-3-

At the very southern end of the northern continent lay the largest city of the continent, Nasces. It's size was incredible by Decarabia's standards- 7 kilometers across, with a population in the hundreds of thousands, and over 150 individual cores. It was a home for hundreds of clans, all existing in a state of semi-permanent war, as if the northern clan wars were magnified several times. Despite the constant battles, the city was astounding to look at- several massive skyscrapers rose from the center of the city, almost the size of the towers at Aspertias base. Other examples of large scale engineering dotted the city, such as huge road bridges, and a cargo port spread several kilometers across the city's southern flank. No-one knew who built them- the names of the clans were long forgotten, lost in the city's melting pot of alliances and betrayals.

The squad spent barely an hour there, loading the Torchbearer's transport vehicles, before they got into their own pelican and flew north again. Away from the lush lowlands of the coast, the land quickly rose up into a series of alpine valleys. Thin logging trails led through the tall forests; as the ground convoy passed deer scattered and birds flew away, squawking.

'This sucks,' Gigolo said.

'Shut up.' Elesa replied, barely glancing away from her scope.

'Yeah, stop complaining,' Midori said. 'At least we're not doing anything dangerous, or demeaning.'

'I'm surprised Meier gave us something so easy,' Vivian said. 'I assumed he'd want us to fail.'

Gigolo laughed. 'Yeah, I'm sure he's really not as nasty as he seems. Underneath that sour exterior he probably has a heart of gold.'

'Nah,' Atlas said over the intercom, 'I bet he's set something up for us.'

'That's a possibility,' Gigolo said. He turned to Zero. 'Hey, seeing as your the one who got us into this mess- what do you reckon Meier's planning?'

Zero stared at Gigolo. 'Meier won't have set anything up. And shut up.'

'Oh, strong words,' Gigolo jeered. 'Just because you're the squad leader- actually, why are you even the squad leader? Because you've been here the longest?'

'Give it a rest, Gigolo,' Midori said. 'If anyone's going to screw this mission up, it will be you with your constant bickering.'

'What is your problem with Zero?' Elesa said suddenly. 'Why do you always have a go at him? You're doing the most damage here.'

Gigolo held his hands up. 'Hey, I'm not the one who got us into this mess. Remember that.'

Elesa turned to Midori. 'Why do you hang out with him so much? He's an ass.'

Midori laughed. 'He sure is El, he sure is.'

'Hey! I'm here you know!' Gigolo shouted, angry.

'Not so nice when you're on the receiving end of the jokes, is it?' Vivian said.

'Well, we all know he's a hypocrite.' Zero stood up, staring Gigolo down.

'Oh, so I'm the hypocrite am I?' Gigolo shouted. 'I'm the one who is ruining everyone's lives?'

'Well you sure as hell aren't fixing them.'

'You're an awful leader. There- I said it. We'd be better off with an insect running this squad.' Gigolo stood up as well.

'Which is what we'd get if you ran it,' Vivian said quietly.

'Oh, and I suppose you'd be far better?' Zero asked Gigolo.

'Yes, I would. Its not hard to be better than you, Zero. We all agree don't we? Zero is an awful leader.' Gigolo looked around the other people sat in the pelican.

Zero sighed, then ran forward and punched Gigolo across the face.

'Hey!' Midori shouted.

Gigolo staggered backwards. Zero kicked him in the chest, then followed with a knee as he doubled up. Gigolo fell to the floor, gasping.

As Zero turned away, Gigolo caught his breath, and stood up. He charged Zero, pinning him to a wall. As Zero tried to regain focus, he began to rain punches down on the other man's face. Vivian and Midori rushed forward to pull them apart. They wrenched Gigolo off of Zero, still struggling.

'Guys- Hostiles!' Atlas cried from the cockpit. 'Missiles launched. Taking evasive maneuvers.'

The pelican lurched suddenly. Gigolo reeled backwards, and fell out of the back of the pelican. Midori screamed and threw herself forwards. She caught Gigolo's hand as he fell away, screaming.

'Damn it Zero, help me!' She shouted. After a moment of indecision, Zero ran and leaned out of the back of the pelican, taking care to anchor himself securely.. He grabbed Gigolo's hand.

'Pull!' Midori shouted.

Zero heaved, but the pelican lurched again and he nearly slipped out. 'It's a little tricky right now!'

