The two ships came out of warp at almost the same moment, one baring the insignia of the twins, and the other's with a pair of scales. Gemini and Libra.

Libra's leader was Castor. He was renowned as one of the best pilots ever to graduate the academy. He had completed the Rith Essa Cliff Run in 1 minute 12 seconds, the fastest time ever. The Cliff Run, or Devil's Run as some called it, was the most dangerous run that was officially recognized. One of the reasons he'd made the time was because he was one of the only people crazy enough to try it.

"Alright, Juno," he said over the radio. "What now?"

They all turned to Juno, though there were three team leaders in the little group.

"Well, the Spawnship probably won't set down. They'll stay in space and send some drones down to torment the Tribals. My plan is to come around the dark side and fly in low. I just want to know why they came here."

The question was troubling everyone. What could the drones hope to accomplish by enslaving the Tribals again? Mizar was gone, and so were Barry's deranged ideas.

"Sounds good, Juno. Let's go."

Libra flew off, spinning erratically as Castor showed off his skills. Gemini followed as best they could, vainly attempting to copy Libra's course. They came in near the Ice Forest in the Northern Hemisphere of Goldwood. There was no time to enjoy the scenery as they came in low towards the main residential area of the forest world.

"Castor!" Juno called over the intercom. "We've got something on our tail!"

"What is it?" he asked. Despite flying so low to the forest, he still managed to look good doing it.

"Some sort of ship- nothing I recognize. But Vela says she thinks it's a Drone ship."

"Damn! I'll set down right over there, Juno."

"Be careful, Castor. Don't get cocky."

"Me? Cocky? What gives you that idea?"

Castor slowed the ship, moving towards an area only sparsely populated by foliage. Suddenly, before anyone knew what was happening, the Drone ship rocketed past Gemini, and began blasting madly at Libra.

"What the…" Juno said in awe. "Those ships shouldn't be able to do that!"

Libra caught a blow on the rear, and jerked up and down from the impact. The ship spun on it's side, and slammed into the trees. Juno took action immediately. Juno had a lock on the Drone ship, but before he could fire, the thing spun clear out of the way.

"What's wrong with that thing?!" he yelled. "How did it get so fast?"

Lupus growled from the IWD.

"Ready boy?"

He barked affirmatively.

"Then lets get this thing!"

As the IWD powered up, Lupus was surrounded by a glow. The area of forest appeared around him, making it seem as though he were floating out there. He could see the Drone ship flying around madly, firing wildly at the ship. His view jerked upward as Juno flew out of the trees. There was a beep as the IWD became fully powered up. Lupus' aiming site appeared, and he began his assault on the enemy.

The Drone ship came around behind them, but Lupus could still see. He swiveled the site around towards the ship. As the Drone ship began to fire, the site glowed red as it targeted the enemy. Lupus fired, but the ship danced out of the way. The small vessel didn't have powerful weapons, but it was fast. Lupus kept an eye on the shield gauge, which was down to 75%. Lupus spun the site, lasers going the whole time. He managed to hit the ship a few times before it escaped again. The Gemini ship was rocked as enemy lasers impacted on it. The dog was done playing nice. Shields were at 60%. Lupus chased the ship around, finally holding the site long enough to get a lock. He let homing missiles fly- they slammed into the smaller ship, which crashed into the ground.

Lupus barked out his victory howl as the IWD disappeared around him.

"Nice job, boy!" Vela said, running over to scratch his ears.

"I'm gonna set down, and we can see what this is about."

Gemini came down halfway between the two downed vehicles. The four active members stepped out.

"Alright, you two," Juno said, pointing to Vela and Nova, "Go see how Libra is. Lupus?" The dog barked. "Come with me. We'll see what the deal was with that Drone ship."

The teams set off in opposite directions, each heading for one of the downed crafts.

Vela and Nova reached Libra's ship unmolested. The ship lay on its side, and fortunately for them, the door was on the up-side. They climbed to the top and pried it open. All the lights were off inside, so Vela flipped on her flashlight. The pair crawled through the wreckage, finally reaching the cockpit. Castor was attempting to stand up and find his way through the darkened area.

"You're all right!" Nova said, as they rushed forward to help him up. As Vela shined the light around, they found that the same didn't go for the rest of the crew.

"We'd better get these guys out of here," Vela said, hefting one of the bodies over her shoulder. "Can you move alright, Castor?"

