Note: pls review if you read, I like hearing comments. Also what do you think is it better to have "Chapters" of the game broken up into chunks, or to have them released all at once in one big update

10.

Morag stood at the window of her capital ship, watching the Cloud Sea race beneath her. She could just see the Torigoth port in the distance. They'd be landing in a few moments now. It felt good to be back. Though duties required it of her, she never liked to be away from Brighid for very long. She remained perfectly still, hands clasped behind her back, as the massive ship slowed, pulling on her, and came into dock at the port.

With measured, clipped steps, she made her way off the ship. It was a measure of how important that Mor Ardain considered this situation that it had pulled the massive warship away from the front. She walked down the ramp to the port, completely concealing her unsteady sea legs. It wouldn't do for the men to see the Special Inquisitor stumbling.

Greeting her at the port was a small retinue of Ardainian soldiers, led by a particularly handsome man with flashing blue eyes and jet black hair, decked out in the black and white dress uniform of the Ardainian Empire, medals adorning his chest. Colonel Padraigh, military governor of Torigoth, saluted her as she approached. "Special Inquisitor," he said, giving her a small smile. "I hope you had a pleasant voyage."

Morag gave him a small smile in return. In truth, they both knew each other quite well. She had dated Padraigh some years ago, though they had both been too professionally dedicated to their duties to make it work. The breakup had been mutual and utterly without drama, however, and she still respected the man for his unwavering dedication to the Empire. "Oh, Padraigh, let's spare the formalities," she said, fondly. "How are you? It's been a while. Colonel now, is it?"

Padraigh smiled bashfully. "Yeah. I managed to stumble my way up the ranks."

"Oh, I'm sure you deserve it."

The man laughed. "Far be it from me to question the Emperor's judgment. I think it was my skill with a rifle that propelled me through the ranks more than anything else, though." Morag nodded in acknowledgment. Padraigh had always been an incredible crackshot. Almost to a supernatural degree, actually. She had seen him hit a target the size of a fly from a distance that most other soldiers could barely hit the side of a barn. And he reloaded three times as fast as them, as well. It was how he had impressed her on their first date, actually. He fell in at her side as she continued walking forward, through the ranks of saluting soldiers. "How is your brother, by the way?"

"About as well as can be expected." Morag shook her head ruefully. "You know, I assume, that he didn't want this war. The Senate forced his hand."

"Well. Not my place to question the chain of command." Padraigh's face was stone, unreadable. He had always been like this, always willing to serve the commands of leadership, keeping his personal opinions to himself. Morag, though, thought he was probably one of the good ones, one of the ones who didn't like this war either.

"How goes the defense of Torigoth?"

Padraigh sighed, then gestured around him. Morag glanced around at the empty port, and the mostly empty barracks. "We've repelled most of the attacks, and driven the Urayans up into the mountains of Gormott's left shoulder. They're fairly entrenched there, though. As you can see, we have all available ships up there to prevent them from bringing in reinforcements, and most of the men there too. It's been hard going. I barely had the men to spare for the patrols, otherwise..." he winced. "Otherwise, we may have captured the Aegis."

"Don't blame yourself, Padraigh. Remember what it is you're dealing with, here. You and the men can hardly be held at fault for failing to capture him on such short notice." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "How did you learn he was here, anyway?"

"Chairman Bana, of the Argentum trade guild, gave me a call," Padraigh said dryly. "Apparently he was involved in the operation that bought him up, somehow. The little creep tried to bribe me for his capture and return. The audacity of those nopon, I swear." He grinned. "I managed to get a description out of him without promising him a damn thing, though."

Morag laughed. "You always were a smooth talker."

"Oh, you do me too much credit." He came to a stop before a large, intimidating, cement building, all sharp angles, barbed wire and sandbags adorning gun nests all along the rooftop – the military headquarters of Mor Ardain in Torigoth. "Would you like to catch some dinner, or get right to interrogating the prisoner? Brighid's in there with her."

"I'll have to take you up on the dinner offer some other time." Morag gave him another fond smile. "It's been nice seeing you, Padraigh."

The Colonel bowed, then turned with a smart clip, and began briskly walking away.

"Hey, Padraigh," Morag called. He turned to look at her, inquisitively. "After the war's over, let's...catch up more, sometime, yeah?" She said. The faintest of blushes stained her cheeks.

Padraigh gave her one of his charming smiles that she remembered so fondly. "Of course. Duty first though, right?" He waved to her as he walked away.

Morag entered the building, finding Brighid waiting for her in the lobby. "Ah, Lady Morag. Good to have you here." Her blade raised an eyebrow at her, a small smile playing across her lips. "Talked to Padraigh, did you?"

"Brighid." Morag nodded. "Yes, it had been a while."

"You know, that man is still as good a shot as ever." Brighid fell into step beside her as they made their way through the harshly lit hallways to the prisoner rooms. "He gets up every morning to drill the men with his expertise. Truly admirable. I can see why you were so fond of him."

Morag cleared her throat. "You know, Brighid, Aegaeon was asking how you were doing, last I saw him." She reached into a coat pocket, and handed her blade a delicately-wrapped package. "He gave this to me to give to you."

"O-oh. He was? He did?" Brighid suddenly covered her mouth, and Morag knew she was hiding a blush. She took the package and unwrapped it, sighing contentedly at the delicate glass bottle revealed. "Sparkly Snow Perfume. That was sweet of him. I'll have to get him something for the next time I see him. The Gormotti have the dearest little carvings. I think he'd really like-"

"Brighid." Morag stopped short in front of a steel door with bars across the window. Brighid cleared her throat, suddenly embarrassed. "This is the prisoner's room, yes?"

"Ah. Yes. I warn you, she's quite the uncouth loudmouth."

Morag nodded, and threw open the door, striding in confidently. Nia sat in a chair, flanked by two Ardainian soldiers, glaring up at her. The room was empty besides a table and another chair. Morag took a seat opposite the Gormotti girl.

"Go ahead and interrogate me, I'm not telling you anything." Nia leaned back, crossed her arms, and looked away. "You're getting nothing out of me."

"So young, to be a member of Torna," Morag murmured, after a few moments. "I assume you must have been the new rookie member we heard about."

