Chapter One
The subsonic growl of Max's TURBO energy reached Ven-Ghan's ears as he cut a thin gash across Water Elementor's side. The Megalink hissed and swiped at Ven-Ghan with one of his thick talons, but the Kaduonnite was already disappearing through a gravity warp.
He appeared beside Max as the boy rushed forward in Strength Mode, delivering a vicious uppercut to Mega Elementor's spiny jaw. Water Elementor dissipated into Metal Elementor as he staggered backwards.
"Agh! Get them you fools!" Mega Elementor commanded, his voice steely in more ways than one.
Max backed up a few paces as five Ultralinks were beamed down from the drop ship. Blast, Prism and Chomp were there, as well as two Ultralinks that Ven-Ghan had never seen before. The first looked to be Linked with some sort of hazardous garden vegetable, while the second….
Ven-Ghan was so distracted that he was nearly hit by a charge from Blast. He nimbly leapt out of the way, rolling to the side when his feet touched the ground.
"You're losing your edge," Steel teased playfully across Ven-Ghan's com signal. Before he could reply, Max gave a cry of "Go TURBO! Speed!" and zipped away in a streak of blue.
Ven-Ghan's attention was drawn back to Blast, Vegetable and the fifth Ultralink while Prism and Chomp tried to defend against Max's flurry of attacks.
Vegetable hissed and sprayed what looked like a cloud of poisonous violet spores across the ground. Ven-Ghan knew that his life-support system would keep him safe from aerial contamination, but he avoided the cloud nonetheless.
He opened a gravity warp and vanished into thin air.
"Where did he go?" Vegetable growled to Blast. The fifth Ultralink was sniffing the air tentatively.
"Keep your eyes peeled." Blast replied simply. Suddenly, the fifth Ultralink let out a shout and whirled around.
Ven-Ghan popped into existence, his sword drawn and ready, but the fifth Ultralink was expecting him.
She ducked beneath his slash and lurched forward, slamming into the bounty hunter and wrapping her fingers around his slender neck. Ven-Ghan fell beneath her with a strangled cry of shock while she kicked his sword out of his hand.
The cold, bitter steel of her claws bit into Ven-Ghan's flesh, but that wasn't what bothered him…it was her face.
Her smooth, green skin was marred by deep scarlet veins where the Ultralink had burrowed into her systems. Her slender body had been grotesquely twisted by metal extremities and apparatuses, giving her four clawed arms, a whip-like tail and the one-eyed visage of one of Makino's soldiers.
She'd been Linked for a long time…almost thirteen Kaduonn cycles.
"Thil-Eryn…." Ven-Ghan croaked. She'd fully matured since he'd last seen her, but it was definitely her. He recognized her round cheekbones and her full lips and the tone of her voice.
She blinked at him for a moment, then the Ultralink regained control. Ven-Ghan convulsed and began to see spots on the inside of his helmet when her steely fingers tightened around his neck.
"You guys said this would be hard." Thil-Eryn sighed, rolling her optical drive. Vegetable made a growling sound in his throat that sounded like laughter.
"We aren't done yet." Blast snapped. "MaxSteel is more than he seems."
Just then, Max's white-clad foot slammed into Blast's chest, knocking him over. Vegetable yelped and tried to spit more spores, but was no match for Turbo Speed.
Blast was starting to get to his feet, his gun swiveling to aim at Max.
"Hey, ugly, over here!" Max called, standing behind where Vegetable was staggering around.
"Wait!" Vegetable shouted. He was quickly disintegrated after that. Max raced over to Thil-Eryn, rapidly switched to Turbo Strength Mode and yanked her away.
Gasping heavily, Ven-Ghan lurched to his feet, scooping his sword off of the ground.
"Do not harm her, MaxSteel." he said, his electronically-disguised voice hitching slightly. His throat felt raw and parched.
"Easier said than done! Woah!" Max shouted, dodging out of the way of Thil-Eryn's attack. Her claws nearly grazed his chest.
