Disclaimer:
This fanfic is a sequel to and based on the PS2 release Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. The author of this fanfic (me, of course) is not the owner of this game.
The Birth of a New Era
Chapter 1
Prologue
The sun had just about finished setting on Klaus IV. It was growing darker and darker by each second just like the conditions of Trena. Once the darkness had swept over the planet, it was nighttime. The sea water that ran down across the crag flowed at a very steady rate across from her father's grave. Mirage sat just a few feet across from the grave on the ground where she stared down at the grave peacefully. She was too quiet for words at this point, but her mind wasn't. It was filled with thoughts and memories of her father which she couldn't help but remember. But there were far too many of them, they all could not possibly flash before her eyes in just a single moment. She then remembered her father's dying words... it was about her mother, Lucia. Sitting in front of the grave that had the writings 'Dan Koas' carved onto it, she started to think about everything that she and the others had been through in their journey so far and how much more there is to go...
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Once she set the timer on the digitial clock in her right hand, Mirage took a close and deep look at the two trainees in the area in front of her. She took a deep breath before starting the timer.
"Everyone in position, alright... Begin!" said Mirage with a strong voice and that was the trainees' cue to begin. It was getting quite warm and stuffy inside the dojo, almost unbearable... but that did not stop Mirage's pupils from battling it out in a hand-to-hand Taijutsu combat. Watching every movement closely, Mirage noted the weaknesses and strengths of each of her trainees for which they can improve on.
"HA!" shouted one of the trainees as he struck his opponent with a fierce palm strike straight to the forehead knocking him out. Everyone cheered and applauded for his performance as he took his position and slightly bowed to his mentor.
"Not bad, Tiisho. That was only 4 minutes and 39 seconds this time. You have definitely improved on your weaknesses which I pointed out to you in our last class." Mirage praised the victor proudly. She then looked towards the other trainee who had just regained consciousness, "Seda, your moves were too predictable. Patterns in your movement may make it easy for you to get into a good rhythm, but it also makes it much easier for the opponents to predict your moves. Show more variations in your offense and watch for the opponent's retaliations."
Seda, the loser of the two trainees, bowed in respect accepting his mentor's advice. He then made his way back to the bench line of the rest of the trainees who had just finished dueling.
"Koreen. Xeim. You two are next."
A slim, yet tall girl made her way to the center of the training hall. Koreen was very young, but also very experienced and hard-working. As a result, she holds the best record out of anyone of the trainees in the training hall. Xeim, the other dueler, also stepped to the center from the other side of the hall. Tough, brisk, but mysteriously quiet were the precise words to describe him. Pure strength and skill brought him many victories, but his lacking in other areas is what cost him the other duels.
"I won't be holding back!" Koreen blurted out with a funny grin on her face.
Mirage gave her usual signal to start the duel as Xeim quickly rushed in to make his first move. Koreen played very defensively the whole time like she always does. Waiting for her opponent to strike, Koreen's counters were her deadly weapons, using their own strength against them. Most of the duel consisted of Xeim drawing in roundhouse punches and kicks, as well as a few jabs here and there, but most of them ended up in empty air.
"HO-HA!" Xeim gave a loud cry as he struck Koreen's mid-section with his strong fist. As Koreen held her hand to her stomach in a weak position recovering from that blow, Xeim took this chance to use his whole body's strength to strike another blow to her stomach. However, Koreen was able to use her quick movements and reaction to dodge the punch rapidly and use Xeim's velocity to pull his arm over herself delivering a shoulder throw. Xeim was down flat on his back.
"HAIEE-YA!" shouted Koreen as she shot a ferocious palm strike right down on Xeim's chest providing her yet another victory. Mirage was quite happy as usual with Koreen's performance, but unfortunately, Xeim did not get the same feedback. In fact, Mirage told him to meet her privately after the end of class that day.
"Bah..." was the only retort from Xeim.
