Symphony of Stars

by Shaun Garin

[Star Ocean 3 Tales of Symphonia][Crossover Continuation][Slight AUverse] A distress signal from an old ship brings the crew of the Diplo to a planet where Time and Space collide.

"You look like you've had a rough day."

Cliff Fittir made a face as he slumped into the chair. Wiggling a bit and putting his feet up on the console, he sighed. "Do you REALIZE how much of a mess the Federation is in right now?"

"I'd think so," replied Maria Traydor wryly. "Considering that Quark of all groups have been working around the clock to help with the relief despite being disbanded officially. Something seems to be bugging you though. What's wrong, Cliff?"

Cliff palmed his face and dragged his fingers over the bridge of his nose. Klausians as a general rule didn't get headaches normally. Stress tended to do them in, considering how tightly wired their biological systems were. "Did you realize that the 4D Beings are STILL mucking around in our place? I was approached by an Avatar of someone high up from Sphere 211 and she said that Blair is working around the clock getting entire worlds rebuilt if they haven't been blown completely apart. Can't do anything about that, the girl said. Even though Blair promised to keep the company out of the Eternal Sphere, she's sending technicians in to fix any of the major bugs."

"And what sort of thing does she consider a 'Major Bug?'" asked Mirage Koas.

"Far as I can tell, anything that hasn't been completely blown apart by Enforcers is being rebuilt at a rapid pace. And we're talking about the condition when a planet suddenly became an asteroid belt. Blair sent a message through the girl, saying that the universe should be rebuilt in about a hundred years given the need for subtle means but at the very least, she's installing some kind of protocol that's going to keep someone like Luther from messing around." Cliff shook his head. "I hate to admit it, but Blair is at least helping us and not trying to kill us all."

Maria tapped her lip. "Is there anything else we should know about then?"

"The Federation is having their hands full trying to get all survivors to various places in the galaxy as Earth and most of the major systems are being rebuilt. They asked Quark to deal with keeping trouble making systems in line."

"We're not bounty hunters or enforcers," protested Maria.

"Tell that to the Federation." A sharp ringing cut into Cliff's thoughts and he groaned. "What now?"

"I'm getting an automated distress signal. It's coming from sector four-seven-two, twenty-seven mark thirteen." answered Marietta from the helm. "Shall I patch it through?"

"Go for it," answered Cliff. "Can't be any worse than it is now."

Marietta tapped a key as a static-riddled message came through. "This is the... Welgaia... our engines... can't keep around much longer... evacuating at two-two-four mark twelve... request recovery..."

"It stops there," reported Mirage as her fingers flew over the console.

"So what do you suppose that was?" asked Steeg. "It sounded really old, considering it was full of static."

"Welgaia... could it be?" said Maria.

"Do you know what it is?" asked Cliff.

"It's an old legend among the people of Hyda. A ship the size of a comet was sent out to colonize the universe. It was never found since and was called the Welgaia. Marietta, where is the transmission coming from?"

"Looks to be in the Duras star system," reported Marietta. "But that system has been under a strange energy distortion."

"What kind of distortion?" asked Maria.

"Looks to me like a rift. We'd have to take a closer look, but last I remember, the Duras system is out of bounds. Even Federation or Vendeeni ships can't go there without permission." reported Steeg. "Shall I patch a communication to the Federation government?"

"Yes. I'd like to know who is sending the transmission. If someone from the Welgaia still lives, despite the impossibility, I would like to make sure that they are returned back home." said Maria.

"Roger."

---

Symphony of Stars

written by Shaun Garin

Star Ocean Till The End Of Time is owned by Square-Enix. Tales of Symphonia is owned by Namco of Japan and America. Used for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 1 : The Angel and the Boy

---

"Now approaching the Duras system. Dropping out of Gravidic Warp." Marietta tapped the controls and the blur of warp vanished around the window ports of the bridge. "Activating long range sensors."

"Tracing the origin of the signal," added Mirage as she worked furiously at the controls. "Found it. Locked at two-two-seven-four."

"On screen," ordered Maria.

The holo screen appeared and on it, was a brilliant blue and violet comet. "My god... it's beautiful," whispered Maria.

"Well that's a sight. And it's coming from there?" asked Cliff.

"Affirmative. The comet is composed of energy, similar to the output of Symbological Force. There is also an entire city there. Only one life sign. Also, it seems to be in a state of a deteriorating orbit, as the Symbological Force is leaking onto the planet that it is orbiting." reported Steeg from his console.

"Bring up information on Duras Seven," said Maria as she tapped at her own console.

"Duras Seven, a planet with the same gravimetric force as Terra and a atmospheric composition similar to earth, only with more hydrogen in it and a 0.25 variance between Terra's gravity. There are no current scans on Duras Seven as it has been caught in an energy flux of unknown creation until three hundred years ago with the last scan." reported Mirage.

"Three hundred years and they just recently updated?" asked Maria incredulously.

"Sounds to me like they were putting it off till the last second," said Steeg.

"What's the scans saying now?" asked Cliff.

"There are approximately six million people on the planet. Technology is consistent with 20th century Terra, although there are some abbreviations in various parts of the world. There seems to be high concentrations of people in the major cities around the globe. Also, there are remains of a giant tower in the exact center of the worlds latitude and longitude. The energy from the Welgaia seems to be flooding into that spot." Marietta tapped a few more keys. "There seems to be a link between the Welgaia and something at the center of the world. Although we'd probably have to check it ourselves."

"What do the scans say on Welgaia?" asked Cliff.

"We can transport in at any time. There is a stable atmosphere, even considering it's a comet made out of Symbological Force." Steeg shook his head. "Man, this universe just keeps throwing weird stuff at you."

"We need to see if that life sign on Welgaia needs help. Cliff, Mirage, you're with me," said Maria.

---

The low hum of the transporters was the first thing that Kratos Aurion heard. Spinning around and his sword already in his hand, it was met with a large hand almost the size of his arm. Kratos stared at the Klausian and Cliff stared back. "You wanna put that back where it needs to be?" asked Cliff curiously.

Kratos put his sword away. "Forgive me. Experience has taught me that people who transport in suddenly behind you are likely to attack. Who are you people?"

"Forgive us," said Maria. "I am Maria Traydor. This is Mirage Koas and Cliff Fittir. We're from Quark, a Klausian orginization."

Kratos turned the unfamiliar words around. "Klausian? Did you people come from the stars?"

"Yes, we did," answered Mirage. "We were responding to an automated distress signal on this planet. Is this Welgaia, the colony ship from Hyda?"

"Hmmm... perhaps."

"Perhaps? You don't know?" asked Maria.

"Forgive me, but I have always known this comet as Welgaia, the City of Elves and this is their vessel Derris-Kharlan. It is said that the Elves first arrived on the world below us, and seeded it with life. As for it being a ship from where you are, it is unlikely I have the answer." answered Kratos.

"I see. So in other words, you're just the uninformed caretaker, huh?" said Cliff, folding his arms.

Kratos chuckled. "Call it what you will. What brings you people here from across the stars?"

"The signal. Are you the only person here?" asked Maria.

"Indeed. All of the Angels have been put to sleep for all eternity. I am the last one, doomed to spend his time atoning for our sins," answered Kratos.

"Well that doom might come a little early," said Cliff. "This place is going down, and I mean in the bad way."

"The energy composing this comet is leaking into the world below. We think that in time, no more than five years, will this comet either drift away or crash land into the world below." said Maria.

"Derris-Kharlan will not crash," answered Kratos sternly. "I will activate the lost technology to send it into space, before it does."

"Well, that's settled. Hey, seeing how we came all this way, you want a lift back onto the planet?" asked Cliff. "I'm sure it must get boring being up here by yourself."

"I cannot," said Kratos. "I must shoulder the terrible deeds that I and my people have committed before I can return."

"All right. We'll leave you here then." said Maria. "Diplo, three to beam up."

"Wait," said Kratos. Removing the gemstone from his hand, he handed it to Maria. "Take this to a boy named Lloyd. He is my son. Tell him, that I want him to have it. And tell him, that I am proud of him."

"Where can we find him?" asked Maria.

"Look for the village of Iselia on the northern tip of the southern continent. There you will find him, or at least his father, Dirk. Lloyd Irving is dressed in red, and stands out quite well."

"Wait, his father? I thought you were his father." said Cliff.

Kratos coughed into his fist. "Lloyd was raised by Dirk while I was away. Dirk is Lloyd's father as much as I am his biological father."

"All right. Take care then." said Maria. In a whirl of light, the three vanished from the planet.

Kratos looked at his bare hand and folded his other over it. "Soon Lloyd. Soon I will be with your mother. And the burden will end, atoning for the crimes and atrocities that were committed."

---

"Kind of a small place, isn't it?" said Cliff. "It's no bigger than Arias on Elicoor II."

"It makes you wonder why there are so many people here," said Mirage as she looked at the huge crowds of people milling around the town. Some of them were working on expanding the forest-surrounded town and repairing damage done by a recent fire. Many others were literally being tourists. "The town does not boast any major attractions such as hot springs or something of the sort."

At the gates, the three were stopped by a pair of men. They wore crude armor and carried farm implements. "Halt," said one of the men. "Entrance to Iselia is strictly regulated for the tourist season. Are you here to help rebuild the town or meet with the Chosen of Mana?"

"We're here to find a boy named Lloyd Irving," said Maria. "We have a message for him from his father, Kratos Aurion."

The men shared a look before the other said, "Lloyd Irving is at the Chosen of Mana's home. Please, come this way."

Threading through the huge crowds, an easy feat due to Cliff's height and massive size, the man walked up to a modest two-level home on the east of the town. Most of the people protested but the man with the pitchfork gave them a look. Knocking three times, the door opened to reveal a rather stooped older woman. "Yes, Hans?"

