Chapter 4:
"Shion!" Kos-mos leaped in front of her creator as the whistle of a missile reached Shion's ears. The android leaped up to meet the other weapon.
"Kos-mos no you'll be inciner-!" her scream was inturrupted as the area of sky above her erupted in lime green threads of smoke and light. The stench made her gag painfully as her lungs identified a dangerous substance. The poison spiraled inward and vanished revealing a figure not Kos-mos hanging in midair curled into a protective ball. Sprouted from his back were six blue energy wings that flowed in graceful movements. The figure uncurled himself, spreading his wings to their full extent of beyond eleven feet. Shion found Kos-mos standing not too far ahead standing as calmly as if nothing happened.
Without warning he dropped to the ground and turned to face them. He was fair skinned, wearing all black soft leathers, semi long silver hair and sunglasses. Across one cheek was adorned what looked like a claw scar. For a moment he didn't say or do anything. Just looked into Shion's eyes. Despite the dark glasses she knew that's just what he was doing.
"Nyima's daughter right?" he said at last.
Shion blinked in surprise, "Wha-? I- who are you! What did you do to Allen?"
A tiny smile of amusement crossed his face, "You don't recall? I was in your little travel back in time." in the blink of an eye he leaped straight into the sky right straight into the black ES on standby in the sky. The machine came alive again as the Asher and Zebulun came piercing down. The enemy shot at them with an unseeable force. The pilots watched in surprise as their screens locked out and the main thrusters went offline.
"Hey that bastard switched the controls!" Jr growled.
"We're locked out. Not even emergency override is responding."
"Honestly you'd think I would get a better greeting but then again my first impression wasn't that good." it was the young man from the other cockpit, his voice being carried by his outside intercom. Slowly the ES' were set down in the HQ front. The cockpits opened up to allow them exit. Jr and them instantly were out and drawing their weapons.
"Jin! Oh nevermind all of you stop! Don't kill him!"
"Shion he just destroyed an entire base without a problem and killed probably over four thousand crew and you tell us to not kill him?" Jr snarled. Jin glanced around at the blood spatters, remains of all that had been pulverized by the missiles.
"Those weren't humans though!"
Kos-mos nodded, "Correct, they were under cover agents of the black side of chaos' race."
"What? They infiltrated Vector? Why?" MOMO asked.
"It is currently unknown. But some aparently were after Shion. Most likely they've been informed of who and what she is." while they were discussing the matter Shion had knelt beside Allen to inspect the damage. Nothing from what her limited knowledge could tell. He appeared to just to have been exhausted. Shion curiously carressed the black marks. An electric tingle ran through her fingers causing her to look up at the black ES' cockpit which hadn't opened.
Jin approached it, "Would the pilot so kindly introduce himself. It would be easier to address you by a name." at first nothing happened. Then the one way mirror hissed as it popped open to reveal the young adult in a seat similar like the ones in the Dinah.
"And Nyima's son, Jin. You two are more grown than what they described." he smiled.
"What is your name!" Shion yelled up at him in frustration. From her spot on the ground she could only just see his brow arch.
"You might recall me little one," he continued pleasantly, "although when you saw me in memories I didn't have a scar. These poison weapons if cured in time normally leave a scar." gracefully he lifted one gloved hand off the controls and removed his glasses to reveal silver grey slanted eyes.
It smacked her mentally, "You're chaos' soul brother, Crescent. H-how- why ...?"
Crescent chuckled, "Shion Wilhelm sent me with this nice new toy to rid Second Miltia of its majority of black birds. Things are getting pretty heated at home the same with here."
Jr's grip tighted on his guns, "If you know something then tell us... please." he added. The URTV knew that the phoenix was only doing good for them and unfourtunately it took costs of life, you just couldn't avoid it in this transuniverse war.
"No need for that tone dragon. But I'm in a position to your military where I can't discuss things at leisure time." he looked at Shion, "Take care of Allen till he wakes up. Don't epect him to talk much though. He just regained his confidence in himself. Or perhaps not, he may have changed." indeed Crescent was right as authorities came rushing to the scene.
"ES Blackfire taking off. I'll be back, our meeting is not yet over." the giant machine was encased in a whirlwind of numbers and symbols just before it vanished out of the net of authorities.
"It's strange that he's chaos' best friend. They both seem quite the oposite of eachother." Jr stated while he watched Shion place a cool damp cloth on Allen's forehead. The now mysterious man's condition had deteriorated to a fever but it seemed to remain steady.
"One walks in with a calm gesture the other with a big bang." he continued.
"Well it's like that old analogy oposites attract. Although in this case friends." Shion said without looking at him.