Mirage stepped forward as her disciples stood in rows and columns facing her, "Tomorrow we will finish up the rest, I believe there are only four students left now. We will then continue with our training session afterwards, but I have to say I am quite impressed with the performances you have displayed so far. Well then, that will be all for today. Remember... mind, body, and spirit is the key to combat." Mirage ended the class as they took their positions and bowed.
Mirage had a mentor-disciple talk with Xeim once everyone had left explaining him the concepts of his weakness and strengths in combat.
"Spirit and mentality, huh?" Xeim shifted his eyes a little as he talked.
"And i'm not saying this to you because i'm disappointed in your progress or anything, but more because I can already see your potential. And seeing such potential go waste would not be something I would just stand by and let it happen, if you know what I mean."
"I see. Hmm... well thanks for the briefing anyway. I suppose I could ponder more on that." Xeim shrugged slightly and turned his back as he left.
'Hmph. I suppose there are more things he needs to work on.' an annoyed Mirage thought to herself.
Once she had grabbed her materials and personal belongings, Mirage made her way out of the dojo wishing everyone a good day. 'It was a relief to be out in the fresh air, it was getting stuffy in there!' Mirage thought to herself. And Klaus IV was indeed a beautiful planet, there was no doubt about that. Moreso than Klaus III because of its dome-shaped structure surrounding many sections of the planet. The dome was made of strong fibreglass which made it an immensely strong shield and gave nature its beautiful color on this planet without disturbing the ecosystem at all. The purpose of the glass-structured dome surrounding Klaus IV was to give it the similar atmospheric composition as Klaus III. Without it, the atmosphere of Klaus IV would be extremely different and possibly inhabitable. At night, lights would shine from the dome illuminating nearly all areas on the planet. For this reason, it would rarely be dark outdoors.
Whenever the strong-minded Klausian stepped out of the school everyday, she felt a lot more carefree in her thoughts. She thought about many things outside of training and looking over her father. This time, like usual, she couldn't help but brew a storm of thoughts in her head all the way home... which were mostly about her old friends.
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It was only four years ago, the last time Mirage was involved in a war and a true battle, fighting alongside her friends. Ever since the fall of the Creator the "new era", which is the period that came afterwards, was progressing peacfully so far. But Mirage, she believed that the universe is still not a perfect place on its own even without connections with the 4D, and events may draw them back out again. Or maybe she just wanted to be together with all of them again.
The Koas residence was not quite as much sophisticated as one would expect considering that Klaus is now one of the most recently developed planets. It was a small house in an open area surrounded mainly by trees and diurnal birds. Mirage and her father, Dan Koas, liked it the way it was, both believed that communication with the nature is an important part of spiritual development. Besides, Trena itself wasn't a very sophisticated city itself. Once Mirage found her way to her house, she could see her father concentrating on his evening meditation near the fireplace. He wasn't frail at all, despite how people describe him. Mirage often compares him to Adray often in an amusing fashion even though Dan is less than half the muscular size Adray was. Dan had a long white beard and his hair was darker and nicely combed like a gentleman.
"A little earlier than usual today, Mirage?" asked Dan, as she stepped into the room.
"It was not our usual training session today." Mirage spoke as she noticed Dan wrap up his meditation.
"By the way, I almost forgot." Dan recalled as he stroked his white thin beard, "You have a message from someone. Probably one of your friends. You might want to check it first thing. I believe it was from... Lieber. The young lad said it was urgent."
Mirage was slightly surprised at that name. "Lieber? What could he possibly have to inform that's so important?"
Lieber was one of the formiddable members of Quark who resided in his hometown Lazeria in Klaus IV once Quark was disbanded. Mirage last heard from him about an year ago, he was working in one of the top ranks of the facilities inside the Kluasian government's headquarters along with his brother Steeg.
As Mirage settled her belongings down, she grabbed her communicator and went through Lieber's message which he had left in her voice-mail system. It was only about 2 seconds long asking Mirage to head over to Lazeria and meet him in his office in Kluas IV's Communications Headquarters tomorrow as soon as possible. The invitation sounded rather abrupt to her, but she knew just by his voice that she could not let something like this just pass by.