"Excuse me Madam Phaidra, but these people are here to see Mr. Irving. I understand he arrived this morning." said the newly named Hans.

"Oh yes. Please, come this way."

Closing the door behind them, they came into a large room that had a well lived feel to it. Across the table, a girl with long blonde hair was speaking to a boy her age and an older man who had a resemblance to her. The girl looked up at the three and said, "Oh, hello!"

She got up from the chair. "Welcome to our home." Moving forward to shake their hands, the girl suddenly tripped and flailed her arms.

Cliff moved and the girl was caught in his own arms. "Hey, you okay? You nearly fell over."

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Sorry, I'm sort of a klutz." Cliff could almost hear the capitalization in that word, as if it was a revered title of her status. "Oh, how rude of me. I'm Collette Brunnel. This is my grandmother Phaidra Brunnel, my father Frank Brunnel and Lloyd Irving. Please, make yourselves at home."

As the three sat down, Frank folded his hands before him. "What brings you to Iselia?"

"We have a message for Lloyd Irving," said Maria. "From his father, Kratos Aurion."

Lloyd was on his feet instantly. "My father? Kratos is on the planet?"

"No, he is still on what he calls Derris-Kharlan," said Mirage.

"But how is that possible?" wondered Lloyd. "The passage to Derris-Kharlan is broken and the only way to get back to it was using the Eternal Sword. How did you people get to it without making a pact with Origin?"

"That's not really important," said Cliff. "Suffice to say it, we'll be breaking a lot of rules letting you know about it." Mirage hid a smile, knowing fully that Cliff didn't believe in the UP3, no matter how the Federation was.

"Your father said that he was proud of you, and he wanted you to have this." Maria withdrew the gemstone and handed it to Lloyd. Lloyd's face paled.

"Dad's Cruxis Crystal... THAT IDIOT!"

Taken aback from Lloyd's sudden explosion, Cliff said, "What's the big deal? So he gave you a trinket, right?"

"He knew! He still wants to die! And now that he gave me his crystal, he CAN die! That stupid, stupid jerk!" Tears leaked out of Lloyd's eyes. "Damnit! I have to talk him out of this nonsense about atoning for ones sins in the worst way possible!"

"Your father didn't seem to have a death wish," said Maria. "I'm surprised that he would give you that. What is it anyhow?"

"It's his Cruxis Crystal. The crystal itself has prolonged his life for nearly four thousand years." At their shocked expressions, Lloyd sighed and shook his head. "That jerk. I thought I talked him out of dying for the sake of atoning for his sins. I suppose he still feels guilt even after leaving to Derris-Kharlan."

"Four thousand years," murmured Mirage. "Think of the things he has seen."

"So, I suppose you want to get there, huh?" said Cliff. "Fitting, since you don't want to see your old man suddenly wither and die."

"Yeah. I need to go and get the Flamberge and the Vorpal Sword. That way, I can transport us with the power of Origin." Lloyd got up. "Sorry to cut this visit short, Colette, but I need to go."

"Lloyd wait. I'm coming with you," said Colette, getting up. "You can't do this by yourself. Kratos is important to all of us, not just to you."

"Colette... all right."

"Cliff, why don't you accompany Lloyd to his home," said Maria. "We'll stay here for now."

"Right," said Cliff. He knew what was in Maria's head. A man, living for four thousand years and looked no more of a day under thirty was an impressive feat. Maria was a perfectionist and wanted to know every single detail of an event. Otherwise, it drove her to near madness at times. Mirage would stay behind as well, to familiarize themselves with the technological levels of the world and to judge if they would do any damage to the UP3 while using a site-to-site transport. Of course, Cliff didn't give a hoot about the UP3 anyhow. That was Fayt's territory. Silently he was glad that he convinced Maria to stay on as a civilian. This was her home as much as any other place was. Besides, if he left, she'd waste time taking college courses and hiding from the remains of the paranoid Federation. It was the old addendum to saving the world or universe : People with special powers were never accepted right away, even after a major act of heroism.

---

"So what's your dad like anyhow?" asked Cliff. The forest that separated Iselia and Dirk's home in the middle of the woods was riddled with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Twice both Lloyd and Cliff had to fend off the attacks of monster wolves that wanted them for dinner.

"My dad, well Dirk at least is a dwarf. He's a craftsman by trade and does a lot of jobs for people all over the world. He and Altessea are now in competition, as most dwarves live underground and don't come to the surface often. In fact, dad and Altessea are the only dwarves I know of. Kratos, my other dad is my birth dad. We have something of a unique relationship." answered Lloyd. "He thought me and my mom were dead about seventeen years ago now since he killed my mom."

"Whoa, wait. Your dad, Kratos killed your mom?" asked Cliff.

"It's not like that!" protested Lloyd. "Mom was being used in an experiment to manufacture a special type of Exsphere called a Cruxis Crystal, the same one that dad sent to me through you guys. But this one was very different, and was much more powerful than the ones that my dad and Yggdrasill used. Dad, fearing for mom's life, took her away. But Kvar's men found them and in the process, mom's Exsphere was removed. She then turned into a monster because of something called a mana imbalance and dad was forced to kill her."

Cliff shook his head. "Sounds like you guys have been through a lot."

"Yeah. This land is known as the continents of Sylverant while the continents to the north are known as the lands of Tethe'alla. This world used to be divided by the power of Origin and the will of Yggdrasill."

"What do you mean, divided anyhow?" asked Cliff.

"Yggdrasill used the power of the Eternal Sword, the power of Origin to split this world in two. Then he built in seals to keep the summon spirits linked. The two worlds became known as Tethe'alla and Sylverant. From each side, a Chosen of Mana is called to regenerate the world, which would reverse the mana flow in the opposite direction causing a flourishing and a weakening. Me and my friends put a stop to that." Lloyd sighed as they rounded the bend and came across a large house sitting in the middle of the forest. "Well, here we are."

Entering the house, a short but strong looking bearded man looked up. "Welcome back. Did you bring a new friend?"

"Dad this is..."

"Cliff Fittir," answered Cliff, introducing himself. "Nice to meet you Mr. Irving."

"The pleasure is all mine," answered Dirk. "What brings you back home, son? I thought you were staying in Iselia before heading out again."

"Dad, I need the Vorpal Sword and the Flameberge. Dad's being an idiot again and I need to go and stop him from letting himself die." said Lloyd.

"Aye, that seems to be a problem. The Flameberge is still in front of your mothers grave. I'll go fetch the Vorpal Sword. Wait here." Dirk moved off to rummage through the drawers while Lloyd ran outside.

Running back inside, Lloyd held a shining blue sword that looked to be made out of liquid water. Dirk then handed him a sword that looked like flames danced inside of them. "Be careful out there, son. And Mr. Fittir, is it?"

"Just Cliff will do," said Cliff.

"Aye. You take care of Lloyd. Today feels like a day for adventure. No sense getting carried away." With that, Cliff and Lloyd left the house.

---

"Marietta, what's the update on Derris-Kharlan?" asked Maria.

"Derris-Kharlan is still in an orbit. Kratos' life signs are very strong still. Do you need a site to site transport?"

"Negative. We don't want to risk problems. Move the Diplo behind the two moons in order to hide it from Derris-Kharlan. We don't want the inhabitants of this world to see a ship floating in space."

"Roger," said Marietta. "Positioning the Diplo now. Keep in touch, Captain."

Cutting off her communicator, Maria turned around. Colette, upon walking out of the house had been besieged by the people clammoring to see the Chosen of Mana. She and Mirage had skillfully pumped them for information without arousing suspicions. Colette had been unfailingly polite and told them everything willingly. She was the type that trusted everyone.

"Mirage, why don't you go help Colette out of the mob?" said Maria in an amused tone. "I'm sure that I'd just get lost in there."

Mirage's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Roger," she said, heading into the crowd to extract Colette. Colette gave a yelp as Mirage literally picked her up in her arms and carried her out. No one bothered to stop Mirage, rather stare in open mouthed surprise.

"Thanks," said Colette, a blush painting her face. "I could never really say no to meeting with people."

"It's all right," said Maria and Mirage set Colette on her feet. "At least Mirage did it. Cliff would have muscled his way through."

"Hey, are we talking about me here?" asked Cliff as he and Lloyd walked up.

"I have the Eternal Sword," said Lloyd, patting the twin swords that hung at his belt. "Lets go to Derris-Kharlan."

Moving a few meters away from the crowd who was held back, glowing orbs of red and blue floated up from the swords and then merged. A huge purple sword almost the height of Lloyd appeared as he grasped it into his hands.

You who possess the pact with me, what is it you wish?

Cliff jumped a little while Maria and Mirage looked around for the origin of the voice. Lloyd cleared his throat. "Origin, I need to go to Derris-Kharlan with Colette, Maria, Mirage and Cliff. Can you take us there?"

It is within my power to do so. Prepare yourselves.

From the sword, a glow of mana appeared. Expanding fully around the five, the ball of light flew upwards into the skies.

Cliff looked around the glowing ball, seeing the world become smaller and smaller as they traveled higher. "Man, what kind of stuff is this?"

"It's the power of the summon spirit, Origin," answered Colette. "Origin has power over Time and Space and can bring us to Derris-Kharlan."

"Think of it like an elevator, Cliff," said Maria in an amused tone. "Made of Symbological Force."

"Right," said Cliff. His own experiences with Symbology was limited but he knew exactly what it could do. Also, Nel had forced him to study that old tome that they had found sometime early in their previous adventure and he knew the three healing basics, Healing, Antidote and Silence. Of course one doesn't argue with Nel as that woman was scary in his opinion.