"I'm not that young," Nia snapped. "I'm capable enough by myself, yeah? I'm no rookie. You're as bad as Rex."

"Rex? That another member of Torna?"

"Damn," muttered Nia. "No. He was just some idiot who woke up...I mean...damn it!"

Morag smiled primly. This was going to be easier than she thought.

11.

"Damn, damn damn damn," Rex muttered, struggling beneath the weight of the pack he was holding, loaded up with scrap and salvaged sensors.

Malos, carrying a similar pack, though much more easily, glanced down at him. "You want me to carry yours, kid?"

When they had fled into the forest, following their rescuer, the small nopon had shoved these packs into their hands as soon as they reached him. The small, bouncy creature had then led them on a merry, confusing chase through the forest as the Ardainian guards tore after them. It was certainly clever though, and seemed to know what it was doing – the winding, circuitous path through the underbrush had quickly gotten the soldiers off their trail. It had insisted on silence, though, as it led them, craftily, to a small drainage pipe in the side of a cliff, one that apparently led from the forest up into Torigoth proper. It was now bouncing merrily along the tunnel, apparently oblivious to the filth, as Rex and Malos struggled to keep pace.

"No, it's fine, I got it….it's just…." Rex's face contorted with a scowl. "I...I can't believe I left Nia behind. I'm such an idiot. I….could have used your power, I-"

"Whoa, whoa, kid." Malos put a comforting arm on his shoulder. "Hey, if I thought we could have saved her, I would have let you know. But there were more men approaching than even you and I could handle." He smirked. "Don't worry, we'll get your girl back."

"Oh shut up," Rex said, blushing, but he did seem to brighten up a bit. "You think so, though?"

Malos shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I mean, not like we can just march up to the front gates and demand her back, but hey. It may not look like it, but I'm more than capable of acting with a little...subtlety and stealth." He winked, and Rex gave a small laugh, encouraged.

"Alright. Alright, yeah. We'll rescue Nia, no problem." Suddenly he stopped as he bumped into the Nopon, who was standing in their path, looking up at them in frustration.

"Friends want to get caught?" it whispered, quivering with a frantic, nervous energy. "You see these pipes? Carry sound very good! You not keep quiet, everyone in Torigoth hear your conversation! Quiet, please, until we back at my hidey-spot!"

Rex and Malos fell silent as the nopon led them through the winding tunnels, up ladders, down a path more complex than either of them felt like they could have possibly remembered. Malos was about to drop his pack and demand an explanation when, finally, the nopon spun open a hatch, and dim lamplight fell through. "We here!" cried the Nopon, excitedly.

Rex and Malos poked their heads out of the tunnel, glancing around. They seemed to be on the lower level of a city, among some ramshackle, shoddy housing built on a large wooden platform overhanging the cloud sea, hundreds of feet below, built into a cliffside. Flickering electrical lamps lit their path – it was already night time. Rex looked up, and above him, he could see bridges spanning a chasm, with buildings on either side of it. To his left, it looked like a pretty typical town, but to his right, on the other side of the bridges, he could make out some sharp, angular buildings, and what looked like massive artillery guns and anti-aircraft weaponry silhouetted against the night sky, blotting out the stars. Ardainian weaponry, for sure. And faintly, Rex could make out the shape of an absolutely massive Titan warship beside them.

The nopon glanced around, then motioned them into a back alley. After a few twists and turns, he opened up a door to a small shack and led them inside. It opened up into a small, messy kitchen, with pots and pans lying about haphazardly. Rex glanced interestingly at a small screen in the corner, with a mess of wires and what looked like a small controller running out of it, as he dumped the pack he was carrying on the ground. Malos did likewise. "Alright, I think we deserve a bit of an explanation, now," Rex said, as the small nopon turned around and stared up at them with wide, dark eyes, wings trembling.

"Wow," the nopon said, its words hushed with awe. "Tora never think he have real blades and drivers in his home!" He did a little dance while Rex and Malos glanced at each other.

"Tora, that's your name, is it?" Rex said. "Well, I'm Rex, and this is Malos."

"Ooooh, Rex-Rex and Malos, such cool names!" Tora squealed in glee, still dancing about. "Blades and drivers, so cool!"

"No...not Rex-Rex, just Rex...look, what was all this stuff you had us carry here?" Rex opened a bag. It was full of mechanical scrap, devices….and buried beneath the top, Rex spotted an Ardainian helmet. "Wait a minute. Did you get this from that battlefield?"

"Battlefield scavengers," Malos said, with contempt. "They're there in every age, I guess. Prying equipment from the hands of dead men."

Tora stopped dancing and scratched the top of his head with one of his flexible nopon wings. "Yes yes, I take from battlefield. But what is problem? They don't need it anymore."

Rex closed up the pack and looked away, grimacing. "I dunno...just seems a little distasteful, grabbing equipment from dead men for a profit."

"Oh, but this is not for profit!" cried Tora. "Believe Tora, he has very good use for scrap! In fact, Tora's special project is very nearly finished! Scrap he took in today should be enough to get it done!"

"Special….project?"

"Yes," said Tora, in hushed, excited tones, walking them both over to a room that had a ragged sheet draped over it as a curtain. "You see, it dream of Tora….of Tora's entire family, in fact…to be drivers. But...unfortunately..."

"You couldn't," said Malos. Rex glanced up at him. "Not everyone has the aptitude to be a driver," Malos explained.

"That right. Tora, and dadapon, and grampypon...we all try to resonate with core crystal of blade, at some point. Each of us fail." Tora grimaced, then narrowed his eyes in a mischievous, conniving look. "But we not let that discourage us! We can't resonate with blade, we just build our own instead! Artificial blade!"

And with that, he dramatically pulled back the sheet, revealing a small room that was covered in brass pipe, wires, with frantically-drawn schematics covering the walls. A small workstation, also covered with a mess of schematics, lay against a wall. And in the center of the room was a large mechanical device, into which was hooked, by a nest of trailing wires...a young girl, with a blocky, mechanical body, lined with glowing orange ether circuitry. She wore a white beret, a red cape, and black and red pantaloons. Her face looked more realistic than her metal body, but examining it closely, Rex could see the joint and seam lines in it. To her back was hooked a large shield with a gigantic drill bit sticking out of it. Delicately attacked to the nape of her cape was a large white flower.