It wasn't too much later into the evening before they started dinner, Mirage wasn't the best cook in Klaus but she could easily whip up a delicious dish enough to fill the tummy.
"So when will you be leaving then?" Dan spoke after Mirage had informed him of Lieber's notice.
"Tomorrow's the last day of Level 1 test before we begin our advanced training session. It looks like i'll have to postpone the training session to some other time until I get back from Lazeria." said Mirage as she served dinner.
"Nonsense, young lady. Don't be afraid to ask your father for help, I will just sub in for you. I have a lot of experience which you seem to keep forgetting."
Mirage smirked, then chuckled slightly. "Thank you, father. I can always count on you."
"I suppose you'll be gone for a while then?"
"Oh no, I should be back as soon as possible but that all depends on the issue. If i'm forced to stay longer, i'll make sure to be in contact."
Mirage wasn't the type who would get up late for being lazy or not getting enough rest. She was still the same strong, confident, and caring Klausian deep inside as her close friends always used to describe her. Trips like these weren't new to Mirage at all, which is the main reason she did not find the whole idea of going to Lazeria without being given a good reason a big deal.
The next day, all the pupils assembled in the glass an hour earlier before their honored mentor would arrive at the Jingu dojo. Half of them were busy sparring and taking their training seriously while another group of students were gathered around on the bench in the corner of the dojo discussing some possible rumors.
"I'm getting so nervous! I sure hope I pass the test today." exclaimed one of the youngest students in the class. "Mirage Sensei's markings can be pretty harsh! What'll I tell my parents and all my friends if I don't make it past this?"
"I heard a rumor that she's going to be away for a while." Koreen, one of the favorite pupils mentioned.
Tiisho looked shocked. "That's a surprise. I didn't expect that, she has had some tough moments but it's going to be a little too empty here without her."
"Some of the oldies say Mirage has been the most straightforward and strict sensei in Jingu history. She can be scary at times... I always liked her that way though." Koreen, one of the favorite pupils mentioned.
"She doesn't like to get too emotionally attached to any of her students because it keeps her views objective. Man, times can be rough when you really have a tough sensei, but somehow it's not the same with her." a lazy young teenager spoke from the corner of the bench. He was a little brash and liked to pick many members of the dojo from time to time.
"Remember the time she made me and Seda spar each other with blindfolds expecting proper results for trying to skip the last few hours of our training session. She made us do the same thing over and over again until each of our step was done with precision. Man, my back ached for a week after that!" said Tiisho.
The classes began once Mirage had arrived at 0600 early in the morning. Everyone assembled in their positions without uttering another word. As the day went by, Mirage seemed happy and satisfied with the results. After the evaluation was over, Mirage informed everyone about her leave.
"Where is it you will be going? And what will happen to our classes?" asked a lanky blonde-haired man who was one of the oldest students to step in the dojo.
Mirage smiled naturally, "I'll be out for a few days in Lazeria. Meanwhile father, Dan, will be looking after this place during the training sessions."
"It'll be so empty without you, sensei..." said a disappointing student. "Is there anything we can help with?"
"No need..." Mirage shook her head and was now forcing her smile trying not to show her unhappy expressions.
Xeim, on the other hand, was listening to her words the whole time suspiciously. No one could tell what his intentions were just by the look on his face. He was always completely covered in clothes and even a portion of his face was masked with a small veil.
The dojo, while not extremely large, was separated into sections. The main arts that many students attended the dojo was to learn components of Budo Taijutsu and although it was the Jingu school of Taijutsu, a few small areas of Jujutsu, Ninpo, and Hapkido were taught as well to expand the variety in their defensive tactics.
Once Mirage, returned back home for the day, she didn't waste any time to pack her belongings for her short trip tomorrow. She didn't want to miss the train that arrives early morning so she quickly changed into her silk night dress before popping onto her bed. It wasn't going to be an easy day ahead of her tomorrow so she fell off to a deep slumber surprisingly soon. And somehow she had a feeling she wouldn't get a chance to rest like this again for a long time.