Soon, the world below them began to blur into a huge mass of continents and water and before them, Derris-Kharlan became bigger and bigger. Passing through the shields that engulfed the city and blessed it with an atmosphere, they landed on the surface and the glow vanished. The giant sword that Lloyd carried split apart into two pieces and merged with his swords.

"Now, to find Kratos," said Lloyd.

"That won't be necessary," said Kratos from behind them. Lloyd spun and the others turned. "I see you came."

"You jerk!" exclaimed Lloyd. He walked up and grabbed his father in a hug. "How many times do I have to say it? You don't have to DIE to atone for sins!"

Kratos let out a huge sigh and embraced his son. "I'm sorry, Lloyd. I was tired of it. I just wanted to rest in peace."

"Remember what I told you back at Origin's seal? You can die any time. But when you die, that's it. There's no turning back." Lloyd pressed the red Cruxis Crystal into Kratos' hands. "Dad, if you want, you can come back to us. Live in Iselia or with me and dad down on the planet. I'm sure Yuan would be happy to have someone to torment again."

Kratos chuckled. "All right. I'll come along."

"Thanks dad." said Lloyd, pulling away. "Now, lets get back off this rock."

A chirping alerted Maria. "Just a moment. Go ahead Marietta."

"We've got trouble, Captain! A Vendeeni battle cruiser dropped out of Gravidic Warp and is headed for the planet!"

"What?" exclaimed Maria. "But the Vendeeni had ceased hostilities with the Federation!"

"I know, but tell them that! Hold on, there's a transmission. I'll patch it through." A click and pop later, and a voice came over.

"This is Commander Freig of the Vendeen Battle Cruiser Heimvanu. Under Vendeeni government authority, we are taking this planet in order to recover our losses. Stand down, Diplo, or be destroyed."

"Charming as always," remarked Cliff. "What do we do?"

"The only thing we can do. Diplo, send out a distress signal to the nearest star system and prepare to land on the planet. We'll have to defend it from the surface." ordered Maria.

"But Captain, where can we land?"

Maria turned to Kratos, Lloyd and Colette who looked at them, confused. "Where's the best place to land a large ship?"

"A ship? How big are we talking?" asked Lloyd.

"The Diplo is currently several thousand feet across and weighs more than one thousand tons," reported Mirage. "We need a surface of at least seven thousand feet to make sure it lands safely."

"There's one place, the outskirts of Meltokio on the northern continent," said Kratos. "I'm sure we can get there in time as well with the Eternal Sword."

"Right. Diplo, land on the northern continent next to the large city. We'll join you shortly."

"Roger," said Marietta.

A brilliant streak of light erupted in space. "They've opened fire!" exclaimed Cliff as the huge Vendeeni Battle Cruiser appeared in their viewing range.

"What in the world is that?" gasped Lloyd.

"A demonic ship?" said Colette.

The Heimvanu fired several more times as the sleek lines of the Diplo flew out from behind the Tethe'alla moon and returned fire as it plummeted down into the atmosphere, glowing a hot red color. "We'll explain later," said Maria. "Lloyd, get us down where the Diplo is going to land."

"Uh, okay," said Lloyd as the Eternal Sword appeared before him. "Origin! Bring us down to the outskirts of Meltokio!"

A glow appeared around them and they found themselves flying down towards the surface of the planet.

---

"Master Zelos!"

"Aw crap," exclaimed Zelos Wilder. Looking for a way out, he jumped in behind a set of barrels as the girls in frilly and expensive dresses ran past his hiding place. "That's a relief.""So, even the grand pervert has a limit to the amount of women," remarked a voice from atop the barrels. Zelos looked up, grinned and pinched the behind of the girl. Sheena Fujibayashi reached down and slapped him on his head. "Zelos!"

"Ow, that hurt my demonic banshee," said Zelos, only to recieve another slap. "Ow!"

Sheena sighed and got off the barrels. "So, why are you ducking women all the time now?"

"Can I help it if they think the great and powerful Zelos is still the number one ladies man of Meltokio?" bragged Zelos. "But more importantly, what are you doing here?"

"Just returned from Iselia," said Sheena. "Need to report to the king."

"Yeah, that's all well and good... what the hell is that?" said Zelos, pointing to the air.

Sheena looked into the air at the burning red streak. "Something's falling from the sky?"

"Whatever it is, it looks like it's coming right towards us!"

Zelos' predictions were true as a huge object soared out from the sky. "Come on!" exclaimed Zelos. "We need to see what that thing is!"

Following Zelos as he dashed down the huge set of stairs of Meltokio, the pair burst through the gates and stopped to stare at the huge machine that had fallen out of the sky. It still smoked and looked to have sustained a bit of damage on the way down. "What the heck is that?" asked Zelos.

"Some sort of ship I'd think," said Sheena. "C'mon, there might be people inside."

"Or an army," grumbled Zelos but he followed the ninja girl anyhow.

The ship had landed mostly without a fuss, but it smoked from re-entry. A good amount of Tethe'allan soldiers had gathered around the huge mass. "Let us through," ordered Zelos and the soldiers parted rank quickly. "What do you suppose it is anyhow?"

"It looks like a ship. Sort of like a gigantic Reihard." Answered Sheena. "But its way too big to be one. The sheer mass alone..."

Suddenly, a glowing orb floated down amongst the soldiers and all weapons were leveled at the orb. "Hold it!" ordered Sheena as the ball of light vanished to reveal Lloyd and the others. Lloyd lowered the Eternal Sword and grinned. "Sorry if we startled all of you."

"BUD!" exclaimed Zelos, grabbing Lloyd into a hug.

"Zelos... choking, not breathing," gasped out Lloyd as Zelos let go with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"So you're responsible for this hunk of junk falling out of the sky. I gotta say, this thing is massive. Where'd you find it?"

"There's no time for that now," remarked the blue haired woman that Zelos didn't recognize and made a note to hit on her later. "Here they come."

There was a low humming sound and Sheena spun. She shrieked as the fish-like creature aimed a weapon at her. It fired a beam of light that sounded like a low thrumming at her, only to be met by a guard who threw himself in front of the blast. He went down with a smoking hole in his chestplate.

"Damnit, you're gonna pay for that!" snapped Cliff as he zoomed forward, faster than anyone could follow. Mirage was on his tail as well, plowing into the nearest Vendeeni.

"Take a enemy and don't get shot!" ordered Kratos as he drew his sword and leapt into the fray.

"Aiming Device," snapped off Maria as she twisted around two shots and fired her weapon several times. The Vendeeni went down and a second fell prey to a twin slash across the chest and the neck from Lloyd.

"Double Demon Fang!" shouted Zelos, firing twin bursts of energy from his sword swings. The blasts carved up the land in front of him, forcing a group to dodge and disperse. Enraged, they returned fire, laying down a thick blanket of disrupter fire. "Ack! Not the face!" yelped Zelos as he dodged like a maniac.

"I think you need to worry about something less than the face, Zelos," said Sheena as she slashed a ofuda across another chest and crashed one into another's chest with a yell of "Life Seal!" The Vendeeni went down and Sheena grabbed its weapon. "Okay, so this thing points and shoots, right?" said Sheena. The weapon discharged and a bolt of energy ripped through a Vendeeni shoulder, causing the soldier to cry out in pain. "Eeew..."

"Torrential Para Ball!" Colette threw several Para Balls into the fray and the Vendeeni scrambled to get out of the shocking mini-grenades as Colette threw up a rain of Pow Hammers.

Another fell to the silent slash of Kratos' sword as Cliff bashed the head in of another. "Trade you," Cliff quipped as he spun Kratos around. Kratos ran his sword through the Vendeeni armor like it was butter and Cliff sped into his Fists of Fury technique.

"Do you not run out of stamina doing that?" asked Kratos as he idly cut the barrel off of a rifle and launched into a quick five hit strike and finished the enemy off with an upward slash.

Cliff laughed as he swung right into Electric Fists, hammering a group of Vendeeni with his massive fists. "I could go on forever! Get a load of THIS!"

Mirage looked over at where Cliff leapt high into the air and came down with tremendous force, scattering the attacking forces. "He's such a showoff," she remarked calmly as she grabbed a weapon and smashed it.

"Really? I think it's neat the way he's moving," said Colette who had joined Mirage's side as the constant stream of soldiers teleporting in had made it difficult to deal with them on her own. "He's all bang, zoom and pow!"

With a sickening crack of the flat of Zelos' blade on the side of one Vendeeni head, he let out a loud breath. "Well that was healthy," said Zelos. "About as much fun as fighting lost technology."

"Ow," said Sheena as she held her arm. "I got hit by one of them."

"Here, lemme look at that," said Cliff as he inspected the wound. "Yeah, you got hit all right but not as bad as some people. A graze is easy enough to treat. Hold still, this'll sting for a moment."

Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew some alcoholic strips that he used to clean up Sheena's burn. She hissed but otherwise waited for him. Then, placing his hand up close, Symbological Force spun as he called out, "Healing!"

There was a sparkle of light and Sheena bit back a scream. "You okay?"

"Aw damnit that hurt!" exclaimed Sheena as she rubbed her tender arm. "What was that anyhow?"

"Just a little something I picked up," said Cliff. "Sorry, most people who get tended by me are used to the sensation of healing being sped up."

"Looks like we're in for another adventure," remarked Mirage calmly as Maria listened to Marietta report on her personal communicator.

"Marietta said there's a little damage to the drive but it'll be easily repaired within a few hours. In the meantime, we should take this opportunity to find out what they want here."

"Any ideas?" asked Cliff and Maria shrugged.