"What...is this?" Rex asked. "I mean don't get me wrong, it's seriously impressive. I mean at least it looks impressive, but-"

"This is Poppi! Artificial blade! Lifelong dream of Tora, dadapon and grampypon!" Tora looked away mournfully. "Dadapon and Grampypon...killed when lab attacked one day. Someone jealous of our research. But Tora grab schematics and ether furnace and run away, vow to complete family dream! And dream almost complete! Just need some work with scrap Tora get today, and Artificial Blade Poppy will be ready for activation! Ah, wait, please do not touch-" Tora, who had been dancing with excitement, rushed over as Malos strode through the room to peer inside a bureau whose door had been hanging slightly open. At Malos' touch, the small closet creaked open, revealing a variety of maid outfits other girly dresses. Malos, with a bemused look, grabbed one of the hanging dresses, a frilly maid outfit, and held it up for Tora and Rex to see.

"Ah….Tora can….explain…." Tora said, shame clear in his voice.

Malos eyed the dress up and down, then shrugged. "Hey, what's to explain? It's pretty cute."

"Seriously, Malos?" Rex gave him a skeptical look.

"Hey, nothing wrong with cute things." Malos shrugged and put the dress back, then turned around to survey Poppi, hands on his hips, clearly impressed. "Man, I never would have thought you nopon had it in you."

"This is all well and good," Rex said. "But Tora, look, one of our friends got captured by the Ardainians. We need to rescue her as soon as possible."

"Ah! Yes yes! Cute cat-lady, yes? Other driver!" Tora began dancing around, full of energy. "Perfect test run for newly activated Artificial Blade Poppi! You give Tora a few hours to work, he can help you with rescue mission! Oh, this will be so exciting!" He dashed into the kitchen, throwing open the packs and quickly, deftly, beginning to sort through the scrap, disassembling some of the pieces with a frightening speed.

Rex rubbed his head as the small nopon ran back and forth, carrying pieces of scrap that he began bolting on to Poppi. "I...dunno...what do you think, Malos?"

"Seems like as good a plan as any other," Malos shrugged. "Besides, it gives us time to go out and actually find where they're holding her, right?"

"Cat-lady is almost certainly somewhere in Ardainian base," Tora yelled out absent-mindedly as he continued to work on Poppi. "If friends go out, should remain on lower levels of town. Upper levels patrolled by Ardainians, even at night. Might recognize you. Tora has friend, Turuni, lives only a few houses down. Very good at finding information! Maybe has information on your friend?"

12.

Following Tora's directions, Malos and Rex took a short walk down one of the ramshackle alleyways that made up Torigoth's slums. It was late, though Rex wasn't sure of the hour. The streets were mostly deserted, though he did catch a couple of cat-eared figures that furtively fled at their approach, dashing into the shadows. It seemed the Ardainian soldiers didn't patrol the slums that much, making them a hotbed of crime and smuggling. Probably why Tora had set up base there to begin with.

They arrived at their destination, a small shack painted in the sort of garish, haphazard colors that nopon seemed to favor, all fading green, pink and yellow. Rex knocked at the door, almost afraid that it would fall in. After a few moments, a bedraggled-looking nopon, colored a dull yellow, appeared at the door, glaring up at them with bleary eyes. "Ah," he said, irritably. "Give Turuni a moment. Must get decent."

With that, he closed the door. Rex looked at Malos, who shrugged. Suddenly the door slammed back open, revealing Turuni leveling an Ardainian rifle at them in his wings. Rex and Malos held up their hands. "WHAT STRANGERS DOING AT TURUNI'S HOUSE IN MIDDLE OF NIGHT?" shouted the Nopon. "GIVE TURUNI ONE REASON WHY HE SHOULD NOT BLOW YOU AWAY RIGHT NOW-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Rex said, backing up a few feet. "Wait, we're here for information!"

"Oh." Turuni propped the rifle up at his side. "Why friends not say so before? Come in, come in."

The little nopon waddled back into the shack. Rex and Malos stepped inside. Apparently the small shack doubled as his house and a shop of sorts. The main entrance had a counter lined with hefty stacks of paper. The walls were covered with shelves of books. Malos stared with interest at these as Rex went to the counter with the nopon. At least some of them seemed to be history books. He walked over to examine them as Rex talked with the nopon.

"So. Friend want information. What sort of information?"

"Well...we had a friend who was captured by the Ardainians earlier today. We were wondering if you could tell us anything about her."

Turuni whistled. "Friends want very fresh information. Yes, Turuni knows. Will cost you, though. Let's say, five thousand gold."

"Oh..." Rex said, awkwardly. He hadn't realized that money was to be expected for this sort of thing. "Well, you know, Tora sent us."

"Ohhhhh! You friends of Tora. Why not friends say so! Turuni give you discount. Information cost mere four thousand, nine hundred ninety gold." The little nopon looked up at him expectantly.

"Uh...actually...I'm sorry, I don't have any gold at all."

The smile fell from Turuni's face. "Ah. So you are completely wasting Turuni's time." He reached for his rifle.

"Whoa, stop," Rex cried. "Look, she's my friend. I have to rescue her. Please, can't you find it in your heart to just tell us-"

"Absolutely not," snapped Turuni, grabbing the rifle. "Can't believe Tora sent deadbeats to my house in the middle of the night. You get the hell off Turuni's property-"

But before the nopon could level the rifle at Rex's face, Malos stepped across the shop in a flash, grabbing the barrel. He squeezed, and the barrel crumpled and wood stock splintered in his grip. Turuni gasped in shock and dropped the now useless rifle. "Listen," Malos began.

"I-intruders! Monsters! Assault! Arson! Murder! Larceny!" Turuni cried.

Malos growled in frustration, then picked the little nopon up bodily and pinned him against the wall. "Malos, wait!" Rex cried, but Malos ignored him.

"Listen," Malos began again, and Turuni fell silent. "Here's how this is going to go. You're going to tell us everything you know about the girl, and we won't destroy your shop."

"Stop," Rex said, his voice firm.

