Here is the new chapter! Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 29: One Opportunity

A large ship blasted through the sector, wasting no time in getting to whatever the desired location was. Following behind, but not too close, was another ship. This ship was flown by Airen and had both Guida and Niku on-board. They were heading after the first ship so they could rescue their new ally, Talia. Well, at least that was Niku's intention, Guida, however, had another intention. This was his chance, he thought.

On-board the ship, both Guida and Niku stood together in the control room as they continued on, letting Airen have full reign over the controls. Guida turned to Niku and prepared to say what he needed to.

"I'm only doing this for him," Guida started, unsure of what Niku's reaction might be. Niku turned to face Guida, his arms folded. "I'm only going after Talia so I can get to Yamo Niha."

Niku looked to the ground and sighed.

"I thought as much…" He muttered.

"We're just not going to get another chance like this one. We are being lead right to him. We can finish him off… like he deserves," Guida tried to explain, but Niku was doing his best to ignore it.

"We can't just use Talia as bait… that's wrong… and it's unfair," Niku turned to say, not doing very well to hold in his opinion.

"Do you trust her?" Guida asked, straight to the point. Niku opened his mouth to speak, to plead in Talia's defence, but to be honest, he had nothing to say. Niku didn't know Talia and he couldn't speak for her, but he wanted to believe she could be a good ally. Niku pondered telling Guida about his discovery about Talia, but knew it would be best coming from her.

"I don't think we should be so quick to judge her," Niku said. The only thing that he could think to say that seemed remotely neutral. Guida shook his head.

"She was scared of Niha… but Niha wanted her. What does that tell you? She knows him. Somehow. Do you really think we should be trusting her?" Guida said, voicing his concerns in a very rational way. Niku couldn't argue that she did seem very suspicious. He was about to say something more, but Airen distracted them.

"I should probably inform the two of you that our enemies appear to be approaching a small, abandoned Mercenary Base located in Sector 21-53," The robot announced. Niku stepped forward, towards the control desk.

"Abandoned… that's weird, it wasn't when the armies were last here," Niku mentioned, to no one in particular.

"Well, there is a single life-form on-board, and there are about to be five more," Airen responded, not looking away from his desk. "What is our plan of action?"

Niku stayed leaning over the desk as Guida stepped forward and looked down.

"One life-form… that's Yamo Niha," Guida said, certain with himself. Niku looked up and straightened up.

"And it's where Talia is about to be," Niku informed him, getting his mind back to the primary target. Guida looked at Niku out of the corner of his eye. "We need to get her back here. We can't leave her."

"We won't," Guida snapped. There was a temporary, uneasy, silence. Guida cleared his throat. "We'll help her get away from there, but I'm not missing this chance to take out Niha."

"I understand. But Talia is priority," Niku stated, not wanting to hear another word. "Airen, keep us moving forward, we should probably prepare."

Shirken and his crew had landed in the hangar and were now taking Talia through the base. She had her hands shackled in front of her and was being dragged along by a chain. The one dragging her was the four-armed Scavenger, Tufa. He also had one-eye and was grey-skinned, with short black hair. Talia struggled a little, but was weakened due to the earlier hits she had taken. The girl definitely didn't want to be brought to Niha. She didn't want to have to see him again.

She continued to walk as she was dragged, but only because she didn't want to be anymore injured that she already was. That wouldn't help if she found an opportunity to break out and escape, once she at least regained some strength, and that pounding headache had gone. She winced as she continued to be dragged along. Her arms were aching and she just wanted to be free. Talia pulled back slightly, but due to being a bit weakened here she was just pulled forward by Tufa. She let out a pained yelp and that earned a chuckle from Tufa.

"Let me go, you stupid fucks!" Talia yelled at them as they continued to drag her along. This only made them laugh more, except Shirken. He was serious about getting this done.

"Niha ordered us to bring you, we'll do that and then you'll be freed," Shirken explain.

"You're morons if you think I'll be free when I'm back with him," She tried to desperately get her point across, but they weren't having any of it. They had orders and were following them. Eventually they turned and were reaching the end of the hallway. There was a big door and it slid open as Shirken approached. They stood to the side and motioned for Talia to go in first.

She looked up at them and then towards the door again. She tried to pull back again, but was jolted forward by Tufa and he disconnected the chain and then threw her into the room. She crashed down onto the ground and hit her head again. She let out another pained sound as she hit and felt a warm liquid on her head. She opened one eye, despite the pain and saw some blood drip onto the dirty metallic floor.