"A source of mana perhaps," said Kratos, bringing their attention to him. "If these Vendeeni whom you speak of and we have just fought are looking for power, then there is one place that they could get it."

"The World Tree," said Zelos. "That place is flowing with mana. Also there are summon spirits all over the place. I'm sure just one of those would power whatever type of weapon of destruction these bozos are coming up with."

"It is possible," said Maria with a nod. "Summon spirits are incarnations of Symbological Force, and were documented to be extremely powerful. If the Vendeeni, masters of time and space technology were to get a hold of them, then there is very little they could do."

"Including break into 4D Space," said Cliff. "But it doesn't make sense, why would they?"

"So who are these guys anyhow?" asked Colette. "Are these them?"

Cliff looked at the bodies strewn across the field and nodded. "Yeah, these are Vendeeni. C'mon, we need to get these bozos buried or cremated before they stink up the place."

---

"Nice of the King to let us use the council room," said Lloyd as he looked over the lush settings.

"Nothing too good for the Chosen of Mana," boasted Zelos with a grin. "The Church of Martel still reveres me as a savior so while I don't have the same rank as before, I still have the majority of my political power."

"I'm surprised Zelos," said Colette. "That you were still willing to keep the title after wanting to get rid of it so badly."

"Well," said Zelos, "Seles isn't ready for it. Not yet anyhow. She's still my little sister and frankly has been secluded so long, she'll get run over in the political battles. I hate to admit it, but I'm better at the power-throwing that she is simply because I have more experience than she does."

"So what do you think those three are doing over there?" asked Sheena, gesturing to the two Klausians and the Terran. "They've been sort of hush hush lately."

"Dunno, my ears aren't sensitive enough," said Lloyd. "Dad? Colette?"

"I can hear everything but everything is flying over the top of my head," admitted Colette.

"I have long since learned to block out sounds that I do not wish to hear," said Kratos with a shake of his head. "I respect their need for privacy."

Zelos smirked. "Face it bud, you wanna know why they suddenly clammed up."

"So are you!" accused Lloyd as Zelos feigned surprise. "That thing they call the ship out there looks like lost technology but it's so BIG. What sort of people could build something that huge?"

"And that other ship we saw," said Colette. "It was red and demonic looking. They also traded beams of light when we were going down from Derris-Kharlan that did damage."

"Mana?" asked Sheena and Colette shrugged. "Well whatever it is, we should be able to figure out everything soon."

Across the room, Cliff spared a glance at them. Klausian senses were also rather high, considering that their bodies were more tightly wired for strength and speed but also for heightened sensory input. It was one thing to go fast enough but it was another to make sure that you could take in the area around yourself to avoid the pitfalls and ambushes. "They're wondering what we're talking about," said Cliff.

"Don't worry, it's not like we're going to have to worry about the UP3," said Maria with a half-smile. "It seems that any time someone gets stranded on an underdeveloped planet, that planet suddenly becomes a part of the galactic civilization."

"Indeed," said Mirage. "Marietta has just uploaded my Communicator with a detailed scan of the area."

"Anything?" asked Maria.

"The exact central coordinates of this planet coincides with the World Tree they had mentioned. Powerful Mana is harbored there but at the same time, it is young and freshly planted. I doubt if the Vendeeni hook up a machine to it, it will not survive a single shot."

"What about the other pole?" asked Maria and Mirage brought up a little schematic of the world. "Anything there?"

"An unusual amount of Creation Energy is there. Possibly this is what they want for even the Vendeeni realize that the World Tree would not survive the purposes of anything technology based."

"Creation Energy... Cliff, do you remember the experiments on Expel with it?"

"Yeah," said Cliff. "Creation Energy was originally found on Milenokeena back about seven hundred years ago but it was pioneered by some of the ancestors of the Expelian people. Expelians on a whole are half feline-folk but there's some who carry the blood of some ancient people called the Nedians. The Nedians were the ones who created the original Quadratic Keys that could shape Creation Energy and use it for purposes. That's pretty much the reason why Expel was mostly untouched by Luther cause they had that big-ass weapon of theirs, the Lacour Hope."

"They also experimented in time gates along with dimensional space generation. There have been several successful attempts in opening gates to even other worlds, although none of the probes survived the trip." Said Maria.

"Makes sense," said Cliff. "If our basic DNA is actually data, it doesn't translate well over into other universes despite us being an autonomous dimension. Wait a moment. You don't think the Vendeeni are trying to jump-ship to another dimension, do you?"

"It's arguably a logical explanation," said Maria. "If you look at it from a logical perspective, the Vendeeni's actions were solely based around self-preservation. Reports recently released from their homeworld indicate that they had discovered the existence of The Creator, Luther, far longer than possibly even Dr. Leingod and his team did. It could be said that with the events of Luther trying to erase all existence in our universe, they would naturally be scared off and try to figure out a place of existence where they could live without fear. Reports said that they considered Fayt to be the product of tampering with the power of the Creator itself and thus, determined him as a threat. They wouldn't have used him as a weapon to defeat Luther, only kill him outright."

"There have also been reports of the Vendeeni Homeworld in utter chaos as of late," added Mirage. "It all fits actually, and since this worlds pole has a natural source of Creation Energy, it could be used to forge at least another world where they could live."

"Slippery bastards," snapped Cliff. "They're always one step ahead of the universe. What would happen if they forced a portal somewhere open here?"

"If it were anyone but the Vendeeni or possibly the Expelians doing so, I'd take a wild swing at it causing a disaster that could feasibly destroy whole planets."

"Damn," said Cliff, smacking a fist into his open hand. "Lets hope they know what they're doing. As much as I hate to admit it, the universe could be a better place without them."

"That's what they said about Aldian and it's a smoking pile of asteroids now," quipped Mirage and Cliff gave her a glare.

"So..." said Cliff. "What do we tell the natives?"

---

"Sybak eh?" said Cliff as they headed out of the city gates. Lloyd nodded.

"Yeah, it's a town of scholars and stuff. If anything, they might know something useful about the Otherworldly Gate," said Lloyd. "And maybe Professor Raine is there too."

"Hm, lets hope so," said Cliff as he looked over his small party. The group had consented to their help and they had split into two groups. The first group, lead by Lloyd consisted of Lloyd, Cliff, Colette who had refused to leave and Sheena. The second group was consisted of Kratos, Maria, Mirage and Zelos. The second group was headed towards Triet where Yuan had made his home while the group lead by Lloyd were headed to Sybak to see if anyone could provide information Yuan could not, however unlikely. "So this Yuan guy, he a friend of your dad's?"

"Yeah, they go way back and I mean way back," said Lloyd with a grin. "He fought alongside my dad during the war 4000 years ago."

"Man, this world is seriously messed," said Cliff with a shake of his head. "Only other person I know who actually is still living from anything close to it is Count Ashton of Expel. He was a guy who fought in the Unifying War of 472 SD and brought Expel out of the Middle Ages."

"Must be nice, being able to see all sorts of things in this universe," said Sheena. On general consensus, Cliff was given the purpose of explaining the universe in laymen terms. For the scholastically impaired, it was easier than giving them the detailed explanation that Kratos and Zelos were able to sink in. It was to Cliff's credit that the general idea sunk in so easily to the group of kids since his usual explanations resulted in oddness later on. "We'll be headed north to the Grand Tetha'ella Bridge. It's just an hour walk away and then about two hours walk across."

"Man, that's a lot of walking," said Cliff. "I can see it off in the distance though. Sure would be easier if we had like say Chocobos lying around here."

"Chocowhat?" asked Colette. "Are they like Chocolate?"

"Some kind of weird birds that live on a few planets about five hundred light years away from here," said Cliff. "I encountered once when I crashed about seven years ago. Met a guy with a giant sword fetish from what I could tell and some of the craziest hair possible, although he was good at what he did. He loaned me what he called a Golden Chocobo and I was able to get to a place where I could... liberate some parts to repair my ship."

"So people use birds instead of horses," said Lloyd with a nod. "That must be cool, being able to fly and stuff on your mount."

"Hate to break it to you kid but they couldn't fly," said Cliff with a smirk. "Those Chocobo's can flutter mostly and jump really high and even walk on water, but they're not really of the flight type." Cliff paused and amended, "Well, except for maybe those Chocobo's on Gaia. Those things were WEIRD."

"How weird exactly?" asked Colette.

"We had to make an emergency landing on the northern continent of Gaia a few years back. And we quite literally saw a party of people riding around on a Chocobo that ran in the AIR. I tell ya, this universe is just WHACK at times." Cliff grinned at their dumbfounded expressions and added, "Hey, maybe sometime I'll bring you kids along for a trip to one of those planets. You look like you can all handle yourselves anyhow so I won't bore you with the details of some of the monsters on those worlds."

"Why don't you start with telling us what these planets are like?" asked Sheena as they headed across the plains. "It's going to be a long walk to Sybak."

"Hmm, well all right." Said Cliff. "Well the first place I mentioned is called Terra by most people but it's real classification is something along the lines of Sevenas Four. The people who live on it have no real name for their planet, just calling it The Planet with the capitalization all needed. Their planet is also alive."

"Alive? What do you mean alive?" asked Lloyd. "Like does it eat people or something?"

Cliff laughed heartily. "No no, I mean it's alive in a sense that it's continually producing what they call Lifestream. Lifestream is the essence of life itself, containing of souls of people, animals, trees, rocks, everything. When something dies, something is reborn as well. Back when I crashed about seven years ago, they were in some kind of battle against the people who were in a sense, hurting the planet by sucking out all of the life energy and using it to produce power."

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Colette. "And they do this willingly?"