'What are we going to do then?' Midori cried.

'Wait- Atlas!' Zero shouted.

'A little busy here,' Atlas replied testily.

'Fly straight down!'

'Are you mad?' Atlas shouted.

'Gigolo's life depends on it,' Zero replied. Atlas grunted, and Midori felt the pelican flip downwards. The open back of the aircraft pointed upwards, and Gigolo came flying in. Midori overbalanced and fell back towards the cabin door. She felt Zero grab her arm and slam it into the floor. She cried out at the pain.

'I can't maintain this!' Atlas yelled. The pelican pulled up sharply, and the open back of the pelican started pointing downwards all of a sudden. Midori suddenly understood what Zero had done- she was now anchored relatively securely. She glanced over and saw that Zero had also done the same to Gigolo, who seemed to have passed out.

After a few minutes of maneuvers, the pelican's flight eased out. Midori pulled her hand free from the floor of the pelican, and the rest of the squad untied their restraints.

'Maybe you should close the back door,' she shouted to Atlas. There was a grunt over the radio, and the door closed. She turned around to see Zero standing by Vivian.

'Check Gigolo,' he ordered. Midori shrugged, and bent over Gigolo. She slapped him a few times, which seemed to wake him up. Muttering incoherently, Gigolo got to his feet. He shook his head a few times.

'Oh man...' He said. Then he looked at Zero. 'You bloody ass! I could have died!' he shouted.

'I saved you.' Zero said.

'Yeah, well you took your damn time about it! And wasn't this your fault anyway?'

'Actually,' Vivian said quietly, 'I think you started it.'

'Shut up!' Gigolo shouted. He pointed at Zero. 'You attacked me! You physically assaulted me!' He clenched his hands, then seemed to calm down. 'When we get back, I'm going to report you, and then you'll be kicked out of the clan.'

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Elesa said.

'Huh? Why not, then?'

'Because,' Vivian said, 'If you do, chances are General Meier will decide that we're all lost causes, seeing as none of us are capable of cooperating with each other. He'll kick us all out.'

'And if that happens,' Elesa said quietly,' I will hunt you down and make you pay.'

Gigolo visibly flinched from Elesa. 'Fine,' he said. 'But sooner or later, whether I help it or not, Meier is going to kick us out of the clan. Unless,' he pointed at Zero again, 'He leaves.' Gigolo turned and walked through the door to the cockpit. 'Think about it.'

Midori turned to Zero. 'I'll try and get him to calm down.'

'You'd better,' Zero said. 'Or else he is going to get us all kicked out.'

-4-

Atlas brought the pelican into the torchbearers base in a lazy circle over the torchbearer base. The base was a relatively mundane affair, compared to Aspertias base. It stood several stories high, a squat black building perched half way up a mountain. A narrow road snaked up to it. The aircraft touched down on one of the upper landing pads, next to some pelicans belonging to the other clan.

'We've touched down,' Zero said over the radio.

'Confirmed,' the torchbearer leader said. 'We're bringing the convoy in through the lower entrance. See you soon.'

'What now?' Vivian asked.

'Now we just wait, I guess,' Midori said. Zero shrugged.

'Atlas?' Elesa asked.

'Yeah?' The pilot replied.

'Did you contact the Torchbearer air control?'

'Funnily enough, no,' Atlas replied. 'The convoy leader said that the long range communications had been broken for some time. He gave me clearance.'

'That's a little odd, isn't it?' Vivian said.

'Not as much as you'd think,' Zero said. 'A small clan like torchbearers doesn't have the same resources we do. It's not unheard of for them to be unable to repair transmitters and the like for some time.'

'I guess we have it easy in Aspertias,' Elesa mused.

'I always wondered about that,' Gigolo grunted. 'Why are we even allies with them if they aren't big enough to repair a damn transmitter?'

'Because,' Vivian replied, 'With our help, they will grow big, and then they'll remember us as the ones who helped them when they were weak.'

'Still seems pointless,' Gigolo grumbled.

The radio suddenly blared into life. 'Alert! We have come under attack from an unknown clan!' cried the Torchbearer leader.

'What is your status?' Zero asked, attentive.

'We've held them off, but with heavy casualties. They use energy swords, seemingly exclusively, but are very weak- they have no shields, and seem to die instantly.'