"Fuck…" She said to herself as she got up onto her knees and looked ahead as the armoured man she had been dreading to see stepped forward. "Oh… Fuck."

A slight snigger came from under Niha's helmet, before that metallic voice cut through Talia's mind. She winced at just hearing his voice again.

"My dear, dear Talia. How I've missed you deeply," He said, moving forward and kneeling down to be level with her. She looked to the side, tears slightly in her eyes. She didn't want this interaction to ever happen again and here he was in front of her. Niha grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. "Hello."

"Take your hand off me, you sick man," She said, but not in the least bit confidently. Her voice cracked a little when she said that. She didn't realise how genuinely scared of him she had become.

"That's no way to talk to me, the only parental figure you've ever had," He explained, but Talia only gritted her teeth and looked away again. Niha stood up over her again. "I'm ready to take you back. You can re-join as my ally and apprentice again and we can fulfil my mission."

"Never…" Talia muttered, still looking away.

"What was that?" Niha asked, looking down on her. She turned and looked down at the ground, not saying anything. Niha took his sword out and used the tip to lift her head up, slightly cutting into her chin. "Repeat that."

"Fuck you and your mission," Talia said, finding some confidence, despite the tears. Niha snapped and backhanded her with his free, right hand. Talia dropped to her left, falling flat on the ground again, the metal from her shackles hitting into her gut and putting some strain on her wrists.

Niha shook his head and then started chuckling to himself.

"It doesn't matter what you want anyway, you're not leaving here," He told her as he turned and walked over to a window. Talia slowly started to move and got back to her knees. She coughed up and some blood came out. She sniffled and a took a breath, looking up at Niha's back.

"You're weak…" Talia said, finding her voice again. Niha turned around, not saying anything. "You have no real power… it's all your machines and technology… it's why you wanted me… you know that I have what it means to be a true Dark Blade… whatever that means to you."

Niha walked back over to the girl and placed a hand on her head.

"You're more like me than you know, my dear," Niha said, almost in a loving way. "I cared about you… Talia, you are basically my child. I loved you, but you betrayed me."

"I did what I thought was right… what I had to do…" She explained.

"Well, you were wrong," Niha replied, turning his back on her again. "We will bring back our Master and resurrect the true Dark Blades. Together."

Outside, Airen finally had the base in view and decided to take a safe distance. Somewhere he knew that their radar wouldn't pick them up, at least until they figured out if there even was a radar turned on inside the base. They didn't want to just charge in and attack without planning at least a little bit, it wasn't right and it might put Talia at risk, plus there were some last-minute concerns on Guida's part.

"We should hold back until something happens," Guida recommended.

"We definitely shouldn't do that," Niku responded. Maybe he didn't agree. "If we wait too long then we leave Talia at too much risk. We can't let anything happen to her."

"If this is our only chance to attack Niha then we need to wait for the best chance so we go undetected and can hit them with the element of surprise," Guida said, clearly having thought it through on the way here. He really had his heart set on getting to Niha today and that being that. Niku didn't know what to say to him, but he needed to try to talk some sense.

"We don't know what will happen… this could be really dangerous for her," Niku tried to explain, bringing Guida back to the reason they are here. Guida just shook his head. "We can't just leave her to be hurt… or die."

"She won't die," Guida replied, hoping that would be enough to settle Niku's concerns. "I don't think Niha will kill her."

"You… don't think?" Niku scoffed as he turned away and leaned over a computer. He slammed his hand down and turned, walking up to Guida. "I'm not going to stand by and just leave her there. She may have secrets, but she is still a worthy ally. We're going down there."

Guida stared back at Niku, not knowing what could possibly be said to deter the former Soldier from his current course of action. There was no choice but to comply, for now. Guida nodded.

"Fine, but if this comes back to bite us… don't say I didn't warn you," Guida said as he turned away and went to get his weapons ready. Niku stood there for another second and watched Guida leave. He sighed and turned to Airen.

"Take us down to the base. Wait until my signal and then open fire," Niku commanded as he rushed off to prepare his own gear. Airen simply saluted and moved the ship closer, slowly. The ship got ever closer, but Niku finally gave his order for Airen to open fire. He and Guida were ready at the exit to jump out as soon as necessary. Their plan wasn't the best, but they had to hope they wouldn't struggle too much. After all, there didn't appear to be many life-forms down on the base.