"It was how it was for a good long while," said Cliff with a nod. "There were a group of rebels called AVALANCHE who were in the business of making a name of themselves by blowing up Reactors. Kind of stupid if you think about it cause the overall explosive power of one of those babies going up is akin to killing at least a thousand people in the immediate area. Anyway, the guy who did all of this was called Shinra, and he was the president of the Electric Company that pretty much ruled the world. They had their own army called SOLIDER, some of the most elite people in the world. Then about seven years ago, some madman named Sephiroth, one of their biggest generals flipped out and tried to bring the planet to ruin. Official reports said that he was under the control of a parasitic life form called JENOVA by the people on the planet. If it weren't for Spike-head and his group of mismatched buddies taking him out, the Federation would probably have sent in people to take him out. I probably did them a favour, stealing parts from that big-ass Prod Clod Mech Suit that was at the Shinra Headquarters since it looked like a combat suit."

"Sounds like a lot of worlds are constantly fighting," said Lloyd and Cliff nodded.

"As many worlds that are part of the Old Federation and independent space-going worlds, there are always worlds that are still in conflict. I tell ya it's annoying especially if you crash onto one."

"What about another?" asked Sheena. "Is there any other worlds you encountered before?"

"Hmm," said Cliff. "Well, lets lighten the tone then. There was this one world that Quark had to keep a group of raiders from attacking back about ten years ago called Wisteria. Place was BEAUTIFUL with rich green land and a world full of ocean and many islands. I chased down one of the Razerb goons to a small island called Monetopia. Fortunately I kept him from firing his phase gun rampantly and they rewarded me with this weird currency called Bordeaux. Odd name, considering that on Earth Bordeaux is a French Cheese. But it was good in other worlds too so I held onto that money. Wonderful people, although they're not too tolerant of people with special abilities."

"Sounds like how people are still not too fond of Half-elves," said Lloyd with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, people are pretty much the same anywhere you go," said Cliff with a shrug. "Lets see... there was another place I visited about three years ago just before my trip to Gaia. Oh yeah. This was a REALLY weird world, even weirder than the flying Chocobos. They called the world Eternia and there was quite literally two worlds meshed together. One world hung in the sky called Celestia and the other world was hanging in Celestia's sky. Some kind of weird technology kept both worlds together from colliding. Those two worlds haven't been very nice to each other since a war about 100 years ago. Anyway, I spent about three months on vacation, acting like an oblivious tourist before I headed back to the Diplo."

"Wow, another world that you could see in the skies? Must have been incredible to see," gushed Colette. "Could we see this if we went with you?"

"You could, but those worlds kind of split apart now into two separate worlds," said Cliff. "Was on the news broadcasts for weeks that they suddenly ripped apart and now make up two inhabited worlds on the Etnaala System."

"Awww..." said Colette.

"Hey don't fret," said Cliff. "There's a lot of weird and neat stuff out there. Like the Arigos System. There's a world where buildings fly."

Grinning that he got their attention once more, Ciff launched into an adventure he had with a SeeD Commander who seemingly had the misfortune of meeting him.

---

"Commander Yuan. Someone is here to see you."

"Send them in," said Yuan, not looking up from his paperwork. The door swished open as Yuan said, "Nice to see you again Kratos. I see you got off the space rock."

"I could never sneak up on you, Yuan," said Kratos with a shake of his head as he and the others walked into the room. "I suppose your Renegade spy network told us of your coming?"

"More or less," said Yuan offhandedly as he stood up and cracked his back with a mutter of "I'm getting old." "They tell me that you are looking for information on the Otherworldly Gate."

"If it isn't a bother," said Kratos with a nod of his head.

"I see. Wish Botta were here, he'd know exactly where on the drive the information was stored." Pressing a button on his desk, a man dressed in a red colored Desian-styled outfit walked in and saluted sharply. "Markan, please show our guests to the command room and allow them access to the computers on anything pertaining to the Otherworldly Gate." He turned to Kratos and fixed him with a look. "Markan was second in line when Botta died. He is a good man."

"Very well. Thank you for helping Yuan."

"Believe me, it's much more preferable than staving off an invasion or the End of the World on your own," said Yuan with an ironic smirk that he shared with Kratos.

As they headed into the information room, Zelos whistled. "Man, Yuan hasn't changed much has he?"

"Not since the last time I saw him, but he used to be very uptight," said Kratos.

"How did you two meet?" asked Maria.

"I ran him through and he kicked my backside for doing so," said Kratos, earning a startled look from Maria and an upraised eyebrow from Mirage. Zelos wasted no effort to hide his shock.

"You ran him through and he's your friend?" gaped Zelos. "How the hell does that work?"

"You'd be amazed at what a botched assassination can do," said Kratos, amused. "I was once the King's most trusted guard, till I was sent to assassinate Lord Yuan of the Third Half-Elf Royal Family. Don't look so surprised, Zelos. Back in my day, there were three factors from the Great War, the humans of Tetha'ella, the Elves of Sylverant and of course, the Half-Elf Royals who were caught in the middle."

"Naw, I'm more surprised that Lord Cranky really has a title, not just among half-elves." said Zelos with a flippant wave.

"Indeed," said Kratos as they entered the command room. "There are the computers. I am sorry to say that I only know the basic functions as technology was never my forte. I'm afraid I spent most of my time learning how to break them."

Maria walked up and ran a hand over the console. "It's pretty dusty."

"Most of this technology has been maintained for several thousand years, so there tends to be a bit of a build up," admitted Kratos as Maria shook her head and sat down.

"Definitely old," she said, bringing up the keyboard functions. "The script is very old and command lines nearly non-existent. Mirage, hand me the decoder, will you?"

Mirage pulled a machine out of her pocket and Maria hunted for a jack-in port. "Honestly," grumbled Maria. "If this were any more ancient, I'd think there were still USB ports here."

Finding a place where she could interface the machine, Maria plugged it in. Immediately, a holographic screen popped up and started to flash information across the machine for a good five minutes. Then, with a soft muted beep, Galactic Script began to scroll across the screen at a more sedate pace.

"All right, I'm in. Running a search for the Otherworldly Gate information." Maria's fingers danced across the keyboard and soon, there were several files brought up that were opened and contents perused.

"What do you think?" asked Maria of Mirage.

"It looks like our current hypothesis was correct," said Mirage. "There is a ninety point five percent chance that a successful gate to another world can be opened. Where too however has a fifty percent chance of hitting a stable world without prior coordinates."

"And the outcome is a complete collapse of this worlds Symbological Force," said Maria. Tapping a finger to her ear, she opened a channel to the Diplo. "Marietta, calculate the time needed to request a Quadratic Key Containment Field from Expelian space."

"About two days, Commander," reported Marietta after a minute. "Shall I contact the Expelian Government?"

"Do it. In the meantime, see if you can also get them to send a ship that will keep any more Vendeeni off our tail. What is the status on the Vendeeni ship in orbit?"

"Shields are still up, but they are constantly flooding the surface with scans. I think they're not taking any chances with any miscalculations. There have been no further attempts at assaulting the planet since the initial wave was repelled."

"Good, keep us informed if there is any changes." Terminating the link, Maria turned to Kratos. "How long do you think your friend Yuan would take to send forces to protect the Otherworldly Gate?"

"Hmm... about three hours," said Kratos. "And for a messenger to be run to the King of Meltokio."

"I'll do that," put in Zelos. "He'll be more comfortable if he knows I'm backing the movement of Renegade troops into the area. Also, someone should tell Regal he may have some visitors."

"This Regal is a friend of yours?" asked Maria.

"Yeah, good old Regal Bryant. He's a good friend and an absolute monster in battle. He and Presea are probably in the area so maybe we should drop by." Zelos grinned. "And to get the chance to get you lovely ladies into swimsuits."

Maria gave him a level glare and Mirage stifled a giggle, settling on a smile that was a bit more than her usual sunny expression.

"I see why the others volunteered to go with Cliff," muttered Maria as they headed out the door.

---

"Here we are, beautiful coast-line Sybak," announced Lloyd as the entered the Academy Town. It was a fairly large sprawling complex that reminded Cliff of some of the older schools on say Hyda IV or even Terra III. The lawns were well kept and people dressed in uniforms and casual school outfits that reminded Cliff of Sophia's private schoolgirl outfit walked back and forth, many of them carrying thick books and various other objects that were seen in a museum.

"Shades of Elicoor," Cliff muttered to himself as they threaded their way through what had rapidly become apparent was a Campus Town.

"Sybak is the worlds largest think-tank," said Sheena by way of introducing the campus to Cliff. "Everything from research to Summon Spirits to the development of new weapons or armor and even new practical theories and applications of Mana are brought up in here. It's funded by Meltokio who founded the research facility about twenty years ago. I was a little girl back then, but it also hosts the best medical care known to man. Well, at least on this continent. Other in Sylverant, the biggest Medical Facility known to man is probably Asgard."

"Oh? How come?" asked Cliff.

"Asgard tends to have a more defensible position than say Luin or even Palmacosta," said Colette. "There had been very few Desian Raids on the land since there is a strong canyon-like fortification of the area. It also allowed for the development of medicine since attacks were actually repelled easier than most other cities."

"Most of the Desians have given up but there are a few hard-liners out there," said Sheena, taking up the narration. "Some of Mizuho's ninjas have been dispatched to take care of them, but there are still trouble spots. Some of the half-elves in the group as well as humans who have lost their homes had no where to turn and especially with most if not all of the half-elf Desian leaders dead,. It paints a bad picture for leadership."

"Heh, I definitely remember the last time a few hard-liners came after our group," said Cliff, shaking his head at the memory. "In any case, lets go and see the big cheese."

"HELP!"

"That'll have to wait," said Lloyd, turning to see a girl running towards them. She was dirty and her clothing in shambles. "What's wrong?"

