Welcome! If you're here, and you haven't read Rider Knights of the Throne, I suggest you do so because it's one of the best fics we've written! We wanted to revisit the universe so we started it over and changed a bunch of details but it still follows Andy, Kiba, and the crew as they battle the Empire. Hope you enjoy!

A teen girl woke slowly, finding herself chained to a wall. She struggled against the chains, growling as she couldn't get out. She slumped against the wall, hanging there waiting for a chance for escape.

The door suddenly swung open, a man entering. He let out a curse as he saw the girl, then spoke into a small communicator. "You sent me the wrong way, idiot. Nothing here but a prisoner."

Andy looked at him for a moment before speaking, "Can you get me down from here?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What's in it for me?"

"I won't scream and alert the guards that you're in here."

"That might have convinced me, if I hadn't already taken care of them all."

Andy cursed, "Then I guess there's nothing in it for you, other than you'd be a good person." She sighed, "I just want to go home."

He eyed her for a moment, then shrugged. "Haven't been a good person in a long time. But you're too young to be dragged into this war." He produced a laser cutter, freeing her in a few minutes. "Follow the hallway all the way down and you'll be out. Where you go from there isn't my concern." He walked out the door, turning in the opposite direction than he had directed, speaking into his comm. "Have you learned to read a map yet?"

Andy rubbed her wrists before working on heading out the way he told her. She moved slowly, keeping an eye out in case there were guards he'd missed until she finally got to the exit.

A few minutes later, there was the sound of laser fire. The man suddenly stumbled into her, knocking them both to the ground under the brightness of the twin suns.

Andy pushed herself up and looked at him, "You okay?"

He had his hand clamped to his side and he was breathing heavily. "I missed a guard." He scowled at the blood soaking his dark clothes. He handed her a keycard as he struggled not to pass out. "My ship is down that way." He pointed down an alley. "Take it and this, rendezvous with the Valkyrie. Tet will take you home." He pushed a message chip into her hand as his eyes began to slip closed.

Andy shook her head, holding her hands out to him. They started glowing as she began to heal his wound.

He watched her through narrowed heavy eyes. "What are you doing? You should get out of here."

She continued to work quietly until his wound was healed. "You should be alright now."

His eyes grew wide as he looked down. "You're one of those witches!" He scrambled away from her. "You're not taking my soul!"

She looked at him with surprise, "All I did was heal you. I don't want your soul..? What are you talking about?"

"All you Eshanans are soul stealers. You heal for a price. Well I ain't giving my soul. It may be black as a devil's heart, but it's mine, you hear! Mine!" He was trembling from a mixture of fear and anger, his eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"I don't know where you heard that, but it's not true." She held out the card and message chip to him. "I have to go find a way home, so just take your stuff and go meet your friends. I'll get out of your hair."

He eyed her a moment, then pushed her to the ground and fired a small weapon at something behind her. He grabbed the card and chip, stuffing them in a pocket. Then he grabbed her hand and started running toward the alley silently.

Andy followed along for a moment. When they got to the alley, she pulled away from him, "What the hell? First you're afraid I'm going to steal your soul, then you pull me along like you're helping me?"

"Would you rather I let you be shot in the back by that guard? You should be thanking me. I could have left you chained up. Maybe I should have. Less headache for me." He approached a small two person fighter. "Good luck and good riddance. Maybe Tet will stop badgering me to help people after this." He opened the hatch and began to enter.

"Thanks then," she answered before turning away, "Good luck." She started to walk, keeping eyes out for more guards as she tried to figure out a plan to get off the planet.

"Gods damn it!" He was suddenly picking her up, his arms firmly gripping her waist as he swung her over his shoulder. He entered the fighter, dropping her into the copilot seat with a thump. He buckled the safety straps around her before sitting down and keying the liftoff sequence.

Andy looked at him in confusion, "Why are you taking me with you?"

"Because number one, my partner would never let me hear the end of it. Number two you shouldn't be here. Too dangerous. So I'll do my good deed for the century and take you home." He didn't look at her as he answered.

Andy sighed and looked out the window.

Shortly, a larger ship began to loom over them. Kiba touched a few buttons, then they were docking. Without a word, he unhooked the straps and opened the hatch. He walked out scowling.

"You didn't find it, I'm guessing?" A deep voice asked casually.

"And who's fault is that?" Kiba gritted out in annoyance.

Andy looked out, unsure what she should be doing.

Another man was in the fighter bay, giving Kiba a long suffering look. He glanced toward Andy and raised an eyebrow. "You got a girl?"

Kiba growled. "She's Eshanan, dumbass. I'm just dropping her off because she's too damn young to be in the middle of this shit." He left the bay without a second look.

The other man gave her a dimpled smile. "Hi. I'm Tet."

"Hi, I'm Andy." She said quietly.

"You look like you need a meal. We're about," He consulted his chronowatch. "About seven hours from Eshana. Follow me and I'll scrounge you something."

Andy nodded slowly.

He led her to a medium sized kitchen. He pointed to a stool as he began rummaging through the fridge. "How did you end up on Chandra anyway? I didn't think you guys ever left your planet."

"I was kidnapped," she said quietly. "I don't know why exactly.."