'That's odd,' Vivian said, curious.

'We're coming to reinforce you,' Zero said. He pointed to Atlas. 'You and Elesa, guard the pelican. Rest of you, with me.' He ran out of the back of the aircraft. Vivian sprinted after him, aware of Gigolo and Midori behind her. Zero ran across the landing pad and into the base.

'They're still at the bottom,' Vivian said, panting slightly.

'Where is the elevator?' Zero asked.

'Just down there-' Vivian stopped abruptly. Three Spartans stood in the hallway, their armor black, and energy swords held in their hands. They looked straight at the squad for a moment, and then charged all at once. Immediately Vivian's DMR was in her hands. Without thinking she fired at the lead Spartan. The bullet struck its head and it fell to the floor. Zero fired a heartbeat later, hitting the second spartan.

The third black spartan sprinted on, undeterred by the deaths of its comrades. It ran faster than any Vivian had seen before, so fast that she was unable to bring her rifle to bear on it. The energy sword flashed towards her, an arc of plasma death.

Abruptly the sword stopped, and then fell back as its owner collapsed. Vivian started to breather again.

'You're welcome,' she heard Gigolo say. Turning, she could see him reloading his shotgun, his smug smile visible through his clear visor.

'More from behind!' cried Midori. Vivian spun to see another group of the black Spartans sprinting towards them at inhuman speeds. She brought her DMR up and began picking them off as the ran. Zero did likewise, while Midori opened fire with her assault rifle.

'There's too many!' Gigolo shouted.

'Fall back!' Zero cried. 'Into the core room!' Vivian turned and began to run the other way. She spun into the core room. Gigolo followed her, panting. Midori and Zero both ran backwards into the room, guns blazing. Hurriedly Vivian heaved the door closed. The sound of swords hitting metal reverberated through the blue lit chamber.

'Is there another way out?' Zero asked.

'Yes, on the ceiling,' Vivian said. She brought the map of the facility up in her HUD. 'We should be able to get back to the pelican, avoiding most of the black Spartans.'

'Hey, Zero?' Gigolo called.

'What?' Zero snapped, irritably.

'Look at the core.' Vivian turned. The core was usually a blue, cylindrical machine, covered in whirring lights. The Torchbearer's core was totally changed. It was covered in black slime, and seemed deformed, twisted from its usual shape.

'What the hell is that?' Vivian wondered aloud.

'We should blow it.' Gigolo said.

'What- are you crazy? The torchbearers are our allies!' shouted Zero.

'I agree, Zero,' Vivian said. 'Something odd has happened. The core needs to regenerate.' Zero clenched his fists.

'Fine. Midori, blow it.' Midori nodded, and pulled her laser out. 'Be ready to run,' Zero ordered. The laser charged, and then fired with a searing red light. The core seemed to deflate, and then blew in a small explosion. Vivian glanced at Zero, who nodded. She turned and led the way out of the facility.

-5-

As darkness fell, Atlas walked into the cargo compartment of the pelican, yawning. Midori looked at him, alarmed.

'Shouldn't you be flying?' she asked.

'Nah, the autopilot has it covered.' He yawned again. 'And I'm tired as hell.'

'You can nap later,' Zero said. 'We're all going straight to see Meier.'

'Why? I need a rest,' Gigolo complained.

'Because Meier needs to know about what happened back there at Torchbearer base. Those Spartans weren't right.'

'To hell with that,' Atlas said. 'So what, they had some exotic armor mods on. Who cares? We beat them fine.'

'You can't get mods which lower shield strength, let alone remove them,' Vivian said.

'So why do we,' Gigolo said, gesturing to everyone,' Have to come as well? Can't you tell Meier this yourself?'

'You're coming, and that is final,' Zero ordered. Gigolo groaned loudly.

A loud thump indicated that the pelican had landed safely. The rear door opened and Zero walked out briskly. The rest of the squad followed him.

Zero strode confidently into the terminal, and made for the elevators. Getting more irritated, Atlas followed him in. The squad all squeezed silently into one of the cars.

When the elevator arrived at the ops room, Atlas shuffled out, doing his best to ignore the bemused stares of the people working. Zero pushed past him and walked determinedly towards the briefing room. With a groan, Gigolo followed him. Atlas and the rest walked after, trying to look as small as possible.

