passing second. His recovery was much speedier than expected.

After resting by the shuttle and finishing the water, Ishigo set the cup down and sighed. "I guess I should go talk to them, then, huh?" he said, looking at Raeven, then Zachary. Although he already had established a strong sense of comradery with the group, it wasn't until he noticed Zachary by his side that he felt any sort of obligation. These were his people now. He wouldn't have been able to make it out without each and every single one of them. It was here, parked near the campfire, that this realization struck him. He thanked Aeritus that he still had them by his side.

[Yugeto]

Yugeto looked to Ishigo with amazement, relief, and excitement. "You're alive...you're conscious. I knew it." He smiled, relieved that the man who gave Yugeto purpose was still around. "I think we're heading out to retrieve kinetic cores for the ship. We were just waiting to see what would happen to you. Thank goodness you're still alive, or I wouldn't get to beat your ass again." Yugeto chuckled softly, joking to help Ishigo out of his melancholy mood. He looked to Kisheto after speaking. "Check it out, Kish. You still got a teacher, he'll teach you how to get your ass kicked by me!" He joked again.

Blake was impressed with Ishigo's significant recovery from his grievous injuries and wounds. "Yes, Yugeto is right. We've decided to leave to retrieve kinetic cores, but we were awaiting your rise to consciousness, fortunately much less than expected, before we set out. I assume you've already gotten a destination for refuge in mind?" He asked.

[Sage]

Kisheto's eyes brightened as he saw Ishigo step out from the shuttle. He felt like he had hundreds of questions to ask him, but he knew not was not the time or place. Instead, he simply tried his best to keep cool and act nonchalant. "What's your plan, big guy?" he said leaning back and crossing his arms. Ishigo walked towards the group and looked around at each of their faces.



Ishigo stood gathering his thoughts, which swirled around his mind, conflicting and conquering one another. What was he to tell his people? What could he tell them? Taking a deep breath, he focused and began. "We've been through a lot. All of us." Ishigo looked up at the sky for a moment, thinking and reflecting on what this group had just endured. "We've lost men," he said, looking to Kisheto and Yugeto. He could feel their anger, despite it being buried beneath their calm, outward demeanor. "We will avenge them. But not now, we have priorities. What we must do is survive. That's what we are: survivors. And the best way to survive is to stick together, through thick and thin. I know it may look like it, but we aren't free yet. Who knows what awaits at every corner that we turn? For all we know, Sovereign's wall could extend far past the city. All of Leginia may be our prison, for that matter. If the military is hunting us down like animals, what do you think the people of this land will feel about us?"

Ishigo felt a chill run down his spine. He felt like a fugitive, and it sickened him. "I don't know what intentions most of you have, but I can guarantee you this. If you come with me, I will keep you safe. I give you my word, and I never go back on it. But should you choose to depart..."

Ishigo looked to his side, "Be wary. We're in a new world."

Kisheto, having remained silent throughout Ishigo's speech, looked on wide-eyed. Realization seemed to keep on creeping up on him. He finally felt the first few stings of fear settle in his conscience. Ishigo looked to the campfire, "We're going to Kell. It is a few miles North East of here, we can reach it by sticking to the woods. We'll park far from the city and travel in as a group, though we may have to split off into pairs." Ishigo pointed back to the shuttle, "You can restablish comms with the shuttles signal. Do it if your holocom isn't already activated, we'll need to say in touch in case things go bad. Once we get the kinetic cores...

We're heading to Vantus."

Kisheto's face lit up as he heard the mention of his hometown. "Vantus? Shit, that's where I was born!" he said excitedly. It had been years since he had seen his home, and he hadn't heard from his father since the incident. He had no idea what awaited him back at his city. Ishigo nodded, "Likewise. It's a big city, and I have a lot of connections. We can lay low and figure out what we're going to do there. But every minute spent idling out in the open is a shovel of dirt in our graves. So decide quickly, we're to move out before dawn."

[Savato]

Released, finally.

