Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the game of Xenosaga, that is own by Namco and Monolith (pardon the spelling) Xenogears is owned by Square-Enix and I ave no intention of using this story in any way to earn money or take credit for it's creation. My only intent is to use these characters to make a wonderfull story.

Chapter 10: The Gnosis attack and MOMO goes bye-bye

A few hours had passed since the Encephalon dive; Shion had already given the memory data bank over to Captain Roman and cleared everyone's names. All that could be done at this point was to wait for the Federation to officially clear them and let them continue on to Second Miltia. Daemar had quietly left the Durandal after asking Ziggy to keep an eye on MOMO; the older cyborg nodded and let him go without asking any questions. It was clear from the expression on Daemar's face that he had much on his mind despite having said that he had been in a happy place during the dive. He'd taken to wandering the streets of the colony with his sleeves pulled down and his metallic hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. Most people could tell he was cyborg by the way he moved, or the sound his feet made when they hit the pavement, that much he could not control. Normally his feet looked like metallic boots and sounded the same though he could make them appear as normal shoes they way he could make his arms and hands appear as real flesh and blood but he could do nothing for the sound. Every step he took made a dull thunk, marking it a signature and making stealth a hard thing for him. He grimaced slightly as he passed a young couple gave him an unusual look, they had seen a normal looking young man and heard a cyborg. I try to escape, but I can't. I can't escape what I am…. He thought and shook his head to try and clear away the thought, for now he wanted to concentrate on Kos-Mos and only Kos-Mos.

"Funny, that…" He said to himself softly. "I like her…I care about her, maybe even love her and yet I can't seem to say those words to her… Is it even her that I love?" He finished softly and frowned, knowing that he spoke of Kos-Mos personality. At times, her eyes were red and she was her normal, cold, and logical self but when her eyes turned blue, she became warm, caring though her power increased to a level that was beyond frightening. "And yet I cannot help but be drawn to her…" He said, ignoring the looks that an older man gave him, one that silently asked if this strange young man wasn't a little loopy in the head. "Could be worse…at least no one thinks I'm a victim of the Life Recycling Act." Daemar came to a halt outside of a hotel called "Our Treasure" and looked up at the dome, into the stars beyond. "Alright then, I'll go tell her." He gave a decisive nod, turned and set off at a jog back to the shuttles.

His progress was halted by the sound of a scream from inside the hotel.

Daemar looked back for a moment, unsure as to what had happened, many of the people around him had stopped as well and started to mill about and mutter. Daemar started toward the hotel entrance when a second scream from inside issued, prompting him to move faster, a sudden shout from the crowd stopped him for a moment. Someone had looked up and pointed to the dome where bright flashes marked the destruction of a number of the Federation ships still around the Foundation. Daemar spared only a brief glance as he pushed past people and opened the door to the hotel. Inside the place was a wreck, tables were overturned and chairs scattered, the sound of running from the upper floors sounded through the ceiling and the clerk was nowhere to be seen. Daemar started for the stairs but froze as a large, purple, humanoid shaped apparition stepped through the far wall like a ghost. "Uh-oh….G…"

"GNOSIS!!" Came the scream from outside.

Daemar looked back over his shoulder as people in the street began to scatter from the Gnosis that appeared among them. The pounding of feet from upstairs increased and heavy thuds issued as if someone were throwing things around. Occasionally a loud bang announced that a large piece of furniture had been hurled into a wall. Daemar quickly brought his attention back to the Troll type gnosis that was now thundering toward him, with no time to dodge, Daemar crossed his arms in front of his face and braced himself. The collision sent him backwards into a table, his weight crushing the wood and sending splinters everywhere, the troll roared as Daemar started to stand up again. "Damn…" He muttered to himself. "Kos-Mos hasn't used the Hilbert Effect…. I can't touch them, but they can hit me." Suddenly the clerk came bounding down the stairs with a little girl in his arms then halted when he spied the troll right in front of him. "Oh god…" He whispered then gave a scream as the remains of a table hurled through the troll, forcing its attention back to the cyborg that had thrown it. "Run!!" Daemar shouted, picking up a chair and charging at the large purple monster.