"In odd cases, but then again we're all odd in our own way. Who's to judge who's strange? The so called sane people could actually be the insane." Jr laughed while sliding off the table he was using as a seat. His face turned serious as his eyes traveled over Allen's face, "He sure was the last person I suspected to do anything out of staying safe."
"Ya I'll agree to that. He was so simple and plain, now Allen's become... complicated. All of this is making my head hurt. I think if I don't die of old age it's going to be migraines."
Jr smiled, "You'll have peace in the end. Let's hope we'll all have peace."
The door opened and Jin entered, still with his katana at his hip, "Shion." he greeted.
Shion nodded in return, "Jin. What do you need?"
"Just to talk, actually have a decent conversation for once. It's nice to see your face rather than a flat computer screen for once." Jr excused himself, mumbling something about getting medicine for the fever.
Shion turned back to her work, which wasn't much, "What specifically do you need to bug me about?"
Jin chose to not react to this, it would lead directly to more snyde remarks. Instead he went and leaned against the wall at the head of the bed close to his little sister, "You care for him? Or are you caring for him for answers?"
The brunette stopped her action in mid flight, she did a quick self evaluation of what she was doing, "I guess it's sort of both." she replied honestly, "I just now started noticing how much he's done for me. Maybe not with the most grace, but he does try. I guess I'm just tired of complicated riddlesome people. But if he doesn't want to answer I won't push him. Allen is my friend and co-worker after all." her brother nodded. There was silence between them for a minute or so. The only sound was their breathing and rustle of clothing.
"Jin do you know of our mother?"
"Yes of course I do, Shion why would you ask something like that."
Shion looked at him, "No I mean the real mother behind the face she wore. Did she ever show her true self to you when she didn't to me?"
A distant look crossed the soldiers face as he delved into his dim memories of childhood, "What's this all about?"
"You've worked with chaos in the past, you know what our mother's race is capable of. Do you feel any sort of power? Any sort of trace, I'm starting to feel mine. It's strange, frightning."
Jin's expression turned concerned, "I remember some strange things vaguely. But what exactly are you getting at, Shion?"
The engineer dropped her cloth standing up, "Nyima was her real name Jin, not Heather. She's what's known as a pheonix! Jin, we have inherited half of her blood."
The other held up his hand, "Wait wait wait slow down sister! I can hardly fathom this. If Nyima is her real name, why would she hide it?"
"Because her race is not supposed to be here. They're not supposed to expose it if possible. The Pheonix's are not of this universe Jin. That's why the secrecy. They were only now able to return home. If you heard from the reports of the gnosis hive that's why they were unable to."
Jin suddenly reached out firmly closing his fingers around her shoulders. He didn't however look at her face, his head was bowed. Long bluish black bangs cascading like a dark waterfall. Shion was surprised at this action instead of her brother's normal philosophical calmness.
"Please Shion," he finaly looked up with pain in those blue eyes, "don't stir what is still tender with confusion and pain. You weren't the only one hurt those days. I remember doing things a human shouldn't be capable of..." his words trailed unfinished.
Shion suddenly saw herself almost, "Jin, my brother. I didn't think you were that sensative inside."
The x-soldier straightened up, "Just give me a little time to contemplate and let it all sink in. It's actually a big load of hard information you loaded into my mental pack." he smiled at her, that gentle smile that could melt many a heart. This made Shion realize that yes, it was a lot to suddenly take in. She nodded him off. Jin halted and turned with Shion when Allen sat bolt upright awakening as if from a horrible nightmare.
"Miltia's getting hammered, all these recent events are really scaring everyone." Jr stated as Matthews shut off the screen of news in mid sentence.
"If people start to panic in thinking it's terrrorists then Second Miltia is going to hurt economy wise when people move, and mentally." Hammer said.
Jr rubbed his chin in thought, "Not to mention the authorities are scouring every nook and cranny of this sector of space for the Blackfire. Everything's a mess all over again."
"Jr." it was Gaignun, "Jr we need to get moving. They're calling a private session between all majors in the issue of the Zohars."
Zohars... that meant Juli Mizrahi would be there.
"Alright I'm comming." he passed Akita who looked back at the three crew before exiting herself.
"Sir Gaignun?" Akita called and the brothers turned to face her, "MOMO has mentioned many things of you all. If her mother's going to be there wouldn't it only be fair if MOMO recieved the chance to see Dr Mizrahi?" the realian asked tentatively. She was good with secrets, it was all in herself and her programing. It didn't mean she couldn't find ways around the built in rules so to speak.
Jr and Gaignun looked at eachother.
Gaignun merely shrugged a 'Not my choice it's yours.'
Jr sighed, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Although you'd both have to wait outside the confrence hall till it was over."