It took multiple months for Carol-Ann Keifers to finally obtain the white card for pretty much any activity regarding military activities. Until the end of the recent battle in Sovereign, she was kept secluded in a nearby underground base for initiation and examination, after all the division she was going to integrate and in which she'd lead a flock of highly trained individuals wasn't in any way a pushover. So the army had to be absolutely certain of her capabilities both in physical capacity and psychological prowess. She was undoubtedly effective in combat and her body was in peak condition, as we would expect from such rigorous training. As for her mind, she was determined to be the perfect candidate to carry out the most perilous of missions in the name of the military force. A person without the ability to feel remorse, that wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on anything without a single objection. It was finally time for the high officials to test out their new tool by launching a new Hunters program to replace the losses recently accumulated through the inevitable tragedies that occurred.

Major Keifers was travelling to what was left of Sovereign's desolate field using the typical military shuttle. Normally a higher ranked officer such as herself would have a slightly different type of means of transport with a cabin reserved for the highest ranking, however given the many losses and the need to keep certain activities incognito, the Major had to do with sitting between two fully equipped cleanup soldiers. Most were armed with electrical devices, likely used to subdue the majority of prisoners captured during the great battle. In contrast, Carol-Ann wore a simple white attire that looked like any other higher ranking officer's, a black tie, golden buttons on the vest, a cross on her belt's golden broach, a perfectly matching white skirt, black stockings and finally fancy white boots going up to half of her lower leg. She wore white gloves and a black military cap showing Gaia's military emblem. She waited patiently, her leg astraddle on her opposing one, never addressing a single soldier until they had arrived.



Once landed, she was the first one whom the silhouette would appear as the shuttle's door slowly opened itself. Outside she was greeted by a group of soldiers saluting her accordingly as she stepped down and followed the commanding officer of the welcoming squad. Her blue eyes scrutinized the surroundings, and she couldn't help but giggle at the sight of all the destruction that had happened. She could only imagine the wonderful carnage that she had missed, the endless destruction she could have brought if the military wasn't so stubborn on their choices. It appears that the shuttle had landed in the North-East part of the gargantuan city, next to other parked means of locomotion. Not too far away were multiple unconscious individuals attached and supervised as if they were being prepared for something. One by one, Carol-Ann could see two or three soldiers carry one of these prisoners to shuttles. It smelled like war, like a year back where she felt more alive than ever. She felt bad for missing out on this, but she knew there would be more, it was inevitable, the rules of the game of life had changed drastically.

After about five minutes of walk through many alleyways cleared and guarded by soldiers due to the streets being in complete and utter ruin, the Major and her escorting soldiers were a few steps away from the tactical camp set by the army. There Keifers was to get briefed on the situation at hand, receive definite orders and given the necessary tools to complete the objectives. There were about two hundred military members in the makeshift base/clinic they mad out of the damaged local clinic , surrounding it only with tents and checkpoint gates. Carol-Ann appeared very patient, or was it that she simply was grasping the air of destruction in the atmosphere of Sovereign, she could smell the blood in the air as if there was a haze of red similar to the way she'd turn flesh into an explosive material. It was soothing but dangerous aggravating at the same time. Before walking into the tents, she noticed her holopad watch vibrating ever so lightly. As she clicked unlock switch on the item, a small hologram formed to indicate the anomaly detected. It appeared that the shuttle she was associated to had left without her being on it nor her pilot actually notifying her. She was aware, however, that he'd be at the disposition of the other officers in need, but she remained the superior and she had to be notified of everything. Obviously something wasn't right.

She grinned, completely halted in front of a tent. It wasn't uncommon for soldiers to have integrated cameras as would most peace keepers in cities in order to justify acts of violence toward civilians. In the case of soldiers, it was used not only for that but to also monitor their actions, that way there were little risks of betrayal within the lower ranks. By looking through the camera's lens via wireless connection, she could see that the corresponding pilot was downed along with the other solider present. To take down two trained soldiers, the individual piloting the shuttle was probably far from being some random amateur. Was he part of the group of fugitives? Or was he alone? Either way, chances were that it'd be useful to follow him and possibly obtain something. The silent Carol-Ann closed her eyes for a lapse of three seconds, enough time to release a weak chuckle of mockery, upon realizing how easy her job was getting with the targets doing such impulsive acts.

"Looks like someone is just begging for trouble. Will you show them your graceful dance, Carol-Ann?" Asked the creature bound to the major's being, taking the form of a Blue Jay but only manifesting in her mind.