He never got the chance to swing, the troll backhanded him almost casually, catching him in the midsection and sending him flying into the doors and crashing through them to the street. Dazed, Daemar tried to pick himself up and was mildly surprised when a man helped him to his feet. "Are you alright son?" The man asked and threw his arms up over his eyes as bluish white light washed over them. Daemar looked towards the Durandal and smiled slightly. "About time…" He said to himself as the Hilbert Effect continued to radiate outward from the Durandal Bridge. He rushed back into the hotel and found the troll standing before a large vault, unable to get in. A second had joined the first and turned toward him as he entered and charged. Again, the cyborg held his ground with his arms in a ready position and his hands open. Daemar almost laughed when the part of the troll that might be called a face registered surprised by the fact that this small human had just caught his hands and was pushing back! Daemar yelled and pushed back harder than before and forced the troll back into a support pillar, knocking over a lamp and starting a small fire. The surprised look registered again as Daemar leapt from where he stood landed a powerful blow to the troll's head, causing it to fall to the side, dazed.

A brief flash of light engulfed Daemar as he switched to the P.C.S., the panel on his right arm opened and the long square tipped blade housed within popped up and slid out. Before the troll could get to it's feet, Daemar swept the blade across what he thought was it's neck and sent the head flying across the room. It vanished long before it touched the floor, as did the body. He looked up, preparing to attack the second troll still standing in front of the vault when a scream issued from outside. Behind the armored mask, he grimaced. The clerk was dead and so was his little girl, there was no point in staying when the living still needed help. He rushed outside to a scene of chaos, Gnosis where everywhere and scattered about were bodies of the dead and piles of white powder from those the Gnosis had picked up and "whitened". A few people were trying to fight back but none had weapons and the few who possessed powers were so weak that they couldn't do much more than fend off Gnosis long enough for them to run. Daemar had faced the Gnosis before, but always with Shion and the others, this was the first time he'd seen innocent people fall under attack. He vaulted over the railing to the street below, his hands tightening into fists as he took measured steps toward the fray before him. The thruster ports on his back opened and fired, turning him into a high speed ram aimed a Bugbear that had it's massive fists raised over it's head, poised to crush the man who'd helped him up a moment before. The impact was stunning, the Gnosis never saw the blue cyborg until his armored shoulder came crashing into it's midsection, leaving a visible dent as it went flying into a parked truck. A moment later the vehicle exploded and the pain filled roar confirmed the monster's demise. Daemar landed carefully and looked at the man who in turn looked back at the blue armor covered man that had just saved his life. He extended a metallic hand to help the man up. "You'd better hide somewhere, until things cool down." He said and the man nodded in stunned silence before stumbling off in the direction of the evacuation shuttles.

Daemar turned back toward Sector 27 and frowned slightly, a number of Kobolds were milling about swinging their blades in anticipation. In there midst stood a single Basilisk, dancing on it's six legs as it was wont to do, it froze as Daemar fixed his yellow gaze on the group then bristled and issued a high pitched screech. To a one the Kobolds charge with blades held above their heads, eyes fixed on the cyborg before them. Daemar crouched slightly and rushed forward, seeking to break their charge, this wasn't a difficult task to accomplish as the kobolds were about half his size but what they lacked in size they made up for in sheer numbers. His arms were crossed in front of him, he held his upper body low and when he connected with the first kobold he raised up and swept his arms apart. The result: five kobolds went flying into the air, screeching in anger as they rained down to the ground, the other kobolds halted and hissed. Daemar prepared the charge again when the kobolds suddenly scattered to either side, he blinked behind his armored mask and stood upright. "What….?" The Basilisk hissed loudly, the semi-transparent bulb on it's back end glowed fiery red as the creature released a blast of fire that streaked for him, the young cyborg didn't have time to react and took the blast full in the chest. For the second time in less than ten minutes, Daemar flew backward and came to a stop with a loud crash when he collided with another truck. He pulled himself from the wreck and stood slowly, the kobolds were shaking as they moved closer to the basilisk; it took him a moment to realize that they were laughing at him. I didn't think gnosis COULD laugh…..no matter…

