Part 7

Part 7

Section 1 – S.C. Wolfe

Back at rover headquarters, everyone was full of questions. Who was Annie? How did I know her? Why hadn't I told anyone about my true form? What was the connection between me and Psycho? My head was swimming. I felt sick. Not because there were so many questions, to be honest, but because I wasn't the one who got the pleasure of watching Zig take his last breaths. I don't like to think myself sadistic, but some people in life are so low, that they sell their lives to the highest bidder.

"Zig was like that," I told the rovers. "He would have killed an entire city…men, women, children and animals all…just for a pat on the head from Cyrus. That's why he and I never got along. In a manner of speaking, he and I are the same person. He was just a more murderous me."

"Well, I'd like to know more about Psycho. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to butt heads with him a good deal more than you do with…anyone." Gordon noted.

My eye twitched, and I tightened my hand into a fist.

"That isn't a story I'm ready to tell yet." I said slowly.

Hunter nodded. "Whenever you're ready, then. But, uh, what's with the new look?"

I looked at my padded hands. "I can tell you only what I know. You must remember that I don't exactly have a complete memory. As long as I can remember, this has always been my more natural form. I'm more in-tune like this than I am in human form. I doubt this power is one I was born with. One of the objectives of Cyrus' lab is to find ways to 'download' new powers to their experiments. Bernard, Anemos…Annie…and I were all guinea pigs there. Truth be told, any one of us could have a hundred different powers, but because of the constant mind-erasing, we may never know about more than two of them, only one of which we may be able to use."

"Is true." Bernard said, replying to the numerous blank stares. "As example, Zig was capable of super jump, super claw, and shooting claw."

I nodded. "He was also capable of super speeds similar to hunter, though not quite as fast or for as long a distance."

"Do you have any other powers? That you know of, I mean." Gunther asked.

I shrugged. "No. the only way I'd ever know was by accident, or if I had some way of recovering my memory."

"So, what about Psycho? That guy was a creep!" Kurt asked.

"Psycho is the most…the most dangerous of all of the hunter-seekers. He has no taste for authority. I noticed when he and I were fighting that he wasn't wearing a collar. This means one thing and one thing only; he's free of Cyrus' control." I shivered slightly. "This is bad news for whoever is in his way. The only problem is that I have no idea where he'll be going or why. My best guess, if I had to take one, is that he's going to try and find Cyrus. He and I are alike in that way. We both want revenge."

Bernard looked distant for a moment. "Am thinking…" he hesitated. "…that maybe would be best to do the same. If Rovers can find Cyrus, can end this problem before problem gets bigger?"

Some of the rovers had a hard time following that. "Kill Cyrus…or imprison him…before he can do any real damage." I explained.

"And how do you propose we do that? Parvo has a base in Canada right now, and I don't like to think it'll stay there." Hunter said.

"Not to mention, we're not actually supposed to be here anymore." Gordon noted.

"Our orders were quite clear. Retrieve the disk, return to base." Jack added.

At that moment, Kyle, Colleen and Annie stepped into the room. They had been running a diagnostics scan on Anemos, making sure her blood work and heart rate were all fine. "She's as 'ealthy as 'ey come!" Colleen announced.

I stood up, having been on one knee. She stopped when she saw me, looking carefully over my form. When her and I were fighting outside of Parvo's base, she hadn't had time to recognize me. Now that she had the option to stand still, she recognized me in a moment. "I thought you hated that form?" her Canadian accent sounded a bit like Colleen, I noticed.

"I do."

"That brings up another question. Why haven't you changed back to your human form? To be honest, you seemed more comfortable in it." Kurt said.

I flexed my hand a few times. "Because I can't. yeah, I was shocked too. The second you first saw me like this, I instantly tried to turn back. The few memories I do have of this form are more like nightmares. I've been trying ever since then."

"Burnt out." Annie said.

"Would be making sense." Bernard nodded.

"What would make sense? What's burnout?" Kurt asked.

"Eh? Oh, it's when an unstable power is used under stressed conditions." Annie explained. "Riot's power required a complete change in DNA structure. Without the aid of a machine, this is very dangerous, eh. 'e changed form during a time of high intensity and emotional trauma. 'Is DNA couldn't handle it, so it buckled into place, so to speak, eh."

"So…"

"…I'm stuck like this until further notice." I interrupted Colleen. My eyes flashed white with anger, and I stormed out of the room. I leaned against the wall in the hall, and listened. Annie was speaking.

"You have to forgive him. His past and his current genetics make him irritable. That's quite likely what triggered his power at all."

"Why does he hate that form so much?" Exile asked.

"Same reason, in a manner of speaking, that he hates Psycho, eh."