"Not yet, Morel. Why catch a single leprechaun for minimal results when it can just lead you to its stash? The soldiers are probably aware of the theft anyway." She responded openly as she started walking again, entering the tent and subsequently proceeded to discover the filthy leftovers of what was once a local clinic.

"Pardon me, Major? Did you say something?" asked the officer who escorted the young woman down to this messy territory, not that it was any more orderly outside.

"I did not address you, Captain, consequently what I say is void to you." She said oh so blandly, but her tone was barely hostile, almost seductive with stretched out words ike 'Captain' and 'You'. She had the talent to tic people off balance, especially when they knew what she could really do without a mere bat of an eye. Four soldiers stormed out of the building, running past the major, as they received a message of a stolen shuttle nearby. It was quite humorous, watching men bound to earth running to a remote distance in order to catch a flying foe. Carol-Ann's superiority complex stood stout.

As she walked through a corridor in order to meet up with the conference room prepared for a special briefing, a doctor accompanied by two heavily armed men, and by heavily this wasn't an exaggeration. The doctor was pushing a hospital bed holding an apparently dead patient. It seemed like they had made multiple attempts to revive him as he didn't seem gravely wounded like the rest of the casualties found in this city. With a single peek at the man's face, the woman recognized that face. He was in the earliest footage captured by multiple functioning cameras but also by the various integrated cameras in nearby shuttles and soldier corpses.

'Hector Esteves, brother of Victor Esteves. Both crucial organs of the Golden Mercenaries and they're the one's that screwed over Nekros. Heh, what a waste.' She thought to herself, Morel was more than likely thinking something similar as well concerning the body they had just crossed.

As she entered the improvised conference room, her mind brought back from her thoughts. She set on a chair and rested her arms on the wooden table before her. In the room, there were about thirty standing soldiers and ten officials siting around the set of tables. A hologram suddenly emerged from the middle of the amassed tables, forming what appeared to be a well dressed woman. She was one of the many secretaries transmitting information from the higher ups while they were occupied handling the current crisis. She started by exposing the recent events that happened in Sovereign with a multitude of images taken from the events as illustration. As she neared the end of the synthesized meeting of about ten minutes, she addressed the Major directly.

"Major Keifers. The Hunter Program has been launched since your arrival. Your objectives remain the same: Locate the fugitive hosts, capture them with any means necessary, lethal force is authorized, and the top priority stays at the confirmation of Victor Esteves' death."

"Understood, investigation in sync with mass genocide does seem like the Sovereign way of doing things after all." Replied Carol-Ann, her tone still as carefree as it was back then. She didn't consider the secretary of any importance to her, only the orders. She was purposely provocative too, as she was the highest ranked member in the room, making her word a lot more valuable than what the formalities could say in a situation like this.

She stood up before the meeting as officially over, obviously she had grown in arrogance since the events of the Void Unleashed a year ago. Her confidence in her power was flabbergasting, almost intimidating. One could immediately notice her fearlessness in her eyes when she exposes her God complex either verbally or non-verbally. She walked out, on her own this time, exiting the building only to encounter an infantry transporter parked at the front of the clinic's gate. The symbol on the truck wasn't the same as the army's, it was something no one other than Carol-Ann would normally recognize. It was the Hunters' emblem, and as the machinery's trunk slowly opened, the major set her hands behind her back and tried her best to hide her smile. She was happy, happy to be able to lead individuals who would follow her orders not matter the situation. She was finally going to experience true leadership, the kind of thing she always visualized as playing God. She would decide who would shoot, who would kill, who would live, and who would die. Of course, most of these orders would be indirect, but depending on the tactic, she can easily decide who would be fodder and who would have the glory. All she could feel were the butterflies in her stomach, it was such a nice feeling...

[Sage]

Northeast of Sovereign

---

The walls of Sovereign had long disappeared behind the cover of trees that hid the group of five men running through the forest. Damian had to slow himself down a bit, knowing that the other four couldn't keep up with his pace. The five were rather agile, displaying a natural fleet of foot as they jumped, ducked, and dashed through and over branches or trees and foliage. "Hurry up! They're gonna gain on us!" yelled Rom, the only other man besides Damian who lacked any signs of fatigue. The men had been running for a long time, and they had narrowly escaped a M.A.T that tailed them all the way to the border of the woods. However, they knew that the military would send more after them. Probably not as much as they would need, since Damian had his own tricks up his sleeve. But he didn't feel like fighting, he just wanted to see the light of safety for just a mere moment. He was done with all the running bullshit.