"I'm fine." He looked around. "If you guys can handle it, I'm gonna stay here and try to restore power to the ship."


Meanwhile, Juno and Lupus had reached the downed Drone Ship. As they looked inside, they realized it was empty of life. Juno jumped back, gun raised.

"Lupus, head to the left. I'll go right." Lupus barked softly.

Juno began to trek to the right, walking through the dense foliage until he reached a clearing. He took a few cautious steps into it, but stopped when he heard the faint sound of footsteps. He leapt to the side and rolled around, turning to face whoever it was. Juno came Pistol raised, and met a familiar face.

"Well, Juno," Flare said. "We meet again."

Juno's gun dropped to his side. Flare's face was scratched and bloody from the crash. There was a large gash in his left arm, but he was otherwise unhurt.

"But you're dead. How can you be here?"

"Did you think I was actually stupid enough to ram you? I wasn't on the ship. And you failed to even notice that a tiny drone ship followed you all the way here. But, it doesn't matter. Now you die."

Flare raised his machine gun and squeezed the trigger. Juno leapt once more as fire littered the ground. Juno took shelter behind a large rock. The gunfire stopped.

"Come out Juno. You're trapped."

Juno could see that perfectly well, but he wasn't planning on giving up. He pulled out his homing missile launcher. All he needed was one good shot. The next thing happened in slow motion.

Time stretched as Juno leapt out from behind the rock. He Flare's gun begin to spit fire at him, the bullets barely missing his body as he rolled through the air, missile launcher pointed at Flare's chest. /Just a lock is all I need… come on!/ The gun beeped. A shot hit Juno's shoulder. He squeezed the trigger. Time snapped back to normal.

The shot flew wild, but Flare still jumped away. Juno hit the ground at an awkward angle, and the wind was knocked from his chest. He felt a burning pain in his shoulder. Flare recovered and raised his gun.

"Nice try Juno, but in vain, of course." From where he lay on the ground, Juno began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

Flare had no time to react as the rocket slammed into his back, exploding upon impact. Juno stood up, and limped over to the body. He kicked it right side up, and saw his enemy's eyes glazed over with death.

"Idiot," he said, and began to head back towards the Drone Ship.

He was about halfway back when he heard footsteps. He stopped, and listened. As he began to turn, something large and heavy attached itself to his back and wrapped its legs around his midsection. He reached behind him and felt hands gripping his shoulders. He grabbed the hands and pulled them up and forward. The objects legs slid free, and Juno swung his would-be attacker onto the ground in front of him.

It was a woman, unarmed, but clearly dangerous. Juno raised his gun to her face, and she stopped moving.

"I'm not the only one that survived the crash," she said, smiling. "Flare did too. He still has his guns. He'll come and kill you."

"Flare's dead," Juno said coldly. The woman stopped smiling.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Because I killed him. I want you to tell me what the Spawnship is doing here."

"You bastard!" she shouted She began to move, and Juno fired into the ground near her head. It left a smoking hole. She stopped. "You killed him you bastard!" She began to sob.

"I killed him because I had no other choice. I'll do the same to you if you don't tell me what I want to know."

The woman continued sobbing, but she attempted to speak.

"I don't know. I don't… the Drones. They keep talking about a Tribal sacrifice. A… a royal sacrifice. To bring back Mizar. Flare said they were full of it, that it wasn't the real reason… I don't know."

Juno sighed, and lowered his gun.

"If you don't walk, I'm going to have to drag you."

The woman slowly stood up, and Juno began to lead her back through the woods. A royal sacrifice? It didn't make sense. What would killing Jeff have to do with anything? His train of thought was interrupted by barking.

"Lupus! Over here!" he called. The dog came barreling out of the bushes. He took one look at the prisoner, and began to growl. He walked up beside her as if standing guard. The three began to head back toward the ship.

Juno's thoughts drifted back tot he previous topic. Why did they want to kill Jeff? Surely they didn't actually think killing him would bring Mizar back. How would they have gotten such an idea? Someone gave them the idea, he thought. But who? Could it have been something Barry told them before he was defeated? As a means of revenge in case of his death? But he wasn't dead. He didn't want to kill the Tribals anyway. Suddenly, it hit Juno. Not a means of revenge. A failsafe. Barry had royal blood. He could pretend to sacrifice himself nobly, and then…

And then become Mizar again.