Ven-Ghan opened up a gravity portal and warped behind her. Once more, she anticipated the attack, but Ven-Ghan was ready for her. He flattened himself to the ground, then quickly stood and sent the butt of his sword sharply into the Ultralink's optical drive.
Thil-Eryn yelped and fell backwards. There was the sound of a gun charging, and Ven-Ghan barely had enough time to dodge another shot from Blast.
The bounty hunter turned to face the Ultralink, drawing his rifle and preparing to fire. Max was ready to change into Speed Mode, when Mega Elementor let out a shout.
"Fall back!" he bellowed angrily. Blast turned around and saw his wounded comrades retreating back to the drop ship. Prism was chipped and scratched, while Chomp was missing a limb. Vegetable was nothing but a grease-spot on the desert floor.
Thil-Eryn growled and moved to get up, but Ven-Ghan planted a two-toed foot over her chest, pointing his rifle at her.
"Don't move." he said. Then, he opened a warp to his ship, teletransporting the Linked Thil-Eryn into the stasis field below the hull. She yelled and thrashed violently, clawing at her violet prison.
"MaxSteel," Ven-Ghan called. "I will need your assistance to Unlink her."
"You got it, rooster-head." Steel replied cheerfully. Max activated Turbo Flight Mode and followed beside the bounty hunter's ship.
"What's so important about keeping it alive?" Max queried. Ven-Ghan felt a spike of irritation.
"Not 'it,' Max. Her." he said. "She's one of my people."
Max let out a cry of disbelief.
"I thought Makino destroyed your planet a long time ago..." he said. "How can she—"
"I don't know." Ven-Ghan cut him off sharply, and didn't speak again.
(O)
Ven-Ghan set down on a rocky shelf concealed by a high ridge of sandstone. The drop to his right was smooth and sheer, with boulders and rocks peppering the bottom. To his left was the ridge and the craggy face of a cliff.
"Max," he said. "Signal Commander Ferris. We may require N-Tech's assistance."
Ven-Ghan pressed a button on his wrist, and the stasis field deactivated. Thil-Eryn dropped to the ground, hissing and snarling.
"You will not succeed." she said. "Lord Makino will absorb this world and you with it, Max Steel."
"Get used to disappointment," Steel huffed, detaching from Max's chest. "Because that ain't happening."
Ven-Ghan stepped forward and pointed the tip of his sword at the Ultralink, drawing his shoulders back and puffing out his chest.
"Surrender her now, and I won't be forced to harm you." he said. There was an edge to his voice that Max hadn't heard before.
"Never!" the Ultralink replied sharply, but it looked nervous.
"Thil-Eryn," Ven-Ghan said quietly. All the anger in his voice had disappeared. "I promised."
The Ultralink's optical drive flickered.
"V-Ven-Ghan?" she whispered. "You're alive?"
Ven-Ghan didn't answer, but drove his sword forward and began the Unlinking process. There was the crackle of electricity, a scream of agony from the Ultralink, and then it was over. The mechanical parts fell to pieces and the scarlet veins disappeared in a few seconds, leaving an unconscious Kaduonnite lying on the ground and a dazed Ultralink drifting about.
Instead of capturing it, Ven-Ghan sliced it in half faster than Max could blink.
Then, he sheathed his sword and knelt beside his female counterpart.
Thil-Eryn had smooth, soft skin that was several shades darker than Ven-Ghan's, and what appeared stripes across her arms and her back. Each stripe was accompanied by a thin, colored streak that outlined each mark like an iridescent pencil stroke. Her hair stuck up in short spikes of violet, gold and blue, and Max noticed a slender tail extending from the end of her spine.
Ven-Ghan seemed sallow and plain in comparison to her.
"She has been under the control of Makino for a very long time." he said, sliding an arm under her head and pulling her into his arms.
"Is she going to be okay?" Max asked, stepping forward as Ven-Ghan stood up.
"I certainly hope so." Ven-Ghan replied. He looked up and saw Kat and Jefferson's team of jet fighters streaking across the sky. "But she needs medical attention."