*crack* A bullet tore through the trees and hit Rom dead center in the back of the head. He fell forward, limp as his momentum carried him towards the ground and then some. Damian cursed and picked up the pace, while one of the other Roys, who faltered at the death of his comrade, was picked off as well. Now leading only a group of three, Damian called to his men to hurry. However, the sound of a patrol up ahead caused him to panic - he had sandwiched himself between the enemy. Thinking quickly, he redirected his momentum at dove to the side, his followers following suit. The four man military squad that ran after them, ahead of the M.A.T caught up to the two bodies. Damian and the two other Roys hid behind a large line of logs and greenery. They were mere feet from the soldiers. The sound of the gunfire had attracted the attention of the soldiers on the other side as well, and the two patrols met up.

"Civies?" asked one of the second patrolsmen, leading a group of six infantry. The man holding the single shot rifle nodded, "Probably, they dropped like normal humans. Usually the baddies are much harder to bring down. But there's more, like three or four; they were running towards you, did you see them?" The second soldier shook his head, "Negative. Should I call?"

Damian cursed under his breath, and one of his men tapped his shoulder. "Yo Dee, do the thing..." he whispered. Damian looked at his comrade and shushed him, "I don't want to," he said in a hushed voice. 'Why not? Why are you afraid?' Triliq's voice was calm and casual as always, despite the intensity of the situation. 'They think we're ordinary men, chance are we aren't a priority. They'll probably call off the search, but if they know what I am, it turns into a whole new ballgame,' Damian thought. The second Roy heard the military men moving about and began cursing under his breath: "Damnit, Dee, ah'yah tryna die t'day?" he spat. Damian simply ignored his comrade's question, until he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. 'Great, these idiots got us caught,' he thought.

A lone soldier walked towards a small clearing in the woods while his superiors spoke. He reached his leg over a log in order to examine the clearing for footsteps or any other traces. At this time, Damian thought to himself 'Stealth. Stealth is always an option.' As soon as the man's leg hit the ground near Damian, mere inches away from his body, he thrust his hand into, and in an instant, three tendrils shot out from his forearm, creating a triple helix. They stabbed into the man's leg without penetrating him, a mysterious invasion of the spiritual shell of the man left no blood or wound in the wake. Before he could retreat or yell, he felt his vision go black. And then, it was Damian.

The soldier turned around and walked towards the group. Damian remained seated behind the bush, his right arm resting on his leg as he concentrated on acting as the soldier. The soldier's eyes may have seemed a bit glazed over and dull, but other than that, none of the soldiers could tell that he was a mere puppet of Damian's will. 'Distraction? Mayhem? How should we escape this...'

The soldier than pointed his gun at the second patrolsmen who had approached the first. This startled the entire crowd and the entire second patrol aimed their rifles at the man. "DROP YOUR WEAPON SOLDIER AND STEP BACK!" "What the fuck are you doing, Roony?!" "WHOA! WHOA, CALM DOWN!" The group erupted into a mess of chaotic chatter and confusion, and Damian smiled as he made his decision.

The puppet squeezed on the trigger and sprayed the man with a burst of plasma rounds which decimated the target's head. The second group began firing at the puppet, and he instantly fell limp, dead on the ground. In response, the first group backed up and raised its rifles, but the second group didn't hesitate in firing at them, killing them all within second. The sounds of bodies and breaking bones sent a dubious euphoric chill down Damian's spine and he took a deep breath before chuckling devilishly. "Wait here," he said while the soldiers began reporting what just happened. Standing up, he jumped over the log and ran at the second group, catching them by surprise. Thrust both hands forward, he shot out tendrils from both arms, initially piercing through the chests of two soldiers. While they did this, the soldier who was reporting cried out: "A HOST! WE GOT A HOST IN THE WOODS EN ROUTE TO KELL, I REP-AGHH" his transmission was cut off by a sweeping Tendril that slammed into his head, wrapping around his neck and twisting it with ease. The last soldier fired off a few rounds his way, but he simply spun out of their path. He then used his left tendrils to pick out the rifle from the man's hand, while the second one wrapped around the soldier's leg and lifted him up in the air, suspending him upside down. The soldier cried out as he was trapped by the tendrils in mid-air. He tried cutting himself free, but his knife did little to nothing on the fleshy, muscular tendrils.