Malos glanced down at him. The boy was glaring at him with fire in his eyes. He really was just like Addam. "You want to rescue Nia, or not?" Malos asked, quietly. "We may not have much time."

Rex suddenly looked much more unsure of himself. "I...yeah. Alright, look, this is how it's going to go. You tell us where Nia is, and...I give you my solemn promise, that I will send you ten thousand gold as soon as I am able. Sound good?"

"And if Turuni refuses?" the trembling little nopon asked. Malos grinned, and gave him a subtle squeeze. "Okay! Okay! Turuni hear about cat-lady captured this morning. She being held on big Ardainian warship, only one in harbor."

"Alright," Rex said, "that's great, that's helpful! We can-"

"Ardainians execute her tomorrow morning."

Rex felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. "R-really," he stuttered.

Turuni pointed to a paper on his counter. "Turuni obtain copy of her death warrant from informant. See for yourself."

Malos dropped the nopon, then strode over to the counter, picking up the paper, scanning it briefly. "Yeah," he said grimly. "He's not lying."

"We...we have to hurry," Rex said, panic rising in his voice. "We have to get back to Tora and tell him to finish up as soon as possible." Malos nodded. Rex turned to Turuni and spread his hands apologetically. "Look, I'm so sorry about….everything. We have to go. I swear, I'll send you that ten thousand gold."

"Tell Tora," gasped Turuni, yelling at them as they exited the shop, "No more discounts for his friends!"

13.

Malos browsed through the history book he had stolen from Turuni's shop as Rex paced back and forth anxiously in Tora's kitchen. The sound of frantic mechanical work came from behind the curtain, and Malos could see the nopon's shadow dancing wildly across it as he worked as quickly as possible. The nopon had promised Rex to work "Double, triple-fast!" the moment he had heard of Nia's impending execution, but it hardly seemed to put Rex at ease.

"Man," Rex said, stopping his pacing for a moment, "You think that maybe we should just go without him? You think-"

"Kid, relax a bit." Malos put the book down and glared at him. "We still have plenty of time. And we're gonna need all the help we can get, sneaking onto an Ardainian battleship."

"Friends!" Tora cried, suddenly throwing back the curtain. "Time of destiny has come! I invite you to witness glorious birth of Artificial Blade Poppi!"

"Finally," Rex said, relief in his voice.

Tora tsked at him. "Tora know Rex-Rex is worried about his friend. But cannot rush such a glorious feat of engineering. Come, come."

The three of them crowded into Poppi's room. Tora bounced around, making a few last minute preparations, fiddling with the controls on a large panel composed of hundreds of dials. "Woo! Tora almost forget to change settings. That would have been embarrassing," he said, rearranging some of the wires.

"Embarrassing? Why?"

"Ah – no reason. Never mind. Preparations are complete!" The little nopon danced over to a large lever, placing a wing upon it. "Are Rex-Rex and Malos prepared to witness glorious triumph of science?"

"Well-" Malos began.

"Of course you are!" Tora grinned maniacally, then pulled the lever. "Awaken, Poppi!"

Nothing happened for a moment. Then the house shook, like an earthquake, as lightning tore through the sky and struck a lightning rod on the roof. The lights went out, and all Rex and Malos could see, through the flickering light of the lightning, was Tora holding his wings up in triumph. Electricity visibly surged through the house, coursing through the wires, flowing into the small mechanical girl in the center of the room.

Eventually, the surge of electricity ended, and the room was completely dark again. And then two glowing, bright orange eyes flicked open in the darkness.

Malos cursed under his breath in shock. "Jeez," Rex said.

The lights flickered back on, revealing the glowing eyes to be the freshly-opened ones of the small mechanical girl in the middle of the room.

Tora was dancing and bouncing with anticipation. "Poppi?" he said, leaning forward tentatively.

The small mechanical girl stepped forward, unsteady at first, as if not quite sure how its own body worked, but quickly gained confidence. Her eyes flicked towards the small nopon staring up at her eagerly. "Greetings, masterpon!" she said.

"I….I did it," Tora said, seeming almost surprised with himself.

"Wow, Tora, this is amazing," Rex said, hands on his hips.

"Incredibly amazing!" chirped Tora. "Is world's very first artificial blade! Culmination of years of engineering! No one else in the world has technology of Tora's family! Is very big historical moment!"

Malos snorted. "Boy, if only you knew."

"Eh?"

"Nothing." Malos stepped forward, rubbing his chin. "So just how….intelligent is this Poppi, anyway?"

"Intelligent enough to feel insulted by that!" Poppi said, her voice as cheerful as ever. "Does edgy dark blade think Poppi looks stupid?"

Malos stepped back in shock, then laughed. "Well I'll be damned. You really did it." He clapped Tora on the back. "Congratulations. Really. Never thought I'd see the day again."

"So, Tora," Rex said, ignoring Malos' comment, "Is she good to go? I mean, our friend doesn't have much time left."

"Poppi is 100 percent operational and ready to proceed with primary mission of protecting and serving Masterpon in variety of combat, infiltration, and grooming missions!" Poppi said, glancing over at Rex.

"Grooming-?"

"Friends not worry about that!" Tora turned around, dancing nervously back and forth. "Yes, yes, Poppi is ready. And Tora knows perfect way to sneak onto big Ardainian ship. Friends not worry. Rescue mission will go completely smoothly!"

14.

"Oh yeah, that was smooth." Malos glared at Tora, who smiled sheepishly at him.

The nopon had led them on a winding path down the cliffs of Torigoth, out onto a massive root jutting out over the cloud sea, one that bought them close to where the massive titan battleship was docked. The only problem was that it was quite the leap from the root to one of the deck railings of the battleship. Rex had been able to haul himself up onto it using his anchor shot, which was quiet enough, but had barely begun to haul Malos up when Poppi had activated jet boots – jet boots! With a deafening roar, carrying a shocked Tora up onto the deck herself. It was just as well – Rex had needed help hauling Malos up, and Poppi was incredibly strong – but the jets had made a ridiculous amount of noise. Let alone the ship, probably the whole town had heard them.

"Tora is sorry," said the little nopon. "He forget about Poppi's jet-boot capability."

"Didn't you design her?"