"And why would that be?" Hunter asked.

"Anemos took a deep breath. "I'm only going to tell you this because he won't be ever able to, eh. Many of you may know he had a sister? I thought so. When the collars were still experimental, he was their test subject. Cyrus went through about a hundred different designs before the collars finally did what he wanted them to do. Cyrus wanted tested the final design on riot as well." Annie shivered. "He ordered Riot to kill Captain, Bernard and i. riot, being the guy he is, was ready to refuse no matter the pain. Cyrus added a final tweak to the device. One that made him literally controllable. Riot had no choice now. Instead of making riot kill us, he was brought to the fighting arena. In there, he came face to face with Psycho. They'd meat before, but never fought.

"To spice up the deal, Riot's sister was thrown into the chamber. I knew Anastasia long before I knew Riot. The match was every-man-for-himself…

Riot stared between the two in shock. Psycho. He had meat Psycho before. The coyote was lazy-looking and slumped over. He was what was called a hunter-seeker, though. Riot looked back to Anastasia. Her fur didn't show how badly she was shivering underneath. Riot looked up to the viewing area, where Cyrus laid back in his seat. His new body guard, a young greyhound named Zig glared at Riot with a deal of humored interest.

"Well? Let the show begin!" Cyrus called.

Riot felt himself urged by the collar. He had to attack someone. He chose Psycho. Psycho laughed, and his arm lit on fire. Riot began throwing punches at Psycho, many of them landing with a great deal of force. Psycho looked at him sideways, smiled, and returned a punch. Riot flew across the small room, and hit the wall with such force that it cracked several ribs. He coughed blood, but he wasn't down yet.

Riot looked up to see Psycho approaching Anastasia. He growled, and ran for Psycho. Stasia wasn't defenseless, but that didn't mean Riot was going to let something happen to her. Psycho heard Riot coming, and twisted his head a full 180 degrees. Riot stumbled, but kept his charge. He jumped into the air, and threw a hard kick at Psycho's head. the force landed right on the muzzle. Psycho's head Spun around another 180, and his body staggered. Riot knew what would happen next. He had to fight his sister, but the rule was that he only had to beat her. The collar would accept that as a solution.

What he didn't expect was when Psycho stood back up. The coyote grabbed his head, and twisted it back into place with a grueling popping. Riot felt sick as the hunter-seeker laughed violently. He was unlike any other hunter-seeker Riot had ever seen! Riot ran for Psycho again. Psycho saw the charge, and his eyes turned blue. A solid stream of white mist shot right for Riot. Again, he was thrown against the wall. This time, however, he was frozen in place. Everything but his feet, left hand and head were frozen in place. Riot kicked and struggled, but the ice only tightened on him.

Psycho walked coolly to Riot. "You're lucky I like you." He whispered. A strange, purple smoke came out of Psycho's mouth.

"If you so much as hurt her, I'll kill you. Do you understand me?" Riot growled.

Psycho let out a slow, deep laugh. He turned, and walked to where Anastasia had taken a defensive stance. "Free punch. Go ahead." He taunted.

Anastasia threw her fist as hard as she could at Psycho's throat. It landed with a thud. Psycho shook his head slowly, and turned to face Riot. A long blade suddenly came jutting out of his elbow. He looked at Riot with his red and blue eyes, and gave a sarcastic pout. "I miss her already, don't you?

The room was quiet. None of the rovers took their eyes off of the hall where I had gone. My stomach churned, and my eyes felt like they were on fire. My claws were cutting into my hands because my fists were clenched so tightly.

"He was forced to watch Psycho kill his sister, and for Anastasia's sake, I won't go into detail." Annie wiped a single tear from her eye.

"I had no idea." Colleen whispered.

"He hates Psycho with everything he is, eh. More so than even Cyrus. He blames Cyrus for everything, but it was Psycho who chose to actually kill his sister where it would have worked just fine to neutralize her, eh." Annie stated.

"You said you knew Riot's sister? How?" Kyle asked. His eyes were watered.

"Her and I lived in the same cell. She was always talking about Riot, eh. He wasn't always so irritable. The labs held Anastasia for the soul purpose of keeping Riot in line. With the invention of the collars, she became extra luggage for Cyrus." Annie said.

"Flushed." Bernard said monotone. "Is when lab has no use for you. You are told to fight, and you fight till you die. Psycho is known as 'finisher'. He finishes off survivors."

Kurt looked at Kyle, and then to the hall where I was. He saw me sitting in the shadow, and walked over to me.