He raised up, his eyes narrowing. "Why the hell would the Empire kidnap someone from a pacifist planet? You guys aren't even involved in the war." He brought over some ingredients and began to cook.

"What is this war about? I haven't heard anything about it.." She asked, "And I don't know why anyone would want me, other than maybe because I'm next in line to run Eshana?"

He was quiet for a few minutes, then answered. "The Empire came out of nowhere. Said they wanted diplomatic relations, then slaughtered our royal family. Who they didn't kill, they took to their research facilities to test weapons on. They took control of Chandra, then began conquering as many planets as they could. That was five years ago." His eyes looked haunted, staring at something only he could see.

Andy sighed, "Sounds terrible."

He blinked, then nodded and stirred the food. "We're part of a resistance movement to drive the Empire away. There's not many of us left. The Empire hit our home base a few months ago and killed a lot. More are missing, presumed to be in the Empire's hands. Kiba's not taking it well. Don't hold his attitude against him. He lashes out when he's hurting." He plated up the food and handed it to her. "I doubt it's royalty quality, but it's edible."

"Thank you," she gave him a small smile before starting to eat.

Kiba stalked in, pulling a alcohol ration from the fridge. He leaned against the appliance, his eyes locked on Andy as he downed half of the ration in one swallow.

Tet gave him an disapproving look. "You aren't supposed to be drinking and you know it." He looked at his watch. "Your next dose is in twenty."

Kiba waved off the statement. "Go mother hen someone else."

Tet's lips tightened and he made a plate for himself, then sat down next to Andy.

Andy ate in silence, wishing she could get home sooner.

Kiba finished the ration, tossing the container in the trash. He continued to stare at Andy until he gave a gasp and bent double.

Tet was by him in seconds. "I told you."

"Not that.. The other.." Kiba managed to get out between harsh groans.

"Dammit! Must be spreading. Can you walk?"

Kiba managed to straighten up with Tet's help.

The other man looked over at Andy "Would you help me get him to the infirmary?"

Andy nodded and went to Kiba's side, wrapping an arm around him. "Is there more I can do to help?"

Tet led them to the infirmary slowly. "Doubtful. The Empire.." He trailed off as Kiba gave him a death glare.

Once Kiba was on a bed, Tet administered a bright red liquid. Kiba began to relax, his eyes drooping as Tet drew Andy aside.

"The Empire did experiments on him. He escaped, but not without a goodbye gift. He was infected with a disease that spreads slowly. Prognosis is maybe a few more months, but not longer. The medicine relieves the pain and slows the progression, but it's working less and less. Soon he'll have to be constantly sedated."

"Can I try taking a look?"

"Be my guest." Tet moved away as Kiba stirred and weakly tried to rise.

Andy gently pushed him back before her hands started glowing. She tried a few different healing techniques to try to destroy the disease. She closed her eyes as she focused, working on slowly erasing the cells infected.

Kiba lay quiet, only semi conscious. His breathing was calming as she worked.

She finished destroying any of the infected cells she could sense, before moving away.

Tet came back, his face curious. "Were you able to slow it more?"

"I'm not sensing any more of the infection," she answered.

The man's eyes went wide. "You cured him?"

Andy shrugged, "From what I can tell."

Tet stared at her. "I know why the Empire wants you.."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Kiba was given this disease because the Empire is trying to cure it. Both the Emperor and his son suffer from a variant. They want you to heal them.."

Andy nodded in understanding.

"You still want to go home? They may show up looking for you again."

Andy sighed, "It's not like I have anywhere else to go. But I don't want them to hurt anyone if they do come back.."

"You could join us..?"

"I don't want to intrude or be a bother," she answered quietly.

"You could be a real help here in the infirmary." Tet watched Kiba sleep. "If you can heal him, then what can you do to battle injuries? But I won't force you. I know what it's like to be away from home."

"I think for now I should go home. I'm supposed to eventually run Eshana.. And if there's a war, my mom should hear about it just in case. Plus, I'm sure she and my brother are worried."

Tet nodded. "Alright. Although I'm pretty sure your leaders know about the war. Your planet is supposed to be neutral territory."

"If they knew about it, why wouldn't they have told me?" She sighed again before adding, "Thank you guys for taking me home."

"No problem. Let me show you to a room so you can rest until we get there." Tet offered.

She nodded, "Alright. Thanks."

He led her out of the infirmary and down a hallway to a small room. He opened it and showed her in. "We'll be at your home in four hours. I'll comm you." He left quietly.

Andy sat down, staring at the wall as she tried to process that a war was going on and her people had no clue. She wanted to keep them safe and keep the planet neutral, but she also wanted to help fight against the Empire.

Four hours later, the comm in her room chimed. "We've arrived."

Andy left the room and slowly went down the hall.

Tet and a dark haired man looked up. "You ready? Takashi will take you down."

The other man rolled his eyes. "Call me Tak."

"Nice to meet you."

"Let's get you home." Tak took her to the bay, entering a fighter and waiting for her before taking off.

Ten minutes later, they were landing in the village square. Tak gave her a wave as she exited, then lifted off and disappeared into the sky.

Andy headed toward her house, running there when she got close. She hugged her brother when she saw him, happy she was home.