"Yes yes. But Poppi the effort of multiple generations of Tora's family. Many parts designed by dadapon and grampypon." Tora scratched the top of his head. In his hands, he carried the shield that had previously been hooked to Poppi's back. "To be honest, Poppi have many abilities that Tora not sure about. Will be great voyage of discovery!"

"Yeah, great," said Malos. He glanced around the deck and then slowly opened the one bulkhead door on the side of the ship, opening up to a dimly-lit, red-carpeted hallway. It was empty, for now. "Well, we should move as soon as possible. If anyone's on this ship, they probably heard that. And remember," he said, glaring at Poppi, "this is a stealth mission."

"Poppi will activate stealth capabilities!" Poppi cried. She crouched down.

Rex rubbed the back of his head. "So...crouching? Is that it?"

"Yep!"

Malos sighed. "Alright. Whatever. Let's get this circus on the road."

The group proceeded into the interior of the ship. As it turned out, they needn't have worried. While Poppi's jet boots had been loud, by sheer luck, they had entered by the massive engine room of the ship. The engine room was a cacaphonous chaos of whistling, howling steam and grinding pistons, dominated in the center by a massive, roaring furnace. There were a few soldiers in there, who must have been practically deaf from working there all the time. The group was able to hide behind clouds of steam, ducking behind boiling steam pipes, to hide from their sight. Malos hadn't lied when he said he was capable of stealth, either. He at least seemed competent at sneaking around. Rex had some experience, too, from his time hiding his salvage from nosy soldiers at Goldmouth.

They managed to make their way through the engine room, up onto an iron metal platform, and up from the bowels of the ship, without being seen. The ship seemed only lightly patrolled. There was a scary moment when a soldier had spotted them, but Malos had managed to tackle the man and choke him out before he could raise an alarm, dragging him out of the hallway and into a janitorial closet. The whole group crowded into the closet as Malos pulled the man's helmet off, revealing a frightened young man with dirty blond hair, staring up at them in trepidation. "Oh, by the Emperor, it's the Aegis," he whispered.

"That's right, the big scary Aegis," Malos intoned. "Now why don't you tell us where the prisoners are. And you better be honest, because if I can't find them in ten minutes," and here he held out a clawed gauntlet, dark flame running up and down it, "I'm going to blow up this whole ship."

The Ardainian gasped, his eyes fixed on the dark flame. "S-second floor," he stuttered. "One floor up from this. H-hallway with blue carpet. P-p-please don't blow up the ship! I have friends here-"

"Don't worry, we're not going to blow it up," Rex said reassuringly. Then he rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Uh, sorry about this."

And with that, he placed a dirty rag in the soldier's mouth to gag him, while Malos tied his hands. They left him, wide-eyed and cursing, muffled, in the janitor's closet, and closed the door.

"One floor up, eh," Malos said, brushing his hands together. "I have to say, this is going pretty smoothly. Maybe we can get through this without-"

"IT'S FUTILE TO RESIST!"

The group turned around to face a group of five Ardainian soldiers, aiming their rifles at them, at the end of the hallway.

"Poppi is sorry. She deactivated stealth capability." Poppi looked down at her feet. "We were spotted."

The group rushed at the soldiers.

15.

Nia sat alone in her prison room on the ship, cross-legged on the floor, staring down at her feet sadly.

This was it. She was supposed to be shipped off to Mor Ardain. From there, she'd probably be sold to Indol. Or maybe they'd torture her in Mor Ardain for information on the rest of Torna. And when they found out what she was, then maybe they'd give her to Indol.

She wished she had Dromarch here with her. She wished she could tell him sorry, sorry for getting hitched to such a burden as a Driver. Maybe she would get a chance to say goodbye to him.

This is what she deserved, though. There was no place for her in the world, nobody wanted her, not really. The only people who ever had, the people who had saved her, shown her kindness, Torna, Jin, Pyra, she had betrayed them. The only people in the world that she found she belonged with, and she had thrown it back in their faces.

She wiped her eyes, refusing to let herself cry. It was no use doing that now. Helping Rex...she still felt, deeply, that it had been the right thing to do. If only she could have asked Jin and Pyra...or made them understand…

Suddenly, hear ears perked up as she heard the sound of gunfire in the distance, and shouting Ardainian soldiers. Could it be?

Nia felt a hope welling up in her heart. Was...this going to be like last time? When Jin had rescued her? She still remembered how awed, how happy she had been when he had found her the first time. How heroic she thought he was. How kind he had been to her, reassuring her that everything was going to be alright.

Would he really come back for her, after everything? Was he...was he only coming back to make sure she didn't give up information on Torna? Or was it possible he actually cared about her? Did he actually want her, want her with him? She had to admit...she missed him. And Pyra.

The sounds of gunshots grew louder, the shouting more frantic. Could it really be happening? Was Jin coming to take her home, after all this? She really did belong with them, didn't she? They might be broken, but she was too, and she belonged with them. They were the closest she would ever have to a home. She looked up at the door as the shouting grew silent.

There was a banging on the door. A loud, groaning creaking, and then with a horrific shriek of tearing metal, the heavy door was torn off its hinges. And beyond it was….

"Rex?" Nia said, incredulously, leaping to her feet. He stood beyond the doorway, his eyes lighting up at the sight of her, incredible relief etched into his face. Malos and….some….weird-looking robot girl stood, with their hands on the heavy metal door, both of them having apparently pried it from its frame. A nopon peered in curiously at her, as well. In a gray blur, Dromarch leapt through the doorway, nuzzling her with an incredibly deep, rumbling purr. She laughed, hugging him. "I don't believe it. What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, come on now, Nia. I told you I'd come back for you." Rex walked in to the room, looking her over. "Always help others that help you, yeah? Rule two of the salvager's code." Then his face grew more serious. "You're alright, yeah? Did they hurt you?"

Nia felt a huge grin growing across her face that she couldn't fight against. "I'm fine, I'm fine. You and your damn salvager's code." She shook her head, almost surprised at herself when she let out a happy giggle. Her heart was lifted so much. "Who're these two?"

"Ah, this is Tora and Poppi. They helped us bust you out of here. Well, I guess, technically, they are in the process of helping us bust you out of here."

"Hey, you two, we can do introductions later," Malos snapped, glancing around. "Unless you want to stick around to be executed."