"Desians," gasped out the girl. "Some of the remaining ones are attacking the workers in the forest! Please, we need help!"

"Damnit, so soon," grumbled Cliff. "I was sure it'd be another few minutes before something like this happened." Inwardly he cursed the programmers of Sphere Company. Murphy's Law seemed to be a constant all the time when trying to get something done.

"Where are they headed?" asked Sheena.

"They're in the forbidden forest. They said there's a base there where they're gathering forces to attack. Please, help my sister," pleaded the girl. "I'm Marion and my sister is Amelia."

"Got it," said Lloyd. "All right, lets get moving!"

---

"Hmph, not a challenge," said one of the Desians who stood over the cowering people. "Why are we wasting our time and just not kill these people now?"

"Patience Lendar," said another. "Master Kraus told us to keep our activities low key. We do not have enough men to march onto the city as of yet."

"Bah," said Lendar, kicking at a stone that bounced off the head of a cowering girl. "Master Kraus is a bit soft then. I joined up because I followed the ideals of Lord Kvar. We should be out there fighting and then finding more Exspheres to make our own forces stronger! C'mon Atham, you know as well as I do that Lord Kvar would never approve of something so... weak."

"That is the reason why you're not second-in-command when you were under Lord Kvar," pointed out Atham. "We're here to keep prisoners to make sure that no one interferes with our plans."

"Hmph," said Lendar. "Hmm?" Looking up at rather large Desian who walked up, he scowled. "Aren't you supposed to be on duty, ape?"

"Funny, I should say the same thing," quipped the man.

"Why.. You!" Drawing his sword, Lendar took a swing at the man who suddenly wasn't there anymore. "Wha..?"

Atham gaped as Lendar went flying into a tree, bouncing off with enough force to snap the tree. "HEY!" He shouted, drawing his weapon. It was ancient technology, something that Master Kraus gave him. Drawing a bead on the man, though his hands were trembling, he aimed.

"I'm going to tell you right now that the weapon you have there won't work on me," said the Desian.

"Shut up!" Firing, the man easily sidestepped the bolt of Volt Mana. Panicked, he fired several more times but the man was suddenly in his face. "What... are you?" he whimpered before the man took his weapon away.

"Wouldn't you like to know," said the Desian and with a mighty crack, Atham was sent sailing into the trees where there was a mighty crash.

Cliff sighed to himself as he removed the helmet. "Finally, that thing was starting to smell."

"Are you all right?" asked Lloyd as he, Colette and Sheena ran up.

"I'm fine, and the hostages are okay," said Cliff. "We'd best get moving, someone would have heard that."

"Right," said Lloyd as he turned to the hostages. "How many of you are there?"

"We are all that there is," said a man who looked weatherbeaten and scarred from long years of working. "Who are you people?"

Lloyd grinned. "Just friends. C'mon, lets go."

"You people are not going anywhere," said a voice and they turned to see a young man with pale green hair. He had small pointed ears and was dressed in a set of armor that made Cliff's eyebrow raise. At his side he carried a cruel scythe and he balanced it on his shoulder like it was tissue paper. "Interesting," said the man. "To have found our lair and defeated my two strongest men. Who are you people?"

"Give me your name, and I will give you mine," quipped Lloyd and the man sneered.

"Very well worm. I am Master Kraus, formerly second in command of Lord Rodyle himself. I recognize you all now. You are the Chosen of Mana and her companions who killed Lord Rodyle a year ago."

"Gee, how nice to be famous," said Sheena. "Are you going to talk, or do we have to fight it out?"

"Well," said Kraus, unslinging his weapon. "I was never one for talk much anyhow. Lord of Terror, fill my blood with unholy rage! Scarlet Tempest!"

There was an incredible blast of energy from Kraus as they shielded themselves. In the middle of a fiery maelstrom of energy, Kraus stood up, his green hair glowing and his eyes red with flames. "This is the power Lord Rodyle gifted me with," he said, his voice deeper and more sinister. "Let us see what you have, puny humans."

"Incoming!" warned Lloyd as his swords were in his hands. Rushing forward to meet Kraus' incoming slice, he blocked the blow with a sword and found himself being pushed backwards. "You're pretty good," Lloyd smirked as he heaved backwards and then swung his sword forward. "Demonic Chaos!"

Kraus knocked the first two bursts of energy to the side and jumped the third as Sheena leapt to meet him in midair. Sheena slashed her ofuda in time to meet with the flurry of blows and then shoved both hands forward. "Pyre Seal!"

"Not good enough!" roared Kraus as he shoved forward with his aura, knocking Sheena into the ground. As he landed, he ducked the Chakaram that was hurled in his direction. The bladed weapon bounced off several trees as it returned to Colette's hand. "Pest."

Colette made an effort to stick her tongue out at him which infuriated Kraus. "Damn Chosen, you'll die first! Unholy..."

"HAMMER OF MIGHT!"

The blast knocked Kraus head over heels and he skidded to his knees. Cliff smirked at Klaus as he took up a fighting stance. "You forgot someone."

"Indeed," said Klaus as he sized up his opponent. "Well then, let us stop playing around then."

"Yeah, hate to waste breath on you anyhow," snorted Cliff.

There was a blur of motion and a crackle of energy as they met in the center of the small clearing. Klaus and Cliff were evenly matched, Klaus' weapon burning with black flames while Cliff's gloved fist crackled with lightning. The pair pushed back for a moment before leaping backwards.

"You're holding back," snarled Klaus and Cliff only gave him a feral smirk. "Well then, I will be back. Count on it, human."

With that, Klaus took off into the distance, a trail of black fire streaking out from where he ran.

Cliff smirked as he gave him a thumbs down. "Jerk. You held back too."

"I dunno about you guys," said Sheena as she got to her feet. "But I'm getting sick and tired of this forest."

---

"Amelia!" cried Marion as the two sisters grabbed each other in a hug. "God I thought I lost you."

"It's okay, big sister," said Amelia as the two sisters embraced each other. Turning to the assembled people, she smiled and said, "Thank you for everything. If you ever need help again, look us up in Ozette, okay?"

"Wait, you two are going BACK into the Forbidden Forest?" asked Lloyd, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, mom and dad will worry," said Marion. "We're rebuilding it as per orders of Regal Bryant, the one who is funding it. Don't worry, we'll take the back paths."

"Thank you so much everyone," said Amelia as they headed out into the open plains.

"Well, a job well done," said Cliff. Then he noticed Sheena's expression. "Something wrong?"

"That guy we met, Klaus," said Sheena. "He was hiding his true power. And you were holding back."

"I suppose I was," said Cliff. "But that's not a big deal, is it?"

"Maybe," said Sheena. "You're not HUMAN are you? I mean, you said you were Klausian but what kind of thing does that mean to people anyhow?"

Cliff shrugged. "To some people, I'm as human as anyone else. Just because I'm from outer space, doesn't mean I'm a brain-sucking alien, is it?"

"I suppose not," said Sheena.

"Besides, if he was a brain-sucking alien, he'd have already eaten Lloyd's!" put in Colette and Lloyd fell over in shock.

"Colette, that's mean!" whined Lloyd and the others had a good laugh at his expense. "I have a brain... I just don't use it much."

"It's getting late," said Sheena. "We should get a room over in the hotel. We'll speak with the Director tomorrow and then probably charter a boat to Altamira tommorow."

"Right. You kids go on ahead. I think I'm going to wander around town for a little while." Said Cliff.

"You're not coming in?" asked Lloyd.

"Naw... I wanna see more of this place. Call it a hunch." With that, he headed down the street and dissapeared into an alleyway.

"Lloyd, I wouldn't worry about Cliff," said Colette with a smile. "He can take care of himself."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Then Lloyd's expression brightened. "C'mon Colette, I have a hankering for Dwarven Hot Pot Surprise!"

"Yeah!" added Colette as she ran into the hotel.

"Hope the hotel manager doesn't mind losing a few things in the process," said Sheena to herself as she followed for what was going to be a very interesting meal.

---

"Two rooms please," announced Zelos grandly as he strode up to the hotel front desk where a pretty lady stood behind the counter.

"All right, can I have your name please?" asked the girl.

"You must be new," chuckled Zelos. "Put it under Zelos Wilder and company."

"Oh, Master Zelos!" exclaimed the girl as she made to jot down the information. "How long will you be staying?"

"A night is fine," said Zelos. "Also, I'd like four passes the Altamira Cafeteria on Level Three."

"Yes sir. In total that comes to 500 Gald for one night plus the meal passes. Your rooms are 401 and 406. Will you be enjoying the night life of Altamira?"

"I think it's safe to say we will," said Zelos.

"All right, here are your key cards. Have a nice day, sir."

Snagging the key cards, he headed back to where the others were waiting for him and handed out the keycards. "Room 301 for me and Kratos, Room 306 for the lovely ladies."

"Charming," said Maria dryly. "I'd though you'd try to get a room with one of us."

"I like my bones intact," said Zelos seriously before his happy grin plastered itself over his face. "Well then! We have about three hours before the sun sets here in Altamira. Anyone up for the beach? I got swimsuits!"

Kratos coughed. "I'm not much of a beach person myself."

"There isn't time for that," said Maria, scowling. "If you haven't noticed, your world is on the verge of getting sucked into oblivion. There isn't time for us to be lounging around on the beach waiting for the others to show up."

"Au Contraire," said Zelos. "In fact, there is always time for this! C'mon, haven't you wanted to have fun even on a mission?"

Mirage leaned in and whispered something into Maria's face that made her go red. "Fine," she stammered out. "We'll go choose something from the stores on Level Two."