Damian chuckled as he tasted the fear and spirit of the man. "Run," he said boldly before swinging his right hand backwards, tossing the man about forty feet through the treeline. The soldier didn't hesitate as he got up, feeling broken bone. His adrenaline made up for his wounds and he ran with all his energy towards the direction of Sovereign.

[Savato]

Everything feels so perfect...



What marched out of the armored machinery was none other than a squad of eight fully armored, armed to the teeth, masked soldiers serving as a form of "sub-hunter Vanguards" all with different sizes and different types of weapons. Their goal was simple, to assist a commanding hunter during such critical and messy times. The entirety of the cast had white armor, similar to the Major's outfit although with the extra steel enhancements. Keifers had this small, innocent grin as she felt everything was under control, she could feel the lives of these men dancing on the palm of her hand. She felt powerful as they all aligned themselves before the young commander, body straight and in a salute, not even the cold wind left by Mathias Winters could make them budge. Luckily for them, the recent calamities had reduced the cold wind's influence, and thus no snow was to be found along with that frigid breeze. She saluted in return, signaling that they could rid themselves of their current posture and follow her next orders.

"Jay division, I do not think I have to remind you all our objectives. Out of the multiple leads we have gathered, our first target wi-..."

All of a sudden Keifers' holopad stated to vibrate again before automatically broadcasting the nearby military relays. Not too far from the clinic's location just out of the city near the remains of the wall were fugitives being pursued by regular soldiers. Keifers' couldn't help but be intrigued by this event, so intrigued that she considered postponing the tailing of the stolen shuttle and instead handle what was nearby to start off. There wasn't any big rush until the shuttle actually landed, which wasn't the case for now. Happy, she clicked a button on the little piece of metal on her wrist so she could mute the watch and focus on what she had decided. She looked back at the still immobilized infantry who were awaiting their orders.

"As I was saying, our first target shall be those nearby fugitives. Any objections? Good."

She only expected complete cooperation from them, any failure of any sort wan't the kind of thing they would want to do in her command, especially when they knew how notoriously merciless she could get if anyone would dare to contradict her. They all jogged back in the transport tank while the young leader walked up to the front and took the shotgun seat next to the driver, she wasn't going to sit around all encumbered by lower ranks again. She gestured the driver to start the vehicle and follow the destroyed the road leading to the exist of the city, toward he forest. As the tank started, a new report came in indicating they had trapped their targets but one of their soldiers turned against them, forcing the backup squad to finish off those in front of them. Using special access with her Major's rank, she used the integrated cameras in the patrol units' bodies to have a clear view of the scene. She was amazed by the view of the man simply slaughtering the remaining few soldiers, especially when their confirmed his status as a host.

"My my, we're definitely not wasting our time now, right sergeant?~ Get there on the double."

She coldly ordered the driver after soliciting him in a rather warm and playful way, as if she purposely shifted moods just to unnerve the man and give him a false sense of security around her before she showed her teeth. The tank easily went through the massive debris all over the area and crossed the ruins of the wall in less than a minute, by then Keifers could witness the host dangle the remaining soldier as if he were bullied by a tall highschool kid. This was all too hilarious for her, and just made her even more excited. Her expression would shift into a frown, however, as the last one was spared out of the blue. It disappointed her, like an unfinished job that just appeared as a stain to the work that was done. The tanks speed was effective enough to swiftly arrive at the are about twenty seconds after the releasing of the soldier, whom stumbled down after crossing paths with the massive tank. The host could hear the massive metal monstrosity approach as it consumed the trees in its way with absolutely no effort with the use of a wind core set at the front of the vehicle. Anything touching the vehicle's front and sides while it was in motion was cut about 2cm in.