He scratched between his ears, not quite sure to say. I didn't care if he said anything at that point. What I didn't expect was an apology. "Look, Riot… I'm sorry. I haven't trusted you because you acted so different. I thought you were…well…not one of us. So, what do you say we start over? Friends?" he offered me his hand.

I grasped his hand, and pulled him down to ear level. "Next time we see Psycho, he…is…mine."

Kurt nodded. "Dibs on Parvo, then." He said.

I smiled. Chuckled, and for the first time in years, I laughed.

Section 2 – Young Swordsman

I helped Riot to his feet once he was done laughing. "You know, you've got a good laugh… I think you should do it more often, ya know?"

"Maybe I should…" he replied, smiling.

I smiled back. I heard someone clear his throat. I looked up, and I saw Kyle standing there. "Nice to see you two finally getting along!" he said with a smile. I nodded. I felt it was nice that we finally got along as well. After hearing the story of what happened to him in the past, it was nice to see him like this. I was happy for him, actually. He'd had a hard life, and he was still getting used to not living one anymore. This had finally told me that he was finally getting used to it.

After Annie had finished with her story about Riot's past, she asked how Riot and Bernard had managed to remove their mind control collars. Exile volunteered to show her how he did it by demonstrating on her collar. She gladly accepted, and then headed to a more private area, at her request. Riot followed them, as he wanted to make sure that she would be OK during the process. Kyle and I reminded the others to try to not remind Riot of what happened in his past, as he was finally starting to be more upbeat than he used to be. After that, most of them dispersed to various areas of HQ, many of them talking in groups about what Annie had just told them. Kylie and I, however, were more pleased with how upbeat we had seen Riot a few minutes ago. Kylie, apparently thinking of something else entirely, leaned over to me, peeled off her voice disguiser, and whispered into my ear, "You know, I still haven't thanked you for saving my life…"

"Oh… right…" I said, a bit hesitantly.

"Oh come on!" she said, re-applying her voice disguiser, "nobody will notice!"

"Well, in that case let's stop talking about it," I said, "before someone wonders what we're talking about."

"Good idea," replied Kylie, who started walking to her room. I followed her, and we both entered her room, and closed and locked the door behind us. The last anyone could hear from us for the next fifteen minutes to a half hour was the click of the lock on the door.

About fifteen minutes to a half hour after the door was locked, the door unlocked, and out stepped me, feeling dazed and walking like I'd just gotten off a crazy roller coaster. "Wow…" I kept saying to myself. I managed to walk to the lounge area, and I lay on the couch. I think I fell asleep for a while, but I don't know how long. I do know that somebody woke me up. I opened my eyes, and it was Jack. "Jack!" I said, "I see those bruises have finally healed up!"

"Yeah, they did," he said, "Um, I wanted to ask you if you knew where Kyle was?"

"Uh, she should be in her room, I think… that's the last place I saw her."

"Thanks, Kurt," he replied, and walked off. I got up, as I had slept enough for me to not feel tired anymore, and stretched out a bit. I got up, and walked into the lobby area. I saw Riot, Exile, and Annie step into the area, with Exile holding the collar that used to be around Annie's neck. "I see you finally got that thing off!" I exclaimed.

"We sure did," replied Annie. Riot was smiling.

Exile, also smiling, threw the collar into the incinerator.

Most of the strike team members were with Jack, congratulating him on his quick recovery, even though his injury was mainly a huge bruise on his back. The hunter-seeker that threw him apparently wasn't trying to kill him, as we had figured out that they were capable of much worse damage. I walked over to them, wanting to join them. Jack, however, noticed me, and pulled me aside. "Kurt," he said, "How long have you known that… "certain thing", let's just say, about Kyle?"

I gulped. "For… a few days…" I sighed. "Look, she told me not to tell anyone, and I kept the promise."
Jack nodded. "She told me the same… well, that makes two of us, then."

"Three, actually. Blake knows, too. He's known longer than I have; before you all joined with the Rovers in Sicily."

"You know," said Jack, "this has 'scandal' written all over it. If Gunther finds out, he'll kick her off the team. Lying on your resume calls for that. But, as sexist as all of the tryouts for any of the strike teams are, I would have done the same if I was in her position."

I nodded. "By the way, just curious, how did you find out?"

"Let's just say that I've had my share of surprises… and she caught me, and then she threatened my life, and told me not to tell anyone, especially not Gunther, and now we're all cool."

I nodded. "You should let Blake know that, too. Just so he's aware that you know."

Jack nodded in agreement. "What about Gordon?" he asked, "I don't want to leave him on the outs with this… Gunther is really the only stickler of the rules in our team, really…"

"I'll ask her."

"All right. I'll keep this on the down-low."

"Carry on, then," I finished.