Daemar drew up to his fully height, his right thigh opened to reveal the blaster contained within. "So, you think that's funny..?" His hand went down and pulled the weapon free, his thumb flicking a tiny switch that set the blaster to charge with a high pitched whine. The kobolds stopped shaking and stared at him, as did the basilisk when he aimed the screaming blaster at them. "Laugh at this then." He said and pulled the trigger. The shot that was fired wasn't the normal high speed yellow round but a fist sized bolt that raced across the intervening space and slammed into the transparent bulb of the basilisk. The two energies mingled for a moment then, like matter and anti-matter, the two tried to cancel each other out in a large explosion that ripped the basilisk apart as well as the kobolds. Daemar lowered the blaster, flicking the switch back to its original setting before it could charge again. With the path clear, he took off at a jog into Sector 27.

The fighting there had been tough, especially when three trolls had managed to box him in a corner but he continued to fight on until a familiar voice shouted out to him. "I see you got the party started without us!" Daemar, having just dispatched another basilisk, turned quickly to find Shion and the others facing him, Jr. was grinning at him. "Did you leave any for us at all?" The red haired boy asked, twirling his guns skillfully. Daemar lowered the blaster and put it back in it's holster and faced the group, the armor around his head opened and retracted into the main body so he could show his face without removing all the armor. A small grin painted his lips as he replied. "Sorry about that….I didn't intend to crash the party, the party crashed me, so to speak. But yes, there are plenty left to fight."

With the party back at full strength, they proceeded to exterminate all of the Gnosis in sectors 26 and 27 and saving a number of people who had hidden instead of evacuating. Daemar breathed a great sigh of relief when he found that the daughter of the hotel clerk had been hidden in the vault behind the counter, because Kos-Mos used the Hilbert Effect, the troll gnosis was unable to get to the little girl. Eventually they cleared out the hoard, faced the last of the gnosis, a large one about the size of an A.W.G.S., and aptly called the Gigas. With the last of the gnosis inside the colony destroyed, the group made their way to the launch pad where the citizens were lined up to evacuate to the Durandal. Daemar stopped when MOMO stopped to help tend to a wounded man, Ziggy stopped as well but Daemar halted the older cyborg with a hand on his shoulder. "You head back with the others, I keep leaving you to watch MOMO, it's my turn now." Ziggy looked as though he wanted to argue but nodded and followed chaos into the shuttle. Daemar kneeled down next to a woman who was groaning softly from a leg injury and tried to help her while Shion called to MOMO.

"MOMO! Hurry and get in!" She called and, without looking up, MOMO responded. "I'm okay! I've got to help treat these injured people! This person is bleeding heavily…" Shion looked unsure but Daemar stood and called to her. "It's alright Shion, I'll stay with her." The woman nodded. "All right! We'll come back for you soon!" She pulled her head in; the shuttle hatch closed and took off. Daemar knelt down again, bound the woman's injured leg with cloth, and smiled. "There, that should stop the bleeding until she comes over with nanospray." He gestured back toward MOMO without looking and started to stand when the woman looked at him in a confused manner. "Until who comes?" Daemar looked back at her and smiled politely, it was possible that she'd taken a blow to the head so he half turned to indicate MOMO. "My friend over there, the cute Realian girl with pink hair and…." He cut off when he didn't see her, he turned all the way around but still saw no sign of her. "Excuse me ma'am." He said and headed back toward Sector 26. "MOMO? MOMO, where are you?!"

End of Chapter 10

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