As Maria headed out with Zelos commenting on what type of suit, or lack of suit she should wear, Kratos sidled up to Mirage and asked in a low tone, "What was it you told her?"

"I thought you'd be listening," said Mirage, a small mischievous smile on her face.

"Touche," said Kratos. "Well?"

"I reminded her that back on Elicoor, there was a man named Boyd who said that if we brought him a sword of exceptional quality no matter the shape it was in, he would help us and develop weapons and armor for us. Suffice to say it, Maria spent long hours at the Bunny Races on near obsession as figuring out odds are easier on paper than it is on real life."

"I see," said Kratos, the same smile on his own face. "I suppose then, I should go and find a suit for myself. Coming?"

"Certainly," said Mirage as they headed for the elevator.

---

"Well look at you," said Zelos with a grin. He was dressed in the same hideously loud purple speedo, sunglasses and sandals that Lloyd said was the brightest thing he had ever seen. "Not bad old man."

Kratos quirked an eyebrow. Leaving his sword and violet armor back at the room, he was dressed in a pair of long swimming trunks that went to his knees, deep violet in color with black stripes down the side. He also wore a thin t-shirt and flipflops. The only thing he brought along from his regular wardrobe was his Cruxis Crystal that sat on the mount that was wrapped around on his left hand. "You still wear that?" he said, indicating the speedo.

"Hey, that hurts," said Zelos with a pout. "I see you didn't leave your Crystal back at the room And speaking of interesting things, hello ladies!"

"Shove the tongue back into the mouth, Zelos, you'll get sunburn," snapped Maria, her face a brilliant red. She was dressed in a light blue two-piece swimsuit that had a flower print skirt tied around her waist, and she wore sandals. Her long hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she wore a bracelet that came with the outfit.

"What, no thank you for the commentary?" asked Zelos with a grin.

Mirage giggled softly. "Maria, you have to relax. There is only so many times in the day you can hit Zelos on the head."

"Fine," snapped Maria as she dropped into a beach chair and held up a data pad. "I'm going to read for a little while so please don't interrupt."

"Fine, be that way," afforded Zelos, sticking his tongue out at her. "You look good."

"Thank you," said Mirage. Mirage was dressed in a swimsuit that was actually made for swimming, cut high and a sea green color. "Shall we go swimming for a bit?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Zelos and the pair headed for the water.

"Ergh," muttered Maria as she continued to read her book. "Are you going into the water, Kratos?"

Kratos smiled. "I think I need to relax for a little while as well. Lloyd has often commented, that I look too pale on many occasions. Perhaps I will surprise him with a tan. Could you please hand me the oil?"

Maria reached over and picked up the oil as Kratos pulled his t-shirt off. Turning back, she nearly dropped the bottle in surprise. "Oh my," she said. "Er, sorry. I never saw someone with that many scars in his life."

"When you live as long as I have, you pick up a few here and there," said Kratos. There were several lining across his back and some across the front with faint remnants of burn marks from energy weapons and the occasional blemish of off-color skin from encounters with numerous lacerations and the occasional marks of battlefield medicine. "I was once the King's best solider, and as a result, got many during the mortal years of my life. Nowadays, I mostly pick them up, as a result of spontaneous carelessness."

Handing over the oil, Kratos worked the liquid into his skin. "It certainly is a nice day."

"Hmm," offered Maria.

"You remind me of another one of my acquaintances," said Kratos as he leaned back onto the chair. "A woman named Raine Sage. Quite intelligent though prone to maniac behavior over things such as artifacts or ruins. Always driven to knowing exactly what is going on."

"Is there a problem? It certainly sounds like it," said Maria and Kratos let out a short chuckle.

"You wish to know everything, what is composed of the situation at hand. What is made of this and of that. Even though it is an admirable trait, there is a situation where the literal can also be the fantastic." said Kratos cryptically. "Perhaps you should see what is now unseen, and that will ease your mind."

Mariarolled her eyes as Kratos leaned back and closed his eyes in order to bake for a while. "I'll never get used to older men speaking like a prophet."

---

"Professor Raine!" exclaimed Lloyd as the four walked into the office. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Lloyd, nice to see you again," greeted Raine as she turned from her work. "I'm studying the effects of mana depletion in the human body. What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to ask the Director about the Otherworldly Gate," said Lloyd. "Is he here?"

"He left me in charge," said Raine, getting a startled reaction. "Really now, is there anything the matter with that?"

"Um, not really," said Sheena. "I'm just kind of surprised that the Director would do such a thing. He's not really fond of half-elves."

"The King had recently appointed a new Director," said Raine. "One that has been a half-elf supporter for about ten years now."

"Lemme guess; he's a Raine Fan Club Member?" grinned Lloyd. Despite their distance, Raine managed to swat Lloyd across the head. "OW!"

"Who's your friend?" asked Raine.

"Cliff Fittir," said Cliff with a polite nod. "Nice to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you too," said Raine. "I'm Raine Sage."

"Professor Raine, we'd like to ask you about the Otherworldly Gate," said Colette. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," said Raine. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, we'd mainly like to know if there was a possibility that a door to another world could be opened even though the worlds are reunited," said Lloyd, prompting a thoughtful expression from Raine. "Could it work?"

"It's possible, but not proven," said Raine as she got up and grabbed a book off the bookcase. Thumbing through it, she continued. "Throughout history there have been reports of people getting sucked into Sylverant or Tethe'alla on either side of the dimensional space. Of course, Tethe'alla has been flourishing for much longer than Sylverant has been in current history, so it allowed the time to study the phenomenon rather than the running and screaming Sylverant people have performed finding a loved one vanish off the face of the planet. The Otherworldly Gate was theorized to be a link to alternate planes of existence, much like the way it functioned as a two-way link between Tetha'ella and Sylverant. Of course, we haven't been able to figure out if it's true or not, but there is a Full Moon in about three days."

"What do you think?" asked Sheena of Cliff.

"I'm no expert, but I'm sure if there was a way to track whatever we sent through the gate, we may be able to get a clear idea of what's going on in there." Cliff shrugged. "As far as I know, it could be a gate to Hell by now or something like that."

"Why the sudden interest in the Otherworldly Gate?" asked Raine suddenly. "Is it something to do with the craft that landed just outside of Meltokio?"

"Kinda," said Lloyd. "It's sort of complicated."

"I see. Well then, when are we off?"

"Say what?" asked Cliff, eyebrow upraised.

"I'm coming with you," clarified Raine. "You see, there's something that worries you, to come all the way here instead of dropping by on a visit casually. Don't attempt to lie to me, Lloyd Irving," said Raine, holding up a finger to forestall Lloyd's open mouthed protest. "It sounds like you all need help and I doubt you'll turn down a healer like myself."

"But it'll be dangerous!" protested Lloyd and Raine slapped him. "OW! What was THAT for!"

"Lloyd be reasonable. I'm an accomplished magic user and we fought together against Mithos himself. I think I can handle myself."

"But...!"

"Hey, kid, settle down," said Cliff. "Don't go all hero on us. If the lady wants to come along, she'll come along with or without your permission. Besides, she's like someone I know. If I know her, she won't take no for an answer."

"Perceptive and strong," nodded Raine and Cliff grinned. "Well then, shall we get going?"

"Just a moment, quick question," said Sheena. "Where's Genis?"

"He's at the World Tree with a team of researchers on how to work more mana into the seedling. After all, we wouldn't want it to die when the weather turns bad, or some kind of machine is turned on." said Raine. "Well, lets get going. Time is wasting."

"Yes ma'am," grumbled Lloyd and got slapped for his cheek.

---

"Professor you're not going to fall," said Lloyd as Raine practically clung to the mast.

"Lloyd, you know I HATE boats," said Raine, looking distinctly upset. Lloyd sighed at his teachers overdeveloped fear of water.

"Fine. It'll be morning before we reach Altamira. Just try to relax."

Raine didn't reply as she clung to the mast as Lloyd marched below deck for some rest. The night wore on and Raine shivered before a thick shirt dropped onto her. "Hey, wear that. It'll keep the chill off."

"Won't you need it?" asked Raine as she let go briefly to shrug on the black sleeveless shirt.

Cliff shook his head as he sat down next to her in only his pants. "I'm pretty good with the cold. It's the heat that really bugs me."

"So... Sheena says you're from the stars," said Raine. "From another world like ours."

"Yeah, it's a living," said Cliff. "That thing that landed outside of Meltokio is our ship."

"A ship. A ship to travel between stars. Must be wonderful to see all the amazing things," sighed Raine. "But I think I'd get seasick."

"Heh," said Cliff with a grin. "It's not really like traveling in water actually. A ship's pretty smooth, if you discount the dull background rumble of the engines."

"They said that you're a... Klausian, am I right?" asked Raine, turning the unfamiliar word around. "Is that anything like a human?"

"Sort of," said Cliff. "I didn't bore them with the details of our race really, but you look like you can handle it."

Raine chuckled. "All right, try me."

"Well, first off, I'm a Klausian of course. Two eyes, nose, ears, mouth, all applicable appendages even the one I'm not flashing now." Raine rolled her eyes at his rudeness and Cliff grinned. "The real difference is how we're BUILT. You people have a fairly decent grasp of biology?"

"The way internal organs work, yes. We're studying some of this so that we can develop better medicine," said Raine.

"Well lets see. Our bone structure is about ten times thicker than human bone structure and our muscles are tightly wired for maintaining the heaviness and the strength. Also, our nervous system is wired so that we can react faster than most people can blink."

"So what you're saying is that you're... made better," said Raine.