"Executed?" Nia looked at him quizzically. "Where did you hear I was going to be executed? They told me I was gonna...be shipped back to..." suddenly, fear gripped her heart. Malos seemed to realize the implications at the same time she did, as his eyes widened. "Crap, it's a trap," she hissed. "We gotta get out of here as soon as possible."

The group rushed out of the prison room. The ship was, suddenly, suspiciously empty. Malos tried one of the doors to the outside deck, and found that it was bolted tight. He stopped, and put his hand to his chin, thinking. "They're cutting off our paths, here. They have to know that if they try and lock me on this ship, I'll just sink it." He looked up, groaning. "They're going to try and force us out at the docks. Right into the middle of the Ardainian base. Where they'll have every advantage."

Rex slapped his head. "Crap, of course. The minute that we walk out there, probably every man on base is gonna be waiting for us. Could you tear off these doors, too?"

Malos shook his head. "That prison door was hard enough to tear off. The ones to the outer deck are even more reinforced. Ardainians sure know how to make their ships into damn fortresses. We could sink the ship-"

"No," Rex snapped. "What about all the men we knocked out on the way here? They'd be goners."

Malos looked at him, completely stone-faced. "Then we don't have much choice but to walk into their trap, kid. Are you ready for what that's going to mean?"

Rex nodded. "I am. I'm ready to give it my all. We'll fight our way through, I just know it."

Nia felt her heart drop as she saw Rex looking at Malos' sword, determination written on his face.

16.

It was as Malos said. The group found all their paths blocked – except for one, driving them inexorably to the front of the ship, out the main entrance, onto the docks. No more soldiers barred their path. The ship was eerily quiet.

As they walked out the main entrance of the ship, down the plank to the Ardainian base, a grim sight greeted them. Beneath the cold light of the moon, more than two dozen Ardainian soldiers, rifles at the ready, lined the pavement. And at their head was Morag, Brighid, and Colonel Padraigh, himself holding a rifle. Morag held Brighid's twin blades in her hands, and Brighid herself was already glowing with eerie blue flame.

"Tora, Nia," Malos muttered. "You concentrate on blocking the rifle fire with your ether shields."

"Well, Aegis," Brighid called out, voice ringing in the clarity of the night, and Malos grimaced at the smugness in her voice. "Are you ready to surrender peacefully this time?"

"What do you think?" he snapped back at her.

"I would like to think that you couldn't possibly be so stupid as to try and fight in this situation." Brighid crossed her arms and glared at him. "I would like to think that you wouldn't be so coarse as to drag children into your fight."

"Hey, lady, are you talking about me?" Rex yelled.

"Or me?" Nia hissed.

Brighid rolled her eyes. "No. I'm talking about the invisible children behind you."

"Invisible children? Poppi heat sensors activated. Scanning," said Poppi.

"I may be young," Rex called out, "But I'm not stupid. I know what you want Malos for. You want him as a weapon in your damn war."

Morag gave him a withering, condescending look. "Don't presume to your elders, boy. Preventing his use is what we want. Preventing the carnage, devastation that he caused."

"Hey," Malos yelled, stepping forward, eyes glaring. "I helped save the damn world. Mythra was the one destroying it."

"Were you now." Morag's voice was harsh, clipped. "It's true Mythra was destroying the world. It's true you stopped her. But Mor Ardain has better records than most about what actually happened during that final battle, Aegis." She raised her eyes, and they were cold, unforgiving. "We usually keep good records about how our Emperors died."

Malos fell uncharacteristically quiet. "Hugo….died?" he said, shocked.

"Not only did he die. But we have it in our records, clear as day. It was your attacks that felled him." She stepped forward, her voice rising in anger, pointing one of her swords at him, and Malos found himself stepping back from her accusatory glare. "As if that was not bad enough, we have clear records giving damning evidence that you were responsible for a majority of the damage that sank Torna."

Malos was quiet, stunned. "Hugo...was a good soldier," he said, eventually. "He was...prepared...he knew what a battle between two Aegis' might be like..."

Morag felt her anger really rising, now. She knew from the records that Hugo had been young, too young, nearly as young as her brother was, when he died. "He was a child!" she snapped, harshly. "You have a penchant for dragging children into your wars, Aegis! You did it then, and you're doing it now!"

Malos shook his head. All the cruelty, all the arrogance had drained out of his face. He just looked shocked, pale. "No. He...chose, he...he was young, but he understood his duty..."

"His duty?" Brighid stepped forward now. "May the Architect spare us from your world, where children are sacrificed at the altar of duty."

And Colonel Padraigh stepped forward now, not looking at Malos, but rather at Rex and Nia. "Rex. Nia." He sounded fatherly, caring. "I am the military governor of Torigoth. I know you've gotten yourselves in quite a bit of trouble. But this is...beyond anything you should be involved with." He gave a kind smile. "Nia. I will not hold you responsible for the crimes of Torna. And Rex, however you became bonded with the Aegis, I will not hold you responsible for that, either. Surrender, and we'll get you on the right track. You'll be given a chance at a normal life. Your record, wiped clean. That is my offer."

Rex and Nia were stunned. They had been preparing themselves for a battle. They were not prepared for this. Tora glanced, uncertain, between them and the Aegis. Malos wasn't even looking at the scene before him. He was looking down at his feet, his head shaking, as if he was denying something.

The silence carried on for a long moment. Then one of the soldiers gave a shout.

"URAYANS!"

And then the base erupted into chaos. The Ardainian soldiers were yelling, pointing at something in the sky. Rex looked up at where they were pointing. There, hanging low in the sky, was the dark silhouette of a titan warship.

"How did they get past our blockade-" Colonel Padraigh had time to say, before, with a whistling hiss, a rocket streaked forth from the ship and slammed into the pavement, and the whole world turned to hell.