Arriving at the scene, the tank stopped where all the bodies were laid waste. It just stayed there, without anyone coming out of it. For those that would be scouting it outside, they would find it odd that nothing would happen, but in reality they were scanning the area with thermal and x-ray radars. Keifers wasn't going to give her green light just yet, she wanted to confirm how many fodder were there and just how dangerous could this host actually be. She signed as she pressed the orange key adjacent to her seat, causing the tank's trunk to open and release the elite soldiers into the field. All of them armed and pointing their guns at the direction of the scans' results. The Major slowly reached out to her corresponding door's handle and gently opened it for the upcoming conflict would be a difficult one if she didn't handle it carefully and without her direct intervention.

[Yugeto]

Inside the shuttle, Blake cracked his neck and knuckles, getting prepared. "Zachary, how much longer until we land in Kell?" He asked, staring out the window. He noticed abandoned outskirts on the perimeter of the area before him, lifeless and devoid of any activity. "A shame that the development of this city receded. Looks like the Void Gate opening didn't just shake up Sovereign; all of Aeros must have suffered to some degree." 'Blake, the seed.' Blake nodded inwardly, walking past Arianna with rapid memories of her father, and the repetition of the words 'Follow me for the truth.' Blake looked at Aroanna unsuspectingly. His plans would finally come to fruition, and his goals could be achieved. Once he had his vengeance, he would master the secrets of spirit he had already come to understand. 'She really stands no chance. It's almost pitiful, the amount of control over my spirit fluctuations I've achieved. These fools truly wasted their time.' 'We've only just mastered this technique. If you're prepared once they go to retrieve the cores, then we shall strike.'

Yugeto looked to his fingertips, literally teeming with spirit that bounced off him. "Heh. I told Hector once long ago that my body would start to do this eventually." He said to no one in particular, mainly addressing himself. His body was brimming with the massive amounts of spirit he had gathered from dying people across the battlefield. For some reason, Yugeto didn't feel as much guilt as he expected over the battle for the Wall. He knew he would be an obvious suspect due to his appearance currently. "Guys, I never thought I'd say this, but I need to let out a large amount of spirit if we're going to be in public. That means, one of you is going to be getting a boost. But who needs it?" Yugeto asked out loud.

[Skai]

Raeven looked up at Ishigo as she sat in the back of the shuttle. She was watching him closely in case he needed any help, ready to cover for him at any sign of weakness. She was worried for him. He was strong, but the moment of weakness she had seen in him earlier made her realize that he hid many things about himself from those around him. She replayed the moment that they had locked their gazes over and over in her mind, wanting to feel that strong connection with him always. She knew the connection wouldn't show as much as it had then, but she also knew that it would always be there. The loss of their third member in the trio made their own friendship deeper. They would be inseparable. Perhaps even undefeated. She smiled at the thought. Ish and Rae, the dynamic duo. What an intriguing thought, thought Eremiel, breaking his month long silence. At least my powers aren't going to waste. Raeven inwardly rolled her eyes. I wouldn't want to tarnish your reputation.

---

Arianna sat in the chair near the front of the shuttle, gazing out of the window at the scenery below. The thoughts of the passengers filled her mind, leaving her in a daze as she heard their doubts and hopes for the new Leginia. The flickered image of her father passed through her mind, catching her attention, making her wonder if her own thoughts were getting in the way. She looked up at the group and quickly honed in on the thoughts, blinking when her eyes landed on Blake. Her face fell from a blank expression into a shocked, confused one. For once in her life she didn't have a single thought of her own, playing Blake's thoughts over and over in her mind to try and figure out what the meaning of them were. Arianna, I don't like this, Castiel's gruff voice rumbled. Why would he wait until now to reveal this information? Why do it this way? Arianna didn't respond, watching Blake closely as her brows furrowed slightly. What is he getting at? She asked, completely distracted by her own questions to answer Castiel's. I'm going to follow him. Anything that concerns my father concerns me. Castiel shifted uncomfortably in the back of her mind. He didn't like this situation at all. With this new knowledge, he felt a sinister feeling from Blake. He could only hope that Arianna felt it, too. Arianna sat back in her seat and turned her head to look out the window. She watched Blake from the corner of her eyes. She would be cautious from this point forward.