"For a lack of a better term, yeah," said Cliff. "Ya see, the planet I come from is Klaus III although I spent a lot of it on Klaus IV. The planets are MUCH closer to the sun than other planets which resulted in a higher gravity constant than most planets. Take this planet for example. This planet is about average, cept for those freaky-high jumps Sheena and Lloyd make all the time. The gravity constant is about the same all across the board except for certain places. On Klaus, I'm quite literally weighing in at nearly two kilotons because of the gravity pulling down as it's nearly three times the weight of this planet's gravity. Follow me so far?"

"So you're saying is that you move like a normal person on your home planet because you weigh so much," said Raine, digesting the information. "And on planets like these with less gravity, you can move faster."

"Bingo," said Cliff, grinning. "On this planet, I barely weigh anything, probably less than fifty pounds. Which means I'm moving less than one tenth of my body weight. The reason why Klausians are built differently biologically speaking is because we evolved to adjust to the much higher gravity than most worlds have. If we were made like normal humans, we'd be on the ground with a lot of broken bones every day. That's why people say we're superhuman, but it's just because we're constantly dealing on a day to day life with lugging around nearly two kilotons of weight."

"Quite the training," said Raine, "If you can move with that much weight on your back."

"Definitely," said Cliff, nodding. "The smallest child couldn't outfight someone else on Klaus. But bring him one world over and he's just unstoppable. There's a lot of Klausian teenagers out there that get a kick out of entering martial arts tournaments or what not on underdeveloped worlds and winning the pot easily. Not like we endorse it or anything, but Klaus is mostly neutral in the Galactic Federation."

"What are other worlds like out there?" asked Raine. "You told me about your home planet but there must be many more since there's very many stars out there."

"Well lets see," said Cliff. "There's the center of the universe, well, as many people like to call it since it seems to be the focus of every major crisis possible throughout history. The people who live there call it Earth, although it's known as Terra III since it's the third planet from the Sun. There's nine planets in all with colonies and what not on each one, the most popular one being Moonbase. It's a fairly decent place to live, or is a nice place to live since it got shot up by a buncha Executioners about a year ago." At Raine's questioning glance, Cliff added, "Just a bunch of freak aliens wanting the heads of everything in the known cosmos."

"Sounds like even outer space has it's problems," said Raine.

"Definitely. I'm old enough not to get into trouble most of the time, but there are times when trouble just follows you like a moth to a bug zapper." Cliff leaned back onto the hard wooden deck and stared up into the skies. "Most people like to look at the stars when they're on Shore Leave. Seeing the pulse of Gravidic Warp is hard for some people, reminding them that there are things out there that they'd rather not see."

"And you?"

"Heh. I'm an old man. I remember the days as a kid on Klaus, looking into the sky, wanting to see action and adventure. Now look at me; on another planet, getting myself into a mess that I'm pretty sure I didn't sign up for."

"You don't look more than twenty," said Raine and Cliff laughed.

"Lemme let you in on a little secret, Raine, I'm over fourty." Cliff grinned at Raine's expression. "Seriously I am. Klausians age pretty well. I was old when Maria came to us as a ten year old."

"It amazes me that you manage to come across as a much younger man," said Raine. "Of course, many people would pass you off as a generic asshole, although you are definitely more intelligent than that."

"Can't argue with that," said Cliff. "I hate authority and stuff like that. Also I hate being serious mostly since you gotta take life as it comes your way. If I didn't, I'd end up like Fayt when I met him; always by-the-book and rules and stuff. I wouldn't be TELLING you this if Fayt were here. He'd be a basket case once more."

"Tell me about your companions," said Raine. "I'd like to know more."

"Sure. Well there's Fayt Leingod. Real by-the-book kid. He's only eighteen but he's definitely a good swordsman, although most of that came from simulation games and later experience in real combat. When I first met him, he was just freaking out about everything from violating the stupid Non-Interference Rule of the Federation to if he blended in. Real basket case. Though he changed for the good, and I think he came out stronger. Right now he's with his parents and Sophia and her parents on some kind of place they rented out on another planet."

"Sophia though is the complete opposite. She's willing to throw authority to the side if it needs to be. Cute kid if a little wide eyed and sheltered. But she's seen crazy stuff and she handed it pretty well. Good to have at your back when there's a horde that needs a good shot of magic. Fayt's completely oblivious to her affection, which is fine cause he needs the pressures of normal life instead of having threats breathing down his neck."

"Sounds like a real Lloyd and Colette," said Raine and Cliff snickered.

"Definitely. Oh, that woman I said reminded me of you? Her name's Nel. Real tough lady she is. If she was raised on Klaus, she's be one scaa-rey lady. Of course, she's definitely scary. Despite that, she's as loyal to her friends if only second to her queen. Kind of dramatic at times but she has that sort of look to her that screams loyal. And then there's her polar opposite; wild, untamed, and something of a bloodthirsty psycho. That's Albel the Wicked."

"Charming name," said Raine.

"He's rude, he's crude and he calls everyone who hasn't thumped him a good one Maggot or Worm. Reminds me of that asshole back in the Forest. Then again, he still calls anyone who has beaten him good Maggot or Worm." Cliff chuckled. "He also has a hardcore thing for Fayt, calling him his "prey" and will gleefully eviscerate anything that wants to get to Fayt before he finishes him off himself. Although, I doubt Albel would do it. He's gotten soft not because Fayt kicked him around too many times, but mainly because he finds it too funny when there's things to kill and Fayt can't handle it alone."

"There's also the "kids" of the circle of lunatics I know. Roger S. Huxley and Peppita Rossetti. Those two are interesting kids. When you look at them you think 'Oh, they're kids. Lets go easy on them.' And then they tool you. Roger is probably the third strongest in our group, much to Albel's displeasure. I've seen him knock an Executioner across a canyon and flying tackle it from 100 meters to finish it off. Kid would become an absolute monster if he spent a few days on Klaus. And then there's Peppita. She's short, definitely a kid. But she's bouncy and hits hard. She's a Velbysian which means she's as athletic as I am but she can't keep it up for as long as I could. Maybe two, three fights in a row and then she's out for the count in the back. Short term, she could outfight me for about ten minutes."

"Sounds like you're all friends," said Raine. "Much like myself and the rest of us."

"Events tend to spiral into weird friendships," said Cliff, nodding. "And then there's the last member of our little party of misfits. If you ever saw a guy who was more obsessed with the strength of the mind and of the body, there's Adray Lasbard. He's one of those people who you don't want to cross as he's had nearly fifty years of experience. Being Clair's father, he was once the former head of the Crimson Guard, the elite Queen-protecting group. You just cannot say No to that guy and believe me, he's LOUD. Very loud. Most of the time he's out of the country because Lasselle can't deal with him. Adray's suited to the battle field which makes him quite a bit more blunt in normal occasions."

"Sounds like you're all friends," said Raine.

"Yeah, and hey, you let go of the mast."

Raine blinked and realized that indeed, she had let go of the mast. "Huh?"

Cliff grinned. "You see, you just need to get someone to talk to you, get you to relax. A boat's not bad and it's a beautiful night, and it's just about to hit morning too."

"Well, I never would have guessed you were actually helping me relax," said Raine. "Thank you."

"Aw no big deal," said Cliff. "We'll be seeing the coast line in a little while. Lets get everyone up, all right? Just take the steps slow and move with the rocking of the boat."

---

"How are the repairs coming along?" asked Lancar as he looked up at the console.

"Team four is getting the Quadratic Key realigned," said Steeg. "Looks like we'll be ready to go in a half an hour."

"Good, I hate this waiting," said Lancar. "It's driving me insane."

"I think it's Leiber who's driving you insane," said Steeg and Lancar chuckled. "How is the power conduit coming along?"

"Just about done calibrating it," said Lancar with a final satisfied push of his keyboard. The keyboard vanished and the lights flared up in the bridge. "Excellent."

"You ever expected this to happen?" asked Steeg suddenly as he finished working on his own repairs. "You know, the whole involvement in saving the universe?"

"Honestly? Not really." Admitted Lancar. "But when you work with people as crazy as Maria and Cliff, it's bound to happen. And here we are on a not-quite-underdeveloped planet waiting for the Vendeeni to suck it into a ball of nothingness."

"Wonderful analogy there," said Steeg with a grin and a roll of his eyes. "I was double checking the galactic news net."

"And?"

"Well, there's the usual chatter of how the Federation is doing it's best to rebuild itself under the leadership of Ophelia of Tetragenesis, how worlds are sending relief to the core systems, all of that. Under all of that though is the curious mass Exodus of the Vendeeni people. Looks like they're really intent on sending their whole people through the gate."

"Yeah, and destroying a world in the process," said Lancar dryly. "Can't they just find a nice unpopulated world to live on?"

"When there's fear of the Creator of the Universe involved, no thought is sane or rational," said Steeg. "It's like they found religion and are performing a mass "run away!" from it," said Steeg, pitching his voice into a panicked tone at "Run away!"

"Well, whatever happens, we're in the thick of things. As usual. I wonder if Count Ashton has the same problems as us?"

"I'm sure anyone who's been a universal savior once is going to have some problems besides wondering what he's going to eat for breakfast," said Steeg wryly. "Speaking of Count Ashton, there's rumor that he's spearheading a greater Expelian involvement in the rest of the universe. They were arguably left mostly alone by the Executioners and Ashton himself is working with the Queen of Cross to work around the tariffs that the Federation once placed on them. I tell ya. Going from a nearly natural world to one of the most heavy tourist traps ever conceived."

Lancar grinned to match the expression on Steeg's face. "There's very few worlds that can boast that they once saved the universe or came back from complete annihilation. But in any case, that ship from Expelian space should be here in another ten hours. Hopefully our party boys up in space won't get ready to drop whatever they're planning on using on our heads in that time."

"God forbid," grumbled Steeg.