He smiled a bit, and headed back. I was nervous. This secret was spreading a little too fast for me, and probably Kylie as well. I was getting a bad feeling about this, since one slip-up could mean that the secret would be exposed to everyone, and that was the last thing Kylie wanted to happen.

Blake met up with me and told me that Jack had told him about what he recently found out. We were both clearly nervous, but we were relieved when the Master called us into the briefing room. Once we assembled there, he told us that the space HQ wanted the Strike team to either return to base or at least re-supply there. They needed at least three members to go up to the space station and get all the supplies they could carry, and then the same amount of supplies for the other two. Gunther, Blake, and Jack volunteered to go. Then, to everyone's surprise, Annie did as well! "I need to get a new start," she explained to us, "after being under the influence of Cyrus for so long, my mind needs to be re-adjusted on the fast track, eh?"

The Master nodded. "I cannot stop you from doing what you believe to be right," he said, "I do hope we will hear from you soon." With that, the Master headed out. "The transport should be arriving in about twenty minutes outside of the hangar," he added.

Section 3 – S.C. Wolfe

I want too surprised at Annie's decision. She had always had a certain interest with space. I was happy for her, but I was sad the same.

"Oh, don't be such a puppy." She said.

I snickered in return. "Well, I hope you do well up there. I hear they're sexist."

She smiled. "I'd like to see any of them try to keep me out."

I laughed again. Man, it felt good to do that again. Annie gave me a big hug, which I hadn't expected. I was a tad more shocked with myself, however, when I hugged her back. "I'll miss you." I said.

"I'm going to say by to Bernard. I'll see you again before I leave." Annie walked out of the room.

I sighed, and slumped against a wall. Life was changing so fast! I was having a hard time keeping up. I looked down at my open paw. I hadn't been like this in a very long time. I had hated this form as long as my memory told me, and now I was stuck in it.

"What are you thinking about?" Kyle asked. I hadn't seen him coming.

"Nothing important, actually." I replied, but then a thought occurred. "You mind listening to me for a moment?"

"Not at all. I was meeting Kurt here for…erp…schematic updates soon anyway." He replied.

I paused to look at Kyle, wondering why he had tripped on his words? It didn't matter. I began pacing back and forth. "It's just a funny though. See, Cyrus has a bad ol' habbit of not being happy with what he's got. He holds that standard to his…prisoners and soldiers as well. He spent years experimenting on powers. We have…certain aspects of our genetics and our characteristics that give us our powers. He found a way to literally inject you with powers. It's a known fact that the hunter-seekers are his Guinea pigs, well, when something has a load of potential, he shoots it into a series of side experiments like Bernard, Annie and myself."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I have other powers, I just don't know what they are or how to use them, thanks to his lovely memory wiping. Like I said, it was just a passing thought." I said.

Annie stepped into the room suddenly. "Have you seen Bernard? I went to his room, but all of his stuff is gone."

I stood up straighter, and thought. "Not since we were in the common room a couple hours ago. Maybe he's being obsessive compulsive?"

Annie crossed her arms. "He was never obsessive compulsive."

"Then I don't know."

"Come to think of it, I didn't see him in the kitchen either." Kyle noted. "That's where I always see him.

I laughed. "Yeah, that's Bernard. Thinking with his stomach."

A red light began flashing. "What's happening?" Hunter asked as he stepped into the room.

"Don't know. Light just started flashing." I said.

Hunter stepped over to a wall monitor, and typed in a series of passwords. "Someone's taking the sky rover!" hunter exclaimed. "We need the master's permission to use the vehicles."

I looked at Annie. "See if you can find Bernard. I'll go check out the hanger."

"I still need to meet with Kurt." Kyle said unsurely.

"Okay, I'll go with Riot." Hunter said with a smile.

I nodded, and we all split up. Luckily, the hanger wasn't a long walk away. Hunter hummed as he walked. He was actually pretty good. Maybe I should consider music for a hobby? I dismissed the idea instantly. My voice was scratchy compared to any I had ever heard. A singing voice wouldn't be much better. Then again, instruments didn't require a good voice?

Nah.

Hunter paused lone enough to talk to Blitz. "We're going to check out the hanger. You in?"

"Dah, why not? It's not like there's anything good on TV anyway." He said, dropping the TV remote. He looked at me suspiciously for a second before we continued.

The hanger looked perfectly normal to me, given the fact that the sky rover was in launching position.

"Huh? Maybe it was a mechanical malfunction?" I suggested looking at the giant mechanical arms that placed the various vehicles on the launch pad.

"No, I don't think so. We usually don't even use the automatic feature on those." Hunter said.

