I don't know if I fell asleep with Rekera in my room or not, but what I do know is that when I woke again I was in my Recuperacoon and she was gone. I blinked in confusion but didn't have much time to get my bearings before an alarm came blaring through the space and red lights began to flash. Something was going terribly wrong so I got up quickly and snagged my armor and weapon before rushing out of my room, dressing as I went so I didn't waste time. Everything stung as I moved and I had to be careful not to pull any of my stitches but eventually I was ready to go as I rushed towards where everyone else was heading and caught up with Tess as she exited her room too.

"Teess, whaat's gooiing oon?" I asked, drawing the Emerald Double Dragon and holding it tightly while she held two of her own Spiky Suns and the other two floated above her head.

"It's Rekera. S'e put Azuras in de infirmary den took off after Rin but 'e ran into de forest. Sounds like 'e's back, wid company dis time." It sounded serious, and I nodded before trying to rush forward only to have Tess stop me by putting a hand on my shoulder "'ey, be careful will ya? I can tell yer 'urt some, so don't overdo it. We can 'andle dings widout ya if ya need ta rest."

"Noo, Ii'm fiinee. Thaanks, thoouugh." I wouldn't let my injuries keep me from helping defend my friends, if Rin had brought company chances were it was another tribe of the people we had brought down to get to him. Between their lack of technology and our greater numbers we'd be just fine, I was sure, and with that in mind I took off with Tess right next to me towards the battlefield.

Jess, Rekera, Illana and Zinnia were all waiting along with the rest of the trolls who had helped us terraform the world and make it inhabitable for us. We were just outside the city gates, staring down at least twice our numbers in native inhabitants. Most of them looked like some sort of half animal half human halfbreeds, none were well armored and their weapons seemed to be bows, spears and swords. Rin was right at the front of them, fully armored with his weapon drawn and the natives looking at him as if waiting for an order of attack.

"Little bastard." Zinnia spat, snarling as she stepped to the front of our group to show that she was the leader. As captain of the initial invading ship that also put her in charge of the city, and I think at that point she was also trying to intimidate them as she held two small hand bombs. We all knew the moment she threw them it would make a smokescreen and give us some cover, and we would have a chance to rush in and hopefully have the element of surprise over our enemies.

There was no point in reasoning, that much I knew. Even from a distance I could see in Rin's eyes the determination to go through with this, words would no longer reach him. It tore at my heart to know that, though, because the Rin I had known for so many years would never come back now. Part of my mind still put all the blame on my shoulders for not going back for him that day, not doing more to find him sooner so that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't have been so bad for him and the battle we were about to take part in didn't have to happen.

"On my count." Zinnia raised her bombs high above her head, letting go as they started to float by the power of one of the psionic sisters. I was too distracted to see which one, focusing on Rin so that his eyes would meet mine and he would see the rage there. Rage at what he had done to me, rage that I normally didn't show. I hated revenge, hated violence, but after what he and Azuras had done something in me snapped and all I wanted was to see Rin squirming and screaming like I had the night before. I didn't even hear the countdown, I just saw the movement out of the corner of my eyes as the bombs went flying towards our enemies.

The explosion was silent but it sent up smoke that obscured the battlefield. With the roar of two armies heading to war the battle began. Tess and Jess led, using their powers to fly forward directly into the fray. The rest of us weren't far behind, running to the smoke and clashing with the animal people. Some went down easily enough but others had primitive or even natural armors that proved far more difficult to defeat. For the entirety of that fight I was focused on only one thing - finding Rin. I listened for his voice, watched carefully for any hint of his body on the field.

I cut down enemy after enemy, swinging with precision movements and killing as fast as I could. I moved through the clouds and fog, pushing and focusing until at long last I caught sight of Rin. He swung his scythe and nearly hit Zinnia as she ducked, trying to back up and put some space between them so she could throw a bomb and get the upper hand. Her leg had a deep gash in it, however, and her one arm was swinging nearly uselessly at her side. As much as I had resented Zinnia for taking Rin's place initially I had come to respect and even like her over time and I was not about to let Rin take her down.