As Zero approached the briefing room, Meier walked out. He stopped when he saw Zero and the rest of the squad, a look of slight confusion on his face, which quickly turned to annoyance.

'What are you doing here?' He demanded.

'I have something of utmost importance to tell you,' Zero said firmly.

'And did they all have to be here to hear you tell me this?' Meier asked, gesturing at the assembled Spartans.

'I wanted their corroboration. What I have to tell you may be hard to believe,' Zero said flatly.

'Oh really?' Meier sighed. 'Proceed.'

'At the Torchbearer base we were attacked by a group of black armored Spartans wielding exclusively energy swords,' Zero began.

'Many clans use energy swords and many have black armor. I fail to see-'

'Please, sir,' Zero said, interrupting. Meier's face darkened, but he kept silent.

'These Spartans were odd, in that they had no shields and had extremely weak armor- they died in one or a couple of shots. They also ran abnormally fast- faster than any spartan should be able to.'

'So? They had some exotic armor modifications. Perhaps they were from the south, they do that kind of thing there.'

'I'm certain if you checked, you would see that no such armor modifications are available anywhere in the world.'

'Right.' Meier rubbed his forehead. 'So, you're telling me that you got attacked by some Spartans using some homemade, or new, or secret armor mods. Of what relevance is this? Surely you should have brought this up with intelligence, heck, even engineering. Why tell me?' Meier shook his head. 'Nothing went wrong this time, somehow. You all made it back, and we assume that the Torchbearer's were pleased with your performance. Their communications have been down all day. So why don't you all just piss off somewhere, and let me get back to my work?'

Meier made to move past the squad. Zero stepped in his path.

'Sir, there was something weird about the black Spartans. They didn't seem quite human. And the Torchbearer core- it was covered in some black substance.'

Meier paused. He pointed at Gigolo. 'You, soldier. Is this true?'

Gigolo was silent for a moment. Then he spoke. 'No.'

Meier turned to Zero. 'Look. Up until now I've been having a remarkably good day, which is why I've indulged your little game. But I am fast running out of patience. So either you get out of my sight, or so help me I will discipline you so hard you won't be out on another mission for a month. Do I make myself clear?'

Zero nodded. He turned and walked out of the ops center without another word. Vivian strode after him, not looking at Meier. The general watched her go, a frown on his face. He turned to the rest of the squad. 'You are dismissed.' He span on his heel and walked away. The remaining Spartans shared a look, and made for the elevator.

Atlas let out a deep breath as soon as he was in the elevator.

'I need a drink,' he said. 'Gigolo, you want to come?'

'I'll pass,' Gigolo said. I gotta get some sleep.'

'Suit yourself.' Atlas turned to Midori. 'You want to come along?'

'I think I could do with a drink,' Midori replied.

'I'll come as well,' Elesa said. 'Seeing as he isn't coming.' She nodded towards Gigolo.

'You wound me!' He said, before laughing meanly. The elevator stopped at the apartment level. 'See you later,' he said, and walked away.

'We'll meet up in 10 minutes,' Atlas said. He left the two girls and quickly changed out of his armor and into some comfortable clothes. After freshening himself up, he made his way to Harry's bar. Elesa was already there, sitting at a table in the quieter area of the bar. Atlas caught her eye and smiled at her. She made a thin smile in return.

'So,' Atlas said, sitting at the table, 'Midori tells me that you two go way back.' He smiled invitingly.

'I guess you could say that,' Elesa said quietly.

'How did you two meet? Were you in a squad together?'

'Yeah...' Elesa stared into her drink. Atlas sighed inwardly. He liked Elesa- she was pretty, with mid length brown hair and large blue eyes, and from what little he'd seen of her she was fun to be around- but he despaired of ever getting a chance to really talk to her. Atlas very rarely saw her alone- as far as he could see she only really liked spending time with Midori, and sometimes Vivian.

'I have to say, I am really jealous of your skill with rifles.' Atlas searched for something to get a conversation going. 'Midori tells me you regularly score in the top 5 in the clan for sniping skill.'

'Why would you be jealous?' Elesa asked. She wasn't looking at Atlas, instead playing with her drink. 'You're one of the best combat pilots.'