I stepped into the hanger, and was blind-sided. I heard the sound of fighting, but my vision was completely black. I tried standing up, but my legs slipped, and I collapsed back down. The fighting went silent, and someone fell to the ground next to me. A massive armored hand reached down, and pulled me up by the scruff of the neck. Armored hand? Cyrus's standard issue armor had armored gloves!

I opened my eyes again, but my vision was still horribly impaired. I could see the silver of the armor, and the loose-fit cloth. The outfit reminded me a lot of a Japanese style outfit. This was one of Cyrus's stooges alright. How did they keep getting in here?

"Did not expect you to be going down so easy, Riot." My limbs froze solid. I shook my head, and tried to resist being held. That was making it hard to breathe. My limbs were almost completely numb, however. "I knew Hunter would be easy to take out. He isn't like us, Riot. No rovers are like us. We're Cyrus's masterpieces. We just were too foolish to realize it."

I suddenly didn't want to see, but my vision returned to me. I was being held in the air with a single arm. Bernard had always been strong. I was immediately filled with confusion, then hurt, and then rage. "What are you doing!?"

"Reconciling."

Kurt and Kyle walked in at that moment. "We heard commotion!" Kurt said. He froze, and took in the scene.

"It would have been good to bring you back with me, Riot, but this jump drive is enough to buy my trust back." Bernard said, showing the crowd the drive we had taken from Parvo.

With that, Bernard threw me at Kurt and Kyle with enough force to send the three of us flying back into the hall. I couldn't have moved if I wanted to. I looked around after a moment. The sky rover was taking off! I reached around, and yanked Kyle's gun from his side. I blindly opened fire into the hanger before I blacked out.

Section 4 – Young Swordsman

Kyle and I lifted Riot's unconscious body off of ours as soon as he passed out. "Gunther!" Kyle called out, standing up and helping me up at the same time, "Tell the transport ship to intercept the Sky Rover upon entering the atmosphere!"

"Exile!" I called out, "Get your ship up and outta here! We've got to catch up with the Sky Rover! Hunter! Get the Master to deploy all surface-to-air missiles and any other anti-aircraft weapon we have at our disposal! We can't let the Sky Rover get away!"

"I'm on it!" Hunter replied.

"I get ship running and up!" Exile proclaimed, excitedly.

Blitz came dashing into the room. "Vat happened?" he asked, looking around, somewhat confused. "Vere is the Sky Rover?"

"Stolen," I replied. "Bernard had a change of heart, and is taking it to Cyrus' place."

Blitz looked terrified.

"Get onto Exile's ship," I told him, "We're going to intercept this sucker…"

Blitz seemed to get a bit more riled up when I told him that, and he jumped into Exile's ship, followed closely by Exile himself.

The Master raised the alarm, and by the time all of the turrets and all other anti-aircraft devices were deployed, Exile, Blitz, Kylie, Gordon, and I, had boarded Exile's ship. The Master gave us permission to pursue the Sky Rover, so we took off and went after it at full speed. Given the fact that Exile's ship was smaller than the Sky Rover, it could go slightly faster than the Sky Rover. Plus, since we had tracking on the Sky Rover, we knew exactly where it was! As soon as we left the hangar, the first thing we noticed was the Sky Rover in the distance being met with a hail of gunfire and multiple surface-to-air missiles being launched at it. I was surprised at how many of them were there! I mean, sure there had to be some, but the Master had clearly prepared for a massive intrusion, and now it was being used to prevent something from getting out. While Exile focused on the mission at hand, Kyle took Gordon to a back corner of the ship to talk to him. Blitz and I, however, were focused on helping out Exile. We caught up with the Sky Rover just as it was passing through the outer, thinning lines of anti-aircraft weapons around the base. The Sky Rover had taken some damage from the anti aircraft guns and at least one missile, but it was still able to fly. I took up the com link from the dashboard, and contacted the Sky Rover with it. "Bernard," I said, "you'd better land that ship. The AA guns and surface-to-air missiles were your first warning. This is your last. Land the ship or we will shoot you down!"

"Why should I?" he asked, "I am trying to prove loyalty to Cyrus, and you expect me to just land and surrender?"

"He does have point…" Exile commented.

"I vouldn't land in that situation, eiser," added Blitz.

"Well, he's had his warning, then," I said as I clicked off the com link. "Open fire, Ex."

Exile hesitated for a split second, but opened fire anyway. His ship was armed with some large laser cannons, and a 50 caliber machine gun as a secondary weapon. He opened fire with the laser cannons, and Blitz, who took the co-pilot seat, fired off the machine gun.