Airen started to open fire, near the hangar, and then slowly moved to enter the hangar.

Back inside, the base jolted suddenly and Talia fell forward onto her front, while Niha was sent crashing against the glass in front of him. The metal helmet managed to scratch the glass and Niha was taken completely by surprise with that hit. He turned to see the crew steadying themselves and standing around.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Niha bellowed at them, "Go find out what that was!"

Shirken and his crew rushed off down the halls towards the hangar, while Niha walked over to Talia and lifted her up by her hair. He brought her face level with his. Talia found herself staring into the enigma that was Niha's helmet.

"You brought allies," He stated in an accusing manner. Talia, breathing heavily didn't say anything in response. She wasn't sure what was going on. Was she being rescued or was this something else that Niha was involved in? He grabbed her face with his free hand and started to crack her jaw. "Tell me!"

With that, there was another hit and the base started to shake again and the power began to surge. Niha was knocked back and Talia fell flat again. This time, she jumped up, almost instantly and kicked Niha back against the glass again. She then spun around and started to jog down the hallway. She didn't yet have the energy to run, that was until she managed to grasp her energy and break out of the shackles. It was almost as if Talia received her second wind and started to sprint through the halls, trying, desperately to remember the way back.

Some pipes had burst and Niha was managing to get himself to his feet again, but his head was pounding. He shook it and tried to look ahead, but the room was filling with steam and the lights were flashing on and off. He growled, but made no effort to follow after Talia. He was sure the others would deal with it.

In the hangar, Airen had finally brought the ship in and landed it. Niku and Guida jumped out and moved to the first door they could see, passing by Shirken's ship on the way. Before they could even get to the door it lifted open and Shirken and his crew were already waiting for them. They all opened fire upon one another, with Niku and Guida diving behind some cover. They only had some cargo boxes, but it was enough protection for the moment. Guida, rifle in hand, poked his head over the top and started firing in the general direction of the doorway. Niku did the same, but something caught his eye. He turned to his right once back in cover and there it was… Shirken's ship. He noticed it… and he had a plan.

Blaster bolts where flying back and forth between the two sets of fighters, but there was only one person firing from the 'good' side. Guida was having to fire on four different enemies as Niku, still hidden, made his way towards the ship. He reached the back and got to the engine. He took the back end of his rifle and smashed off a bit of a smaller engine. As he did, fuel began to leak out. Niku smirked to himself and rushed back to Guida's side.

"Care to help?" Guida asked, clearly not happy about being left alone for that moment. He noticed Niku's smirk. "What?"

"I just managed to drain their ship of fuel. Once we have Talia we can get out of here without the worry of being followed," Niku explained, his smirk still there. Both fighters smiled at each other, but a blaster bolt narrowly flying past Niku's head grabbed their attentions once more. They were back to firing on the opponents.

Talia, still rushing through the halls, finally came around a corner and could see flashing lights. There they were. All four of the crew… and in the hangar, Niku and Guida. Talia breathed a sigh of relief and then moved forward, but realised there was no way she would be getting past them without being noticed. She cursed and dropped into some wall space. She had to think of something.

An idea was starting to form. Talia would need to get their attentions so that Guida and Niku would have a chance to approach and take an advantage because that's something they clearly lacked, from her point of view. She took a deep breath and then jumped out from behind her cover and yelled up the hall, while hitting the wall, hoping that would be enough of an attention gripping move.

Only Kuiku turned around, but upon noticing the girl he was clearly surprised.

"Hey, guys! It's the girl!" He called out, the other three all turned around at the same time and started firing up the hall. Talia jumped back and took her cover once again. Tufa and Shibo started to move up the hall, towards Talia. Kuiku and Shirken stayed back, but didn't think to turn back to face Guida and Niku. Those two decided that this was their moment to move to the door. They both started to cross the hangar, but didn't fire, not wanting to grab any attention in this perfect moment they had found themselves in.

Before Guida and Niku could get close enough to the door, and before Tufa or Shibo could make it to Talia, the girl leapt out from her cover and powered up her energy, darting right down the hall at an intense speed, completely taking the crew by surprise. She reached the door and stopped herself, quickly turning to the control and smashing it as hard as she could. The panel started to short out and then the door slammed shut and started sparking. Talia breathed another sigh of relief and bent over to regain some strength.