With a swiftness I didn't know I had in me I rushed forward, blocking Rin's strike as he moved to take Zinnia down after she had stumbled to the ground. The sound of metal clanging rang out and I pushed Rin back with a feral roar. By this point I knew I'd kill him if I got even the slightest chance, he had violated me and now threatened to kill one of the people who had been kind to me and I would not stand for that.

"Heh, good to sssee you finally grew a backbone, Ssstemisss." He hissed at me, regaining his ground after I had pushed him back.

"Zanks, Stemis." Zinnia sighed from the ground, hauling herself up behind me slowly.

"Geet baack, Niiaa. Ii haavee Riin." There was a snarl to my voice but it wasn't an order of any nature. Still Zinnia seemed to take my advice and backed off, running as fast as she could for safer ground and the medics waiting behind our walls to treat those who could get back to them.

Even though the battle raged all around us I could see in Rin that nothing else mattered but the fight we were about to have. Our grips tightened around the poles of our weapons and after a moment that seemed like a lifetime we moved. My body shook as the resonation of the force behind our weapons went through me, but I didn't let it slow me down at all. I used the force of my first push to get airborne, my double axe keeping me grounded to Rin as I went up and over to land behind him. His scythe blade had the other end of my pole snared, but the rest of my body was still in the fight and without further hesitation I let go of the pole and ducked to swing one leg out at him.

Rin tripped and I didn't wait, grabbing the wood of my axe and tearing it away from his weapon. There was a sickening crack as it snapped in the middle but there was still enough hand grip for me to use them as two separate weapons similar to how I'd use my Twin Oaks and I took advantage of that. However Rin was a fighter, and once his brain grasped what had happened he swung his scythe fast and fierce so as not to give me another opening. The blade was a blur as I dodged around the cuts it was making in the ground and a few of them tore through my armor and found purchase in flesh.

Things went on like this for quite some time, me finding slow openings that never led to anything more than a few hits on my part while he continued his dangerous assault until at long last I found one last chance to beat him. I moved swiftly, taking a nearly full blow to one leg before rushing right at Rin. The axe blades dug into his neck and he fell back, my weight falling on top of him until the metal dug into the ground. Rin coughed and sputtered, blood dripping from the edges of his mouth before he was still. Wide eyes stared blankly at me until I reached up and closed them out of respect, finally realizing in the aftermath that the inhabitants were retreating. Despite their numbers we were running them off, and once they reached the treeline we roared in victory before Rekera came running out across the battlefield towards me.

"Stemis you..." She stopped, looking down at me and the dead body of Rin under me.

I couldn't even speak, I just nodded and reached up a hand to take one she extended to me before falling back down to one knee just to one side of the body. I felt dizzy, and looking back at my leg I realized then that the scythe had torn through it completely and I was bleeding everywhere. The last thing I remember is the world going black as Rekera screamed what I presumed was my name. It would be days before I woke in the infirmary, but Rekera was right beside me as always.

The bottom portion of my right leg was gone, just a stump at the knee now, but we had the technology to replace it with a prosthetic so I wasn't too worried. From what Rekera told me we had won the fight and tracked down the tribes and slaughtered the rest before taking over their villages and making sure that none of the inhabitants of the world would stand up to us again. Zinnia had even called for backup just to make sure on a 'better safe than sorry' policy. The bodies of both natural citizens and our own were piled on the field and burned as a warning, and it seemed for the time being we were safe. I learned a few days later that Azuras was getting put on another ship once he was up and about, as much as we were a violent race what he and Rin had done to me went beyond all of that and was not acceptable.

Things have been...more or less peaceful since then. It's nice, but at the same time I still feel that piece within me that snapped and it wants to feel the rush of the fight again. I don't know how much longer I can suppress it, I just hope I can keep hold of it until we find ourselves in the midst of another battle. The loss of my leg and the use of a metallic one would take some getting used to, but I knew by the time our next fight hit I would be well adjusted and able to unleash that rage once more, hopefully with better results now that I knew I could reign it in to some extent.

And that is my story, or at the very least my story until now. Why I didn't begin to record the events sooner I still don't know, it has been somewhat helpful to recall what happened and reflect upon what has led me to this point. I hope that in the future I will be able to look back on this as a lesson, and perhaps pass this on to my descendants somehow so that they too can learn and hopefully not make the same mistakes I have.