After about ten minutes of solid firing, the Sky Rover had taken enough damage that it was slowly losing altitude. Bernard was better at flying the Sky Rover than we thought he was, as he had managed to avoid many of our shots, but not good enough to avoid being basically shot down. Blitz and Exile were high-fiving each other when a transmission came in. "Exile 001, this is Transport Alpha, do you read?" a voice said. Exile picked up the comm. link and put it on. "Exile 001, copy," he replied.

"Exile 001, we are en route to intercept the Sky Rover. We have just entered the atmosphere. What is the status of the Sky Rover?"

"Transport Alpha, Sky Rover is losing altitude, but pilot is better than we thought…"

"Keep an eye on it. We'll intercept and help you out if you come into any trouble with the pilot, over."

"Richard, over."

It's Rodger, you… I thought to myself. I shook my head and let the thought go.

The Sky Rover eventually crash-landed in the desert sand, kicking up a massive amount of it that almost obscured our vision, and rendered us unable to see where it landed. We circled around it for a minute or two, and the sand cleared up, allowing us to see the Sky Rover, and its lone pilot who had exited it and began running. Exile quickly landed the ship, and we all exited the ship, and pursued Bernard. I drew out my bow and arrow, since both of my original swords were left in Poland, Kyle and Gordon drew their rifles, and Blitz drew his blaster pistol. Exile, however, used his eyes for this purpose. He created a slick layer of ice under Bernard's feet, causing him to slip and slide until he fell on his back, and kept sliding. We caught up with him when he got stuck in the sand, and was struggling to get up. Blitz, Gordon, and Kyle held their weapons to his head. Not heeding their warning, he knocked them all away with one swift motion of his arm. Given his superhuman strength, I didn't want to go hand-to-hand with this guy, especially without my hand-to-hand weapons. Exile, however, had superhuman strength as well, so he was more than a match for Bernard. One by one, they exchanged blows, mainly towards the head and chest. However, Bernard was clearly better trained than Exile was, and Bernard managed to find a sensitive nerve spot on Exile's chest, and exploited it with a roundhouse kick to it. Exile fell over backwards, seemingly unconscious.

Everything seemed to be lost when he turned to me. Suddenly, a loud noise came out of nowhere. I looked up, and the transport ship was right above us! It didn't stay there for long, though, as it landed quickly near us. A couple Dobermans, who seemed like members of what I guessed was the Space Rovers' version of Marines exited the ship with weapons similar to those of the strike team, but with desert camouflage on their armor. After seeing Blitz, Kyle, and Gordon a good distance away, still getting out of the sand, they raised their weapons at Bernard. "Get on your knees, and put your hands behind your head!" ordered one of them.

To everyone's surprise, he did! But we still kept our guard up. He could be tricking us. One of the marines pointed his rifle at Bernard, and the other went over to handcuff him. Blitz, Gordon, and Kyle had gotten out of the sand and were walking over towards us. Just as the marine began to handcuff him, Bernard grabbed his wrist, and threw him towards the ship that he came out of. The marine hit the ship, and fell to the ground, injured, but still conscious. The pilot came out with some medical supplies to help him out. The other marine opened fire on Bernard, who had started charging him. Bernard took a few shots to the gut and chest, but was still running. The marine attempted to draw his pistol, but Bernard got to him first. With a quick motion, Bernard broke his forearm, and the Doberman fell to the ground, screaming in pain. He then turned his attention towards me. I fired an arrow at him, and hit his shoulder. Furious, he ran towards me. I held up my fists in what would likely be a futile attempt to defend myself, until there was a gunshot, and his eyes widened. Then he fell flat on his face. Blood was on the back of his head. Behind him, the marine with the broken arm held the smoking blaster pistol with his left hand. "Uh, thanks, man…" I managed to say, still in a bit of shock.

"Don't mention it," he replied, "c'mon, let's get everyone outta here. I'll radio for a salvaging crew to clean up this mess."

I nodded. "You know, you're a good shot with your left hand," I commented. I felt that it had to be said.

"Thanks," he replied, only this time with a happier tone in his voice, "I'm ambidextrous, so it wasn't too hard for me."

I nodded once again, and then turned to get the others into Exile's ship. Then, I went over and dragged Exile's unconscious body to his ship. The pilot of the transport ship had finished helping out the marine that was thrown, and began helping the one with the broken arm. Once I got everyone back into Exile's ship, I turned to the pilot and the two marines. "Head back to HQ with us," I suggested to them, "we've got a good medical facility there…"

"Sure thing!" replied the pilot. With that, he helped the two marines back into the transport ship, and it took off. Out of sympathy for Bernard, despite the fact that he was a traitor, I carried his body into Exile's ship, putting it in a metal container in the cargo bay of it. I figured it was the least I could do for Riot; bring back the body of his best friend.