Rex groaned, his ears ringing, as Nia shook him. He had been tossed to the ground by the shockwave from the rocket attack. All around him he heard the sound of gunfire. He glanced up. Nia was looking down at him, panic written on her face. Behind her, he saw one of the massive anti-aircraft batteries of the Ardainians rotate slowly to aim at the Urayan warship, and then fired with a massive, hideous roar. And then, from the sky, he saw another rocket sling down from the warship, flying towards them, and he tried to scream at Nia to move, to get away, but-

And then Malos was standing above them. With one hand, he projected an ether shield that deflected the explosion away from them, and with the other, he yanked Rex to his feet. "We have to go." His face was grim, as grim as Rex had seen it yet, and he had shadows haunting his eyes. "Now."

The six of them ran down the ramp from the deck. There was no one to stop them, now. Ardainian soldiers were running, screaming, from the rocket fire pouring from the warship above. Nia screamed as another rocket landed nearby, nearly sending them sprawling with a shockwave, and rubble rained down upon them. Colonel Padraigh had disappeared, probably mounting the defense, and...there had been only a crater where Morag and Brighid had stood.

More rockets rained down. Malos projected the strongest ether shield he could muster as flames wrapped around them. Hollow screams echoed through the air as they dashed across the base, as quickly as possible. They passed by an Ardainian soldier lying on the pavement, screaming, holding a bleeding leg. Nia stared at him in shock, instinctively reaching out, as if to heal him, before another rocket rained down and he disappeared in a sheet of flame and raining rubble. She dropped her hand, trembling, and looked way.

They were almost at the gates, almost having escaped into the dark wilderness of the night, when a sheet of blue flame appeared suddenly, blocking their path.

"AEGIS."

They turned around. Behind them were Brighid and Morag, framed against the burning pyre of the Ardainian base. Morag's eyes shone with a cold, restrained fury. "You talked of your duty, Aegis," she called. "Well, I have mine. And it's to not let you get away. Regardless of this attack."

Malos, still seemingly in shock from what he had heard before, merely held up a hand. "Wait," he said. But there was no waiting. With frightening speed, Morag dashed towards them.

Morag and Brighid moved with a fluid grace, in a frightening dance, passing swords back and forth between them, as they dueled the Aegis. They moved quickly, smoothly, confidently. They concentrated most of their efforts on the Aegis. Rex, Nia, Tora, Poppi, Dromarch, they tried to help, but were hopelessly outclassed. Their strikes were dismissively parried, or blocked by Brighid with a quick flick of her wrist, projecting an ether shield.

Malos was barely holding his own against them. Rex watched, confused. Malos was moving with none of the lazy grace he had in previous battles. He seemed slow, almost confused, as if his mind was only half on the battle itself. He managed parries, and his blows had such raw power behind them that when they connected with Morag's blades, they sent her sliding back a few feet. But he moved...slowly, unfocused. Rex shouted with concern as a flame blast from Brighid sent Malos flying backwards, slamming into the pavement. He ran to Malos' side, looking up with fear as Morag approached. Nia, tried to slow them down, but was dismissively parried, and Tora attacked Brighid from the side, only to bounce harmlessly off an ether shield.

Rex reached out and grabbed Malos' blade, holding it up at Morag and Brighid as they drew closer. "Stay back," he snarled. "You stay back from him."

Morag paused, looking at him with something that almost seemed like pity. "Boy, I hope you understand one day that this is for your own good." She took another step forward.

"MALOS!" Rex cried, raising the sword, and suddenly he felt Malos' power flow into him, like a tidal wave of pain. He gasped, his heart pounding in his chest, as the Aegis sword lit up with a dark purple flame, the same flame that felt like it was eating away at the core of his being.

Morag paused again, stepping back. "What-"

Rex swung the sword, and as the dark flames rocketed out in front of him, he felt the pain seep deeper into him, biting into him, as the whole world in front of him vanished into dark flame. When they cleared, a great, melted slag of nothing lay in front of him, and standing just beyond that, looking at him in shock, knocked back against the ground, was Morag and Brighid. "Boy, what has he done to you?" Brighid whispered.

Rex screamed, the pain coursing through him, and managed, with monumental effort, to raise the sword again. "B-back," he gasped. "I...I'll do it….AHHHHHH!"

Brighid reached out, one blue-gloved hand reaching toward him, a look of pity on her face, and Rex, in pain and fear, thought she was readying another attack, and swung the sword again. This time it was a wild swing, and the dark flames did not rocket out in a cone, but rather snaked all around him. They ate into the supports of a guard toward, and Brighid and Morag just barely managed to dodge out of the way as it collapsed around them.

When they recovered, Brighid blasting her way through the rubble, Malos and the group had already disappeared, far into the dark wilderness outside the gates.

17.

The group had run through the wilderness, running until the breath burned in their lungs, scrambling up hills and mountainside in the dark, barely paying attention to where they were going, simply fleeing the sounds of explosions, fleeing the sounds of gunshots, fleeing the feeling of shockwaves thudding through their bodies. Nia rode on Dromarch's back, and hearing the ragged breath in Rex's lungs, the desperate whistling pain in his breath, insisted that he ride behind her. She could feel him, slumping into her back, barely having the strength to hold on, trembling with pain and exhaustion.

"I'm...alright," he mumbled into her ear. "I don't need….to ride…."

"Will you shut up, you absolute bloody stupid stinking moron," she snapped at him, barely containing the rage she felt. "Shut up and take the bloody ride."

Poppi carried Tora, after the latter fell one too many times, and Malos continued on foot, outpacing them all, driving forward mercilessly. The gunfire had long since faded into the distance, the sound of explosions long since disappeared, when Nia felt Rex slipping from her back. She leapt down from Dromarch, catching him before he fell to the ground. "STOP," she shouted after Malos, already far ahead. "STOP, we're stopping NOW."

Malos froze, then backtracked, as Poppi and Tora collapsed next to her as well. "We can't stop now. We have to get away, further away-"

"Yes we bloody well are stopping right bloody now," she snapped at him. She flung a hand out, pointing to the distant lights of Torigoth, barely visible. "I think we're far away enough now, yeah? And Rex can't go any bloody further."

Rex laughed weakly, suddenly coming to. "What are you talking about?" he murmured. "Yes I can. If Malos thinks that we need to, then-"

"You shut your fool mouth," Nia snapped at him. She leaned him back against Dromarch's side.

Malos looked down at Torigoth, blankly, then finally seemed to regain some composure. His face seemed to regain some of its typical arrogance. "I suppose this is far enough," he muttered. He looked down at Rex, then suddenly looked away. "I'll go gather some firewood."