Atlas raised his hands, smiling. 'You flatter me. I'd say that being a good pilot is easier than becoming a sniper of your skill level.'

'If you say so.' Elesa took a sip from her drink, and then returned to staring quietly into it. Atlas sighed again. It was frustrating, trying to talk to someone who just didn't seem to be interested, no matter what he said. Most people liked Atlas, so it was a shock to see someone so apathetic.

'Sorry for keeping you waiting!' Atlas turned to see Midori arrive. She pulled a chair at the table and sat down.

'Hey babe,' Atlas said, smiling.

'You okay Elesa?' Midori asked.

'I'm fine,' Elesa said. She smiled weakly at Midori.

'Atlas hasn't been bullying you has he?' Midori asked, concerned.

'Hey!' Atlas cried.

'No.' Elesa shook her head, not meeting anyone's eyes.

'Just kidding,' Midori said. 'Elesa here clams up in places like this.' Elesa raised her eyes to glare at Midori, but said nothing.

'So, what were those black Spartans like? Neither of us saw them, remember?' Atlas asked.

'Odd. I mean, I'm hardly the right person to ask for a fact file about them. You'd be better of asking Vivian.'

'But what did you,' Atlas emphasized the word, 'think about them?'

Midori bit her lip. 'Well, I dunno. They had some pretty weird armor mods. You heard what Zero said to Meier. Like nothing we've seen before.'

'So do you reckon they're a clan from down south?'

'Probably,' Midori said. Her eyes widened. 'Gosh, you don't think they're some kind of invasion force, do you?'

'It's possible. I've heard that they form bigger alliances down south than they do here. One might have decided to attack us, gain more territory.'

'Why would they attack the Torchbearers?' asked Elesa. Atlas almost jumped at her voice; he had already almost forgotten she was there.

'That's a good point sweetie,' Midori said. 'Surely they'd try to gain a foothold in Nasces first.'

'They might have. I mean, it's not like our intelligence is particularly good, anyway. There's no guarantee we'd have heard about it, all the way up here,' said Atlas.

Atlas thought about it. It didn't seem too likely to him. A full scale invasion was, while possible, impractical. Because no-one ever died, the only way to conquer a clan was to essentially camp on their respawn points, killing them over and over again until they gave up and surrendered. It was very uncommon among the larger clans, as doing so required far more troops than the enemy side had, and it could take a very long time to wear the enemy down to the point of surrender. On top of that, you couldn't destroy the enemy core either, as doing so would prevent you from attacking for two days.

Elesa spoke. 'Do you want me to get you some drinks?'

'Thanks. I'll take a coke,' Midori said.

'Same for me,' Atlas added. Elesa nodded and walked to the bar. Atlas turned to Midori, and sighed.

'I really wish she would just talk more,' He said.

'She talks to me,' Midori said. 'I don't know why she never seems to talk with anyone else.' Midori glanced at Atlas, worried. 'You don't think less of her for it, do you?'

'Of course not,' Atlas replied, almost offended.

'She's a really nice person,' Midori said, not seeming to hear. 'She gets a lot of teasing from Gigolo. She probably assumes that you're out to do the same.'

'Why would she assume that?' Atlas asked, now offended. 'Unlike Gigolo, I don't take pleasure in aggravating people.'

'You hang out with him a lot. People assume that you are similar to him until they get to know you.' Midori patted his arm. 'Give it some time. She'll open up to you, I'm sure.'

Elesa returned to the table. Atlas studied her, trying to work out if she had heard any of the conversation. She looked back at him, her expression neutral.

'What do you think about these black Spartans then?' Midori asked Elesa.

'Ask Zero. He'll know.'

Atlas raised his eyebrows. 'Zero doesn't know as much as you think he does.'

Elesa raised her head and looked straight at him, her face expressionless. Atlas shifted uncomfortably.

'I think he knows more than you give him credit for,' she said.

Midori sighed loudly. 'Why does every conversation any of us have seem to turn to a discussion about Zero? Why can't we, just for once, talk about something else?' Elesa looked away. Atlas turned to see Midori glaring at him.

'What did I do?' he asked.

'You say you're nothing like Gigolo, yet at every opportunity you slag Zero off. Give it a rest already!'

'Fine, fine. Whatever.' Atlas took a drink from his glass, not meeting either of the girls eyes. He felt it was going to be a long night.