The purple haired realian smiled, "Don't worry we'll find a way to get in contact." and with that she sprinted away to find MOMO. It didn't take even a second for MOMO to say yes. She hugged Ziggy goodbye saying she'd be in good hands and ran out with Akita.
Ziggy watched the pink haired girl vanish behind the automatic doors. He felt a twinge of something tug at his chest before looking away to busy himself.
Allen jerked his way out of the comfortable darkness of sleep. He felt the power tingle against his nerves. In his shock of intake the huminoid snapped one hand out sending the two nearest beings he felt right against the far wall of the room.
His eyes went wide, "Chief! So sorry you guys startled me." Allen lowered his hand, the motion causing the other two to fall flat.
Shion shivered, it had felt like someone had started running electrical streams through her body giving off an unpleasant feeling, "Allen... how did you do that?" Shion accepted her brother's hand.
A look of shame seemed to flash across the aubern haired male's face but passed before it was identifiable, "My mind of course. Don't compare me to a URTV however, my power works differently than theirs does." his voice seemed different, less hesitant.
"Oh," Shion approached with slight caution before placing the back of her hand on his forehead, "Fever's gone. That was a quick recovery." she commented.
"And an amazing feat that you pulled at the ground HQ." Jin added while stepping forward, "Might I ask what you would be called?" a little blunt but that was his way at times.
Allen rubbed the back of his neck a moment, then swung his legs over the edge of the bed, "Maybe later. I'd hate to procrastinate chief but not while I just regained what I'd lost. My mind... myself is a little jumpy right now." and he was right. His hands were trembling, his muscles twitching slightly as if undergoing a fast change or were in pain. Shion nodded, "We've all had enough shocks for one day." Allen didn't respond, instead just turned away from her rather rudely and just left.
"Seems like he's on edge."
"Everyone with supernatural powers is like that almost." Shion replied.
Jin grinned, "Like you." he kidded as he left the room as well.
Outside the complex the group had been placed in by the authorities, Kos-mos stood waiting at the door. From her position the sun was setting, casting reddning yellow fingers prodding the land with its last bits of warmth. A soft breeze toyed with the cultivated flora, the tempurature at a comfortable height. The sky was clear except for a few stray clouds or passing ships. It would've been a nice evening for a walk. Of course the machine didn't feel a thing. Kos-mos pulled deep inside herself. To her secret spot where no one ever looked, where memories were recreated. There she was waiting patiently.
The program that represented her pulse, well not program, conciousness(sp). Kos-mos knew that if she could go against her strict programming and let this one out to the surface then she would've completed one of her main objectives. But what then? When...if she was able to become what Kevin wanted... nothing came to mind. Her original creator had left it blank beyond those restricted files. All he'd put was: Live. What did it mean?
"Unsure are we now?" the black armored shadow commented from her seat on the roof's edge. She was swaying as if to the beat of a song.
"I cannot accomplish the last steps of his orders. I do see the logic in why Kevin Winnicot would place them." Kos-mos responded.
"Nothing is impossible, especially with the aid of the Pheonix's. The time is coming for you to let go of your machinery."
"... then how am I to function after that happens? I will not know what actions to take. What purpous I am for."
"Your destiny will reveal itself, right now you're not just a battle figure, but also a symbol for all machines. That they can live as well."
"I am not alive. I function as a net of programs laced together into one compartment in huminoid form to carry out my duties."
The other Kos-mos continued to shift back and forth, "So are realians, boxed computers, so are humans. Humans programming is their instinct so to speak. It's a natural programming you might say."
Kos-mos blinked, "What about Keteya? She's alive and yet she was dead."
The other's expression shifted the slightest bit to concern, "A mere shell of memory, but not the real Keteya. Either way Mintia will be driven by these feelings left behind by the poor soul. To me, the soul inside that abused body is a lost one."
"I am lost."
"Huh?"
"I am empty of anything. Niether soul nor a living spark. I have no soul that humans speak of for living beings. They do not even know if they're really are spirits."
"That's why they call it faith. You need to learn, learn how to understand all you don't. Yes a living beast's emotions do consist of chemicals working in the body reacting to certain thoughts. But that's just it, it's the thoughts that trigger the feeling, not the flesh and blood. Like a child brought up to be an emotionless assassin, Kos-mos."
"I don't understand."
"Learn then, having a body like a human will only help you understand."
"But even if it was possible, I wouldn't be the same existing android and you are aware of this. Memories are tied to who someone is." Kos-mos countered.
"True, but with chaos there is no limit to what is possible right?"
"Kos-mos?" Shion touched the android's shoulder, "Let's get going now. I have a feeling a lot is going to happen and soon."
review please! Next chap comming soon!