Section 5 - S.C. Wolfe

When they brought Bernard's body back, the first thing I did was draw my blaster. The Rovers looked sickened as I fired off several more rounds into the body. "Wha' are you doing?!" Colleen exclaimed.

"Yeah! He's a traitor, I know, but that's just sick!" Kurt agreed.

I replaced the pistol, and looked at the rovers. "You've seen Cyrus's work before. Why do you think he wouldn't give infantry the abilities he gives his hunter-seekers? Fact is, you can never be too sure. I thought you'd have learned that with Psycho."

Everyone looked disturbed, but they at least understood. The space rovers had finally arrived, and apparently helped out with Bernard. I rubbed my head, which was still throbbing, and colleen slapped my nose with two fingers. I yipped, and looked at her.

"I said no rubbing!" she exclaimed. "Your head could have fractured. You're lucky as it is, but your head is still beaten up pretty bad."

I snickered a tad, and almost rubbed my head again. Forced habit. Apparently, Bernard had given a fight in the end, though I for one was surprised he hadn't used one of the space rovers or the drop ship itself as a club.

"So, what now. We're losing a number of our guys, for a little time anyway." I said.

"We track down Cyrus and Parvo. Whoever comes first." Hunter said, arms folded.

"To start off with, we know they both have no less than one existing base, give or take the possible Canadian base. That and we know they're raising an army." Kurt said as he inspected his fur.

I nodded. "So then we stop them. Simple answer to a complex problem. Where it gets hard again is how to do that."

Kurt stood up straight. "Well, I'm going to check on our wounded marines before they ship back up." He said as he made for the door.

"I'd like to say bye to Annie again." I said.

"I'll go with Kurt." Kyle said. Everyone split up after that, but I found myself watching Kyle leave. He was walking funny…too…smooth. And why was he always hanging with Kurt? Maybe they were related? Good friends? Kyle was a strange individual. A thought occurred. If there was one thing you could say about Psycho, it was that he was always sure of what he said. What had he said to Colleen and Kyle? I'm not allowed to hit ladies. He could have been taunting…he was infamous for that. No. as I watched, Kyle gave Kurt a brush with his tail.

"Bernard isn't the only one with two faces." I smiled to myself, and stepped out of the room, ignoring the alarmed stare from Kurt. I didn't care. Everyone had their own secrets.

Section 6 – Young Swordsman

I took a few steps after Riot when a hand grabbed the scruff of my neck to hold me back. I tried to keep walking, but even the excess skin on the back of my neck didn't stretch that far. "Stop, Kurt," Kylie said, with her voice disguiser still on, "if you question him in the way I think you want to, you'll only draw more attention to him, therefore making it more likely for him to talk."

I stopped walking, and Kylie let go of the scruff of my neck. "If he talks, you'll get kicked off the strike team!" I protested.

"You know…" she said, sighing, "I've recently been getting the feeling that I'd be discovered sometime soon… and to be honest, if I was exposed, I'd be more relieved than you think. I've lived through most days scared to death that I'd be exposed, and it's hard, you know? I just like to think that maybe if or when I get exposed, I'll be done with this whole deception thing."

I nodded. "I couldn't possibly imagine," I said, putting my arm around her shoulder. She smiled a bit.

"Plus, if I get exposed, I could join the Road Rovers and be with you all the time…" she added with a smile.

I smiled widely, and gave her a lick on the cheek. "That's really flattering, you know?" I told her. She smiled. "Come on," I continued, "let's go before someone finds us and wonders what we're doing."

We reached the medical room where Colleen was finishing wrapping a plaster cast on the broken arm of the marine that shot Bernard. "How's it feeling?" I asked him.

"A lot better once she administered the antibiotics," he said, "I think I was about to get Gangrene when I got here…"

"It was broken clear in 'alf! Gangrene was onset a lot faster than normal because o' that," commented Colleen as she finished the last layer of plaster on the cast.

"Well, it's good to know that you're OK," said Kyle. The marine nodded and we headed to the other one who was thrown against the transport. The pilot of the transport was attending to him.

"How's he doing?" Kyle asked.

"He's fractured a few ribs, but nothing serious other than that," the pilot explained, "He should heal them in a couple months."

"Some saint he was," the marine commented, likely referring to Bernard's breed name being "St. Bernard."

"I'll say," I commented.