"Talia, you're ok! We need to get out of here, now!" Niku said, taking Talia's arm and turning to go back to the ship, but Guida didn't move. He just stood at the door. Both Niku and Talia noticed this and stopped, turning around. "Come on, Guida."

"Niha… we have a chance to get him…" Guida muttered. He stepped towards the door.

"Wait," Niku said, rushing over to Guida and turning him around. "Don't think about that now, we need to go."

"I want to kill him," Guida said. He was so sure of himself. There wasn't an ounce of worry in his voice. He had his heart set on this, but Niku couldn't accept that.

"You'll get yourself killed if you even try to take them all on," Niku said, not holding back. He just told it how it was.

"I have to try," Guida replied. Niku shook his head.

"Not now. We can't," Niku tried to assure Guida that what he was planning to do wasn't right. Talia walked up and grabbed Guida's arm. He looked down on her and she was serious.

"You can't do it," She stated, no hesitation in her voice. "He is far too powerful for you, you won't stand a chance. He'll kill you without a thought."

Niku's brow furrowed and he glared down at her.

"Why are you so sure of yourself?" Guida asked. Talia opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She closed it and just stared back. Guida's glare was intimidating, but it wasn't enough to get her to confess then and there. She blinked and looked down.

"There will be time for that on the ship," Niku said, interrupting the moment. "We just need to go, NOW!"

"No! I will stay and try!" Guida exclaimed, turning back to the door. Talia stepped forward again, right up to Guida now.

"Stop being such a fool!" She yelled at him. Guida turned and was about to retort, but the door blasted open and Shirken stepped through, holding his rifle. Niku threw a smoke grenade right at the crew and pulled both Guida and Talia away.

"Get on the ship!" He yelled to his allies as they all rushed towards it, and up the ramp. They managed to get on and get strapped in quick enough. Airen hit the controls and they were out of that Hangar and already blasting away and picking up speed.

Shirken and his crew rushed onto their ship and tried to fire up the controls, but nothing was happening. Shirken started yelling orders to the others, but the ship wasn't doing anything. Eventually, Shibo piped up and let them all know there was a fuel leak. An extensive one. Shirken growled in annoyance and buried his head in his hands. They all sat in silence for a few moments until Shirken pulled his head up and looked right at Shibo, blankly.

"Sort it out now," He ordered, standing up and walking out of the control room and exiting the ship. He was heading straight towards Niha, but he was terrified. Shirken entered the room with Niha and the mechanically-suited man was staring out of his scratched and cracked window again. Shirken swallowed and took a breath.

"You're a disgrace," Niha said, before Shirken even had a chance. Shirken stepped forward to try and say something, but is interrupted. "Take your crew and piss off away from my sight, forever."

Shirken opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. He looked down to the ground, a blank expression on his face. He took one last glance at the back of Yamo Niha and headed off back towards his ship. Shibo would be busy refuelling and they could leave soon, wherever they would go.

Yamo Niha continued to stare out of the window and now had no one to speak to, but in his head, he could only tell himself one thing. "I'll find another way to do it. I'll find another way to help bring the Dark Blades back to their glory. I don't need any of them."

Shirken dropped back into his seat and waited for Shibo to return and tell him they could leave. Eventually, that happened and the rest of the crew looked to Shirken for some sort of guidance.

"I think we should go after them!" Tufa yelled, wanting to break the awkward silence and have his say. Shirken just looked back at him.

"I'd say my Brother has had enough misery and we no longer work for Niha. Let's just find some work and do something else with our lives," Shirken said. He wasn't even sure if this was an order, but he knew he couldn't be bothered with anyone speaking back to him right now. He looked towards Kuiku as the alien started to get the ship up and running. They left the base and blasted into deep space, to find some sort of purpose.

The base was left floating in the peaceful emptiness of the sector, but after a few minutes one more ship shot away from the station, heading in an opposite direction to the other two ships, but as soon as it was gone parts of the space base started to detonate and crack apart, this only lasted a few minutes before the sector returned to peace.

Well, hope you enjoyed the conclusion to that little two-parter. There are a few more chapters left in this arc to help show how this team came to work together properly and I hope everybody enjoys it.

If you have something to say, leave a review, I won't bite.

Next Time... A Useful Partnership