Nia took Rex's hand in hers as the others busied themselves in building camp around them, setting up a small fire a few feet away from her and Dromarch. She reached up, winding her arms around his, touching his face. Rex was breathing raggedly, and as she reached out through the ether she could feel him, stained, hollowed out in some...inexplicable, awful way. She poured her healing into that hollow, roughing out the broken edges of him. It wasn't a simple physical wound that she could easily heal. It was physical and within the ether, and she didn't know quite how to completely repair it. It wasn't something she could call upon raw power for. It took a constant, steady flow of healing energy to slowly, gently massage some life into his battered, broken being. She kept her attention on him, watching him intently, until the life flowed back into him, and he was in a restful, healthy sleep.

By the time she was finished, she glanced back. The others were all sitting around the campfire, watching her. "What are you looking at," she snapped. She glanced at Rex, and unwound her arms from around his. "What, you never seen healing before?"

"Nope!" Poppi said cheerfully.

Nia looked at Malos, who was staring blankly into the fire. "Your power is awful, you know that?" she snapped at him. Her rage had died down a bit, but looking at him just bought it up again. To her surprise, Malos looked up at her with hollow eyes and nodded.

"I know. I know it's awful. It's meant to be. That's why I warned him." He shook his head, and looked back at the flames. "Look, I get why you're angry. But I would never let him draw on my power if he didn't ask for it. So save some of that anger for him."

"Oh, don't you worry, I've got more than enough to go around."

It was a few hours later, in the darkness of the early morning, that Rex awoke. He glanced around himself, groaning. His muscles ached something awful, but other than that, he felt basically okay. There was a small, dying fire a few feet away. He could see Tora's form, sleeping. Poppi looked to be sleeping, too, using the fat nopon as a pillow. That was weird. Did robots need to sleep? He glanced to the other side of the fire, and there was Malos, slumbering. He seemed to be laying against something heavy...warm, purring….Dromarch? And then he glanced directly next to him, to see Nia staring at him, yellow eyes gleaming in the firelight. "Ah! Nia," he yelped. "You scared me."

"Oh, you're finally awake." Her smile was sweet, her voice gentle. "How are you feeling? Can you walk?"

Rex shook his head and stretched. "I'm feeling...not bad at all. Yeah, I can walk. Why do you ask-"

Nia grabbed his hand, her eyes mysterious in the firelight, looking up at him. "Come with me."

Nia dragged him away from the camp, off into the darkness. The moon had come out now, and illuminated their path. It was still warm, even away from the fire. She led him beneath a nearby tree, then turned around, looking up at him with those large, mysterious eyes, reflecting the moonlight. "Rex," she murmured.

"Y-yeah?"

Suddenly her hand lashed out, slapping him across the face. "I cannot believe you. Who the hell gave you permission to get yourself half-killed coming to get me? I told you to just go!"

Rex rubbed his jaw, glaring at her. "I mean, frankly Nia, I don't actually need your permission to save a friend."

"You do," she stamped her foot. "You do need my permission when you're gonna get yourself hurt in the process. This is why I didn't want to go with you. All I was gonna do was bring trouble down on your heads." She let out a wordless cry of frustration, and turned away from him suddenly, so he wouldn't see her as she struggled to hold back tears. "I don't want," she said after a moment, "Anyone getting hurt on my account."

Rex snorted. "I mean. Nia, come on. You heard what they were saying, right? They seem a lot more interested in Malos than you. I think whatever trouble you're going to bring, it's going to be outclassed by the trouble we get into ourselves."

"And that's another thing." She wheeled around and shoved him, sending him a few feet backwards. "I told you to be bloody careful with that man, and instead you go around wielding his power like it's a damn children's firecracker. Is that what seems like 'careful' to you?" She held up her hands as if she was holding a baseball bat. "Lookit me, I'm Rex, I'm gonna kill myself with every swing," she said mockingly, staggering about.

"Hey...look, I had to, right? It's not like I had much choice in that situation."

Nia looked at him in the face for a long, silent moment. He merely stared back at her, eyes filled with quiet determination, and a little bit of amusement. Did he not understand? He had been in that situation because of her. Did he not get how awful that felt? She yelped as suddenly he grabbed her hands. "Wh-what are you doing?" she cried.

Rex shrugged. "Well, this way you can't hit me again." But then he pulled her closer, and her eyes widened. "But I also wanted to ask you again to come with us."

"Oh, what, so I can heal you every time you get your arse fried with spooky dark magic from the bloody Aegis I don't think so you greedy arsehole I can't believe how stupid-" she babbled nervously.

Rex laughed sheepishly. "Well, yeah, that sure is useful. But mostly I want you to come along because...well, I want to help keep you out of trouble."

"I don't need your bloody help you presumptuous arrogant twit, hahaha you child how could you think you'd keep me out of trouble, you're so wet behind the ears you're growing mushrooms back there-" Nia continued babbling, her eyes growing wider. Boy, did he look handsome in the moonlight.

"And well. I like having you around."

Nia fell silent, staring up at him.

Rex grinned sheepishly. "What do you say, Nia? Come to Elysium with me?"

Nia extricated her hands from his. She walked a few steps away, breathing out heavily. She looked out into the moonlight. Her mind drifted back to what Brighid and Morag had said. The Aegis, sacrificing children on the altar of duty. The soldier who had died before her eyes. The cruel arrogance on Malos' face.

What if Morag and Brighid had been right? What if war simply followed him, and now he was roping poor Rex into whatever madness he had in store…? Malos' power...sickened Nia to her core. The very idea of a power that ate away at people like that offended every instinct she had to restore and heal, and she hated, hated the way it hurt Rex, in the exact way an ether bond shouldn't. But Malos, beneath his arrogance and cruelty, seemed almost sad. For a while there, she was thinking that Rex had doomed himself to be devoured by the man. But….maybe there was something to be done here. Maybe there was something to be saved. Maybe...Rex needed her. She smiled, holding her hands to her chest.

"I must be as stupid as you," she said finally. "Because….oh damn it, why not." She turned around, and shot him a wide grin. "Take me to Elysium, you bloody idiot."