We stayed there for a bit, until Colleen told us that the marines had done enough talking. We headed out, wishing the marines a speedy recovery. When we left the room, the conversation switched again to Riot. However, Kylie made a point to not talk about him, so that stopped. I guess she figured that it was now a matter of time before someone squealed on her to Gunther. I had to commend her. I'd be scared out of my wits in her situation, but she… she was all calm. Kinda like I was right before the Rovers found me in the desert along that country highway. I still remembered it; I held out my arms like Jesus on the cross, and looked up, knowing almost for sure that I was done for. Kylie was being like that. She knew it was coming, and now she knew that her only choice was to expect it sooner or later. I had to commend her for it. She was strong, both physically and mentally. Riot could have told the entire base Kylie's secret by now, and she'd still be the same as she always was since the first time I met her. And for that, I loved her with all my heart.

We headed to the hangar, where the transport had landed. Riot was saying his goodbyes to Annie, and I saw the pilot helping the injured marines into the ship. The members of the strike team who were to go up in the ship had apparently already boarded, and were waiting to take off. Once Riot finished with Annie, she boarded the ship, and waved goodbye to Riot right before she stepped inside. The pilot, after helping the marines into the ship, got into the cockpit and started the engines. We stood there and watched as the transport took off and flew further and further away until we could not see it anymore. I hoped Riot wouldn't have too many hard feelings after watching his best friend leave him once again, but then again, she was not going to the enemy to aid them. I think he understood.

Once everyone cleared out of the hangar, I headed back to my room, and sat down on my bed. So much had happened in the last week, that it was rather overwhelming. As I racked through the events of what had happened, one of them caught my attention. I remembered when I apparently emitted an electromagnetic pulse with my bare hand when I held the control to Annie's collar. Was that my special ability, or something? I figured that I should at least see if I could do anything else with it.

In the training room, I stood ready. There were dummies standing there, but they weren't moving, or attacking, or anything. Just targets for me to practice on. I held out my palm, and tried to focus my energy there. Nothing. "Zap!" I cried out, thinking that maybe it would help. Still nothing. What could it be, then? I wondered. I racked my brain thinking of what might activate it. Suddenly, a thought hit me. Maybe it couldn't travel through air, but only through direct contact, or at least I should be a lot closer to my target. I walked until I was about three inches from the dummies. I held out my hand in front of its face, and attempted to focus my energy to my hand again. To my surprise, electric currents flowed from my hand to the dummy! "Yes!" I cried out. It was a short-range ability, but at least it worked. I could probably electrocute somebody, or disable their equipment with this. Well, maybe I could do better if I worked on it more, but it was at least a start!

I headed towards the lounge area where Kylie and Gordon were. "Hey guys," I greeted them. They looked up and nodded at me. Kylie smiled a bit.

"Hey, have you heard?" asked Gordon.

"About what?" I asked.

"Kyle... er... Kylie, is going to break the secret to Gunther once he gets back."

My jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Yep," affirmed Kylie, "I figured two things: 1. I'm tired of pretending to be someone else all the time. And 2. I might as well, since everyone seems to be on the verge of figuring it out anyway. I mean, Riot just did, and I think it's a matter of time before the rest of the Rovers find out as well."

I bit my lip. She was brave, but this sounded a bit too rash. But then again, I knew that Gunther was kind to his allies, and I figured that the worst he could do was to discharge Kylie, and maybe make it an honorable one at that. "That's a brave thing for you to do, Kylie," I said, "and as much as I want to protest, I trust your judgment."

Kylie smiled. "Thanks," she said, "not many people would understand that, if they were in your position, but I'm glad you do."

I sat down next to them. "You know," Gordon said, "I'll miss you once this is over... you've always been the most optimistic one on the team... the team will seem... well, incomplete without you..."

"I know, Gordon," agreed Kylie, "it'll feel weird not being around you and the rest of the team once this is all over. But, I'll still remember you all, and I'll make sure to contact you whenever I can, OK?" she said, smiling.

Gordon seemed to get a bit teary-eyed, and put his arms around Kylie. She hugged back. I sat there and watched. I was actually OK with that, since I understood what they were both feeling. People you've been with for a long time are hard to separate from. So I let them be.

The three of us remained in the lounge area, talking about various things. Kylie had taken the liberty of removing her voice disguiser, saying that it made her feel more like herself. It was fine with us, until Hunter walked by and heard her voice. He turned around, and stared at us. "Did you guys just hear Colleen talking?" he asked us, "because she's on the other end of the building..."

"It's me," said Kylie.

Hunter's jaw dropped. "Kyle...? You're...?"

"A girl, yes," she finished for him, "I'm going to break the news to Gunther once he gets back."

Hunter, still shocked, put a hand to his forehead, and walked out. We all looked at each other nervously. We knew he was a nice person and everything, but we were very uncertain about how he may react to this...