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It was far too dark for her to figure out where she was. Mirage felt like she was standing on some kind of flat surface on a very high elevation. The mystery of her whereabouts petrified her and she didn't move an inch until she could get a clue. As if the darkness wasn't bad enough, the air was covered with mist and fog, the smell tickled her nose.
Suddenly she noticed a figure growing bigger and bigger in front of her, and it passed through the mist enough to be revealed clearly to Mirage's sight. To her shock, this person was quite familiar... almost too familiar. Her heart pounded just by the sight of seeing him, she tried doing something just as thunder struck behind him terrorizing her. In that one flash of lightning, she noticed many things. She was on top of a cliff in a very dark and foggy area with this man who relieved her and frightened her at the same time just by his presence. The man had blonde hair, a tight sleeveless shirt, a black pair of jeans, and he was well-built. Mirage, noticing the person who was very near the edge of the cliff, lent her hand to him. She tried to tell him it was dangerous but no words came from her mouth. Instead, the husky man shook his head and walked backwards as if to reject Mirage's offer. He stopped just as he reached the edge point of the cliff. Mirage saw the last of him as he threw his arms out and fell back disappearing from Mirage's sight.
Suddenly, Mirage felt her eyes nearly pop out as she awoke with a quick jolt. It was morning again.
"Ugh... a nightmare. What was that about anyway?" she shook her head, "Oh well, I really shouldn't let these things bother me. I've got to hurry, father must already be up by now!"
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Mirage had already left a note to all of the pupils in her training class once she left her home as her father saw her out. The Trena train station was not far from her locality at all, it was only 0925 when she reached the Trena station as she looked onto her watch. Trains weren't the most fancy way of travelling at this day and age, but it was the quickest way to travel small distances on the planet. She settled her bags at the nearest bench and sat down taking a short rest.
"Oww! You weren't supposed to kick that hard!" A young boy of a very small age, probably around 6 or 7, was holding his stomach in pain as he tried getting up from the blow he received from a small cute girl about his age.
"That was for being mean to me!" she shot back at the boy just as a tall and chubby woman walked towards them as if she had been looking for both.
"Get back here, and stop misbehaving! You two need to stop running off your own or else mommy won't get you the cookies she promised!" The mother was scornful at her children.
Mirage herself didn't know why she was busy observing the situation. In fact, she almost did not notice the train arrive just as people started to board.
"Attention all passengers. The local train no. 022 will now leave for Lazeria. Estimated time for arrival at 0955."
The train ride actually wasn't that long, it had arrived earlier than expected. As Mirage stepped off the rear exit of the train, the first thing she noticed about Lazeria was the technological advancement and the sophisticated look of this wealthy city. It was a city of tall buildings, especially in the downtown area where the highroads were crowded with traffic. It wasn't surprising Lieber would live in a place like this considering he's a descendent of one of the wealthiest men on the planet.
Mirage was lucky she didn't have to catch another bus to get to the Communications Headquarters from the Lazeria train station since it was only a walking distance. The Comm. Headquarters was one of the largest industries in the heart of downtown, Mirage was happy to be back after an year long. As she stepped inside and headed over to the counter, she noticed the relinquished look of the main lobby. It had beautiful glass patterns on windows and excellent carpetting. The lady at the counter smiled.
"How can I be of service?"
"I'm Mirage Koas. I've come to see Lieber." Mirage spoke calmly.
"Ah yes, he's been waiting for quite a while now... where did he go...?" The counter lady looked a bit confused.
"Well well, there you are! ...And here I am!" a medium sized slim man with brown punk hair had just made his way out of the washroom as he looked towards Mirage with a small gleam in his eye.
"Lieber. It's been a while." Mirage smiled before she shared a friendly hug with him.
"Only an year, actually. But it seemed forever! You really haven't changed much you know, except for your hair. You know, it looks a lot more beautiful now that you keep it open."
"Oh thanks!" Mirage was slightly flattered. "So what was the call for?"
"Ah about that," suddenly Lieber's expression shifted from excited to moody and glum. "Let's discuss that in my office. Steeg and Marietta are here as well for this er... meeting."
Even though she was slightly in a confused state, Mirage could tell it wasn't good news just by reading the expression on Lieber's face. They made their way to the transporter to one of the top floors and into Lieber's private office.
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The reunion was remarkably rejoiceful. Steeg and Marietta couldn't have been any more glad at the sight of Mirage. They were of course expecting her arrival eagerly, Mirage on the other hand was also thrilled to be with them again.
"You know, you really haven't changed at all!" Marietta whispered a little loudly from the excitement, "It's so good to see you back."
"Yup. That's what I told her too." Lieber smiled.
Once everyone had settled down, Mirage finally got some time to look around Lieber's office. It was quite deliquite and rather sharp-looking. They took their seats around a circular table just across Lieber's desk.
"Let's cut to the chase then, shall we?" Steeg spoke in a serious tone, "Lieber, have you briefed Mirage on anything yet?"
"Nope, we got in as soon as we could." Lieber shook his head.
"I see."
Mirage was a bit worried from the suspense, "So what is it? Is anything wrong?"
"Well it's kinda like this..." Lieber cleared his throat, "A lot of weird things have been going on outside of Klaus, which of course you probably have no idea of since none of us has left Klaus in about 4 years. But based on the analysis on my charts from our investigations, there have been some really horrible things going on out there."
"Like what?" Mirage questioned curiously as she narrowed her eyes towards Lieber.
"To put it in simple, non-scientific terms, planets out there in the Milky Way galaxy are being destroyed and seized by what believes to be a certain terrorist organization as we speak. Why and how? I'm not quite sure." Lieber didn't seem to be giving the whole story.
"Wha-! Oh my... that is horrific." Mirage shook her head as if to make sure she heard that right. "I've had no idea of such things, how long has this been going on?"
"Quite a while." Steeg entered the conversation, "It appears the government of Klaus alone just recently learned about it a few weeks ago. The Panglactic Federation, which is dealing with the core of this problem currently, is a different matter. It seems they have been struggling over this matter for over three months now. I suppose Klaus doesn't want to get involved which is why we really haven't taken any course of action. And we're not exactly that friendly with the Federation which is common knowledge... but they're dealing with heinous and undespicable crimes, almost as bad what the Creator and 4D Beings had intended to do four years ago."
"Our friends too, who belong in the areas part of the Sol System, are possibly caught in this dilemma." Marietta spoke slowly tilting her head down, slightly depressed.
"Wait... does that mean...? Could this explain... about Cliff?" Mirage stuttered a bit. "About what has happened to him... and why he's 'vanished'?"
Cliff Fittir was one of the comrades whom Mirage fought along with and also one of her closest friend she had never seen since. Originally from Klaus III, he moved to Klaus IV at the age of 24 where he met Mirage. After years of hard training in the Jingu School of Taijutsu, Dan Koas wanted to give up his position in the dojo over to Cliff. But like the soldier he is, Cliff could not return to Klaus as of then due to matters that still had to be dealt with. Mirage at that time was not aware of these matters.
Cliff's disappearance was another thing that shocked many, especially Mirage, considering how famous he is. Cliff and Lancar had been working on behalf of Klaus cleaning all sorts of mess that were necessary to get rid of. A few months back, the Eagle had engaged in a battle with an Vendeeni ship, known as the Triumph. Of course, the Eagle was no match for such a ship, and it also failed during their fleet. Both Cliff and Lancar would have been labelled as dead, but there were no signs of a blown up ship or matter left over after the battle. Both ships were never seen again... neither were Cliff and Lancar. Presumed dead, but officially labelled as 'missing'.
"That was one of my first suspicions once I learned about this," Lieber spoke, a lot more calm than usual. Definitely calmer than Mirage which was surprising, but not as much anymore considering the situation. "Planets being seized, federal stations being destroyed, who knows what else they're up to?"
Mirage looked down, a little disappointed. Everyone was silent for the moment as well.
"Which brings us to our point," Steeg continued where Lieber left off. "Lieber, Marietta, and myself have decided we're going to go back out there and net some more details on this matter from the Pangalactic Federation headquarters itself."
"Just hold on a second," Mirage was a bit startled, "How do you plan on getting there? You're going to need to take precautions before heading into risky situations."
"Heh, I thought you'd say that." Steeg smiled, "We'll just have to reinforce Quark again. Not as an anti-federation team anymore of course. But it'll be much more beneficial for us, and even though the Diplo isn't exactly the best warship, it's our best chance. We're all quite intent on this mission, and i'm sure you want to look into this more than any of us Mirage. We've already gotten permission from the main headquarters which wasn't exactly an easy task but we're all ready now! And don't worry about the amount of personnel either. We've got tons this time and all raring to go"
'Looks like i'm not going to get a chance to go back to Trena from here. Better leave him a message and tell him i'm sorry about this... i hope he can take care of the dojo for the mean time.' Mirage thought to herself.
"You're not going anywhere without me..." Mirage stood up looking intent, "though you guys could have informed me a bit earlier about this... seems like you guys took care of a lot of things by yourselves."
"Heh Sorry about that," Marietta giggled. "But what's important is you're with us now. Nothing's going to stop us now!"
"Glad to hear that Mirage." Steeg chimed in, "And we really needed a captain as well. Now let's take care of this matter once and for all, but most importantly... together."
"We'll leave tomorrow morning then." Mirage accepted the time as the others left Lieber's office along with Mirage to see her down and outside the headquarters. However, the lady at the counter startled her.
"Miss Koas, is it?" spoke the counter lady.
"Yes?"
"There's someone who has come to see you. He's been waiting patiently for quite a while now."
Just as Mirage turned around to inspect, she was surprised by a certain appearance. Tall, strong, dark, quiet, wearing a scarf around his neck and shoulders. He had a sleeveless tight shirt and long draping pants which covered his boots.
"...Xeim?" Mirage eyes widened as she spoke, "Why are you here?"
"Ah, you're finally here." said Xeim with his usual deep voice.
"And what's your reason for not being in class?"
"Spirit... I thought a lot about the advice you gave me yesterday. I dare say i've been one of the strongest fighters in our class, but i'm weak. My goal is to grow powerful for a certain purpose that I must fulfill. I'm of course not originally from Klaus but i've travelled all the way here and found my way into your dojo to gain that power. But the only thing I lack in my power is spirit. It's exactly what i've been looking for, you led me to the right path yesterday. However, i'm clueless on this subject, which is why I want you to be my spiritual mentor."
"Whoa whoa there, macho man!" Lieber interrupted, "we've got important matters to deal with here. You can take all the spiritual classes you want later. You go head back to the dojo."
"You don't understand." Xeim simply shook his head, "I've heard about your mission and the reformation of Quark from the rumors spreading around town. And I would be honored to join you on this mission."
"Wait a sec." Lieber replied again, "Do you even know how dangerous this is? This ain't gonna be a training class no more, so if you can't handle things and slow us down, then you'll have to sit this one out."
"You want ME to be your spiritual mentor?" Mirage questioned him, "Hmm... I guess I won't ask any further. Alright then, I accept."
"What?" spoke a surprised Steeg, "Are you sure about this? I mean... this isn't some picnic we're going on."
"Don't worry, he is perfectly capable of defending himself, I suppose I can help him on this purpose he wants to achieve. Besides, he reminds me... a little of..." Mirage stopped there.
"Tch. Fine. Do as you like." Lieber seemed a little disappointed at this decision.
"Welcome aboard!" Marietta squealed out.
Xeim crossed his arms and leaned back, closing his eyes and smirking at the same time... relieved at Mirage's response